A Portrait of a Tuareg ( tribe)

For me a good photograph is a photograph that has to look good, not one that implies that there's a good one hiding somewhere behind the social puffery. I don't buy the tall tale about the compression artifacts. Its just plain bad photography and touchup work. Pnina, I recommend you dump this image because in your Vermeer Series you demonstrate that you can do better.

Pnina, I'm a bit confused by the discussion and by John F's critique. To me, this is a good portrait. The man's expression is interesting, as is the traditional clothing, with its vivid color. But the image as I see it on my monitor is a bit hazy and needs a contrast adjustment. A mild S-curve would fix this -- one minute's work in post-processing. What confuses me is that the image Claude posted looks fine -- Claude, did you adjust the contrast? As to the artifacts around his shoulders, many of my posted images on PN have compression artifacts that are not visible in either my original file or the jpeg on my computer. This is just something we have to live with on PN.

Manolis, Umair and Chris.

 

Chris, that image was printed ( 30-45cm with other 7 images from the Mali series), and it is perfect!it has no artifacts and has recieved real good critique from a real professional( Please read my previous comments).

 

On my monitor Claud's example looks very dark and the blue color is nearly black..., and on mine, my version looks very good, as in the print.

 

So monitors are different, but I will check it with my printer he is an expert and I think he will know the answer.

 

Chris, do it on your computer and post it here, I would like to see the difference of yours and mine on my screen.

 

Thanks Pnina

 

 

Hi Pnina, On my monitor, this looks about right. Mine is calibrated regularly. Perhaps your software is set up with your printer's color profile, so that everything looks good on your monitor and your prints correspond to what you see, but what you see doesn't correspond to what Claude and I see.

Chris,thanks, yours and Claud's are alike very dark, here is another version, darker on my monitor, how does it looks now, and how do you calibrate your monitor?

 

Looking at the print it is more like the one on my monitor and looks good on the print, go figure...

 

Thanks Pnina

Hi! My monitor shows haze in the original also! This most recent one of yours is clear and with sharper colors...A very nice portrait indeed, and a good addition to the series. You did wonderful work in your brief period there, dear!

 

 

Pnina, good expression on the man's face. I love the bright color he is wearing on his head. The trees in the background are fine with me, there is enough dof that they are not distracting. Nice work. I agree with Jim's comment.

P, the reposted one looks perfect to me. The colors are just right. (I calibrate my monitor using a Gretag-Macbeth Eyeone hardware calibrator.)

Pnina, you've excellent capture & fantastic job here, very well achieved!!! Best regards. 7/7

Beautiful and interesting portrait. I like the expression and the colors are excellent.

Thanks, to all of you for your help and feedback.

Excellent portrait.

Nice portrait, Pnina....

Very nice portrait, Pnina. Lovely exposure on the skin tone. Cheers.

beautifull portrait...� love colours and his silence looking...talk with silence..lovely

Pnina, love this portrait; his expression is serious and full of dignity. The blue thing he is wearing and the white robe create a very pleasant contrast with his dark face. I aso love the tree in the background.

The tree in the background is what makes this image tribal next to of course the main subject.

Pnina I'm coming late to this rowdy party. I respect John's work and his views. He could be better heard if he presented information in a helpful rather than hurtful manner. Here I think he is too quick to judge. These look like jpeg artifacts to me and I certainly take your word that there are no artifacts in the original image, print or file.

 

Further he misses an opportunity to see the beauty you so clearly saw in this handsome fellow wrapped as he is in the splendor of his culture. And the beauty here is moving and tender -- the shyness adding much to the emotional impact.

 

Having said this, I also am in agreement with Claude about the cropping. The trees here do seem more distracting rather than really supplying an environmental context. Claude's crop focuses the attention exactly where I want to be...

To all of you for expressing your point of view.

 

Haleh, one of the reasons I left it as is, is because I think it is authentic to his nomadic life in the desert.Being a geographical visit as well, I thought it compatible.

 

David, thanks for your long and detailed comment.

That image has different reactions, some will like it and some not, and as I wrote before, I respect all the people that take the time to comment , and I'm open to critique as long as it is polite and positively said, which is always not the case you have mentioned.

 

I met yesterday with my printer which is one of the best specialist for printing and PS. I showed him the thread and examples.He told me that artifacts aside from happening because of jpeg compression, are more prominent in passages from darker to brighter areas , which is the case here.

 

About Clauds suggestion,( and yours), as I wrote, it is for sure a posibility to consider.

 

Thanks again David and all of you.

Beautiful portrait; JPEG artifacts detract slightly, but they are very hard to avoid at PN because of recompression.

 

I like the facial expression, and the color of the scarf. I might have tried for a simpler background, but I don't know the circumstances of the picture.

 

Note to all. I like Pnina's work. I am not a mate rater; in fact, I tend not to rate at all but comment instead. In this case, I may do the rating thing...

Pnina: We're not commenting on the image you're going to PRINT. It's the image you POSTED that is the topic.

Excellent portrait, Pnina. The blue of the head dress contrasts well with the darkness of his skin. I like it just the way it is.

Les, you are not a "mate rater"? How sad I'm....LOL...Thanks for your comment,and visit.

 

Gerry, thanks as well.

Wow, lots of discussion. Chris version on my monitor looks too dark. Your re-post version is slightly better than the original, which I think is good enough too. The blue headdress & his expression is the captivating factor. He looks good as he is in his natural environment.

Cherlyn, all the other versions aside from my main upper upload are looking too dark..It is for sure the different of monitors.Thanks, Pnina