Evening Portrait in the Savannahs.

I took the liberty of making some alterations to the image. IMO the face in this case is the real focus of attention, for that I cropped the image so that the hands could lead the viewer to the face. Some level changes and cleanup also done.

 

Thanks for the comment. Your cropping emphasizes the model, whereas I chose to emphasize the Savannah plain.

You sent me an email asking why. There are many reasons. The overall impression produces in me a strong emotional reaction of seeing a woman of strong physical presence and energy. Not an individual woman but a universal woman. The colour of her dress, her skin, her hair, her eyes, the grass, and the trees, the darkening on both sides of the image starting in the bottom corners and progressing up the image (focuses on her), all the elements work together. I like how the tree line seems to be almost part of her hair continuing out. The pose is unusual and very strong, it is not compliant or submitting but almost as though she were about to throw her arms down and fly. The detail of light and shadow in her dress contrast brilliantly with the background which although it is out of focus, obviously intentionally, is a rich colour and is made more rich by the quiet colours of the grass. It is not a vertical and I think that was a good choice. I don't see this as a wild or overwhelming shot. It is a subtle photo. Very rich in the meaning it presents to me. Health, energy, life, self awareness, very strong connection between the eyes of this woman and the camera lens and to me as a viewer of the photo. It is a picture that is not a shocking WOW but a picture that I can look at for a long time and continue to see beauty and mystery and both an individual and the universal. I don't think too many photos like that get made every day. I hope this explains my rating. regards, Bill Gibson - side note: in the matter of ratings that get made here in www.photo.net, I often wonder why someone rates one of my photos as a 3 and someone else as a 9. I have some theories but nothing worth typing out at this time. Your photo deserves more viewings and many more ratings of 10.

Thank you for your thorough and insightful analysis of the photo. Quite

frankly, I had not thought of many of the things that you make reference

to. However, that evening, I chose to make a dramatic portrait of the

model

although the sun was going down fast.

 

I deliberately underexposed just a little to give a hint of the faltering

light (though I did use very minimal fill flash).

 

I asked the model if she could position her hands in a powerful way, like

a

Lioness in the African Plains, ready to make a kill. After some poses, I

decided on the pose captured, and shot a few frames, then sun had gone

down

by then, we had a good laugh and packed up to head home.

 

These are the thoughts and persuasions behind this image.