Madonna

Creo que esta es una mis favoritas, la veo, la reveo y cada vez me gusta mas, y mira por donde, la habia votado pero no comentado. La luz deliciosa, las miradas mucho mas, las texturas, yo que se... es pura delicia. Un saludo Jose.

Please note the following:

• This image has been selected for discussion. It is not necessarily the "best" picture the Elves have seen this week, nor is it a contest.
• Discussion of photo.net policy, including the choice of Photograph of the Week should not take place here, but in the Help & Questions Forum.
• The About Photograph of the Week page tells you more about this feature of photo.net.
• Before writing a contribution to this thread, please consider our reason for having this forum: to help people learn about photography. Visitors have browsed the gallery, found a few striking images and want to know things like why is it a good picture, why does it work? Or, indeed, why doesn't it work, or how could it be improved? Try to answer such questions with your contribution.

A kind of beautiful modern Madonna with his baby. No words to say.

What a beautiful photo ...

Beautiful,pure photo!Good work Jose!

This is a beautiful shot and good dedicating to all dear mothers who cared their children as well.Nice tonality and gestures,specially their looking are unique.Great composition.
Regards(Bobby).

Whilst it is nice enough, its yet another photo that lookes more like a painting, some colour/texture layers on different blend modes, and voila, people go crazy. Without that effect would it be as interesting to people? id love to see an 'unedited photo of the week forum'. I like the gaze and the background, im not a fan of the strong shadow under the baby's chin, on the arm on the right hand side, or of the telltale heavy burning colour changes of the material at the bottom, actually thinking about it, i only like the faces and the background. good choice for discussion though.

This is a masterpiece! A definate peice of artwork to be treasured. Beautiful in everyway.

I like the capture of the moment. But I would crop some off the top to bring the viewer more 'into the image'

Though last week's photo of the week utilizes lens distortion and bears a certain amount of discomfort, and despite the very different subject matters of each photo, they both read to me in a visually similar manner. It's as if each has a layer of something that stands between me and the subject. This week's title is very ambitious.

Even without the title, there is no doubt that this image has its roots in the rich history of Madonna and child paintings. Looking at the relative ages of the two sisters here, one really has to think more in terms of "sisters" although a 10-11 year old birth was probably not uncommon in years gone by----or, unfortunately, today for that matter!

So, obviously a well set up image to manipulate this theme and a strong nod to those who have gone before with the chiaroscuro treatment and the set.

Other than the wrap on the baby, there really wasn't an attempt to recreate a period here with the wardrobe, which is a saving feature for me. We can, or the parents can, at least enjoy this as their children as who they are. It depicts a nice connection between the two, but certainly not new or profound in any way. (I will say, that because of the attention to detail in the set design and in so many other ways to create the "Master's" period look, that the clothing and uncombed hair of the older girl makes me feel that this might have been an outtake while setting up the intended shot. From my own experience, kids don't last very long on set!)

I have some issues with the technical aspects of the image--with the lighting and the styling. The hot spot on the older child's nose, the stray hair on her face and shoulder, the odd satin(?) fabric in the lower right and the empty black triangle truncating her elbow are a few. There are some other issues, but I actually think that none of these things will matter to those that like the image's emotional hook.

On any level, it is a nice photo and probably any parent of these children would love it. As photographers, we could probably spend quite a bit of time picking at the flaws from a technical standpoint, but I am not sure it would matter much.

Fantastic picture! Congratulations.

Una escena realmente adorable. Llena de dulzura, delicadeza.

Y esa conexión de las miradas la hace doblemente especial.

Me encanta la iluminación que le has conseguido dar.

Me quedo con la duda si el fondo es de estudio o natural, se insinua de una manera muy sutil.

Un placer ver imagenes así

Perhaps a little too pretentiously 'Raphaelish' for my own taste, at first glance I mean. Pleasing enough, certainly. I do admire the total gracefulness and the luminosity on the child' s body as a stand alone. A little bland maybe is the mother expression..not sure yet. The child's hand and body position is incredibly caught in such a classic way, amazing when one things of getting kids to sit in a pose. I am delightedly caught by the happy (fortuitous?) arrangement of the subjects. Even as feel it is not exactly my kind of thing.

The child is beautifully lit.
The highlight on the end of the nose of the mother, and her face in shadow seems off.

I wonder how it would look with a closer crop (not necessarily my crop) to give more emphasis to the child.

The picture is well done, in any case. I rather like the painterly effect.

--Lannie

If the title had been left out, I would be more comfortable with this scene. For me, a reference to Rafael, Ducci, Lippi or Rubens or any other classical painters does not serve the photo, which I find adorable. Let's re-title it: "Two sisters" and we are all on more firm ground.
My attention falls first of all on the surrounding elements in the composition which make our eyes rest undistracted on the main subjects and create a diagonal line of attention from the lower left to the upper right: the light on the subjects and the dark surrounding areas together with the tissue surrounding the child's face. I also like the background wall details that break the uniform black tones. I would agree with the remarks on the strange triangle on the lower arm of the girl and on the stray lock of hair covering parts of her left eye and front (CS5 would come in handy here!). Congratulation to Jose.

It surely has strong aesthetic merits. It resembles a classic painting.
The pre- and post-processing capability of José are absolutely out of question.
But this is not a photograph.
Composition-wise there are some issues with the background glittering cloth behind the child, which makes the child's profile a bit confused against it.

Congrats Jose! Just curious, how old is Madonna?
Andrzej Maciejewski

Outstanding shadows & detail. Beautiful color & clarity.

I think the gesture of the baby's hand is a strong one, also seeming to come out of the frame a bit. I wish the lighting were more consistent with this gesture rather than fighting it with that strong highlight on the baby's shoulder which keeps the gesture from being as effective as it might be.

The "madonna's" face being in shadow seems OK to me, as an expressive statement. Seeing the shadow on her chest seems less in keeping with the overall character of the photo. Her dress is a distraction from the timeless quality this photo seems to want.

The tighter crop offered doesn't accomplish much to me. Lighting has already seen to it that the baby is given its due emphasis and cropping closer adds a claustrophobic feel and doesn't do anything to add emphasis to the baby, IMO. The "madonna's" arm is awkwardly chopped off by the crop. What does seem to be emphasized in the cropped version is the lighter part of the background, which becomes more prominent and now has potential for more distraction.

Outstanding ! It's like a renaissance picture , i like it very much , thanks for the view ;-)

I love this type of portraiture - Rembrant lighting.  Besides subject matter and composition, I believe that photography has to depict the three dimensional quality on a 2D media.  Jose has done this beautifully.  The composition is right on.  The lines of direction leads the viewer right to to the child. The child's eye lead to the mother.  The only thing I would do is to burn in the area of the dress and strap.  It tends to distrct from an otherwise perfect image.

I kind of like the tighter crop. Not sure I can express why. Just feels better. Of course the left side frame would need to be fiddled with to keep the proportion.

I find it a good photo for discussion. In general it is a nice composition, but there are some elements that distract it from being complete. I like the light , but the point of strong light on the child's shoulder, the bright cloth on his head and the "maddona's" nose, turns my attention to them. I understand the idea behind the title, because of the way it was executed ,(the hint of gesture and chiaroscuro like),but if it was a different one( title), I would not have connected it to the old masters. I like the brown tones of the color palette.