Denise

At a family gathering yesterday talking to Denise. The lighting was

very nice despite the people in the background, so I took a couple

photos of her. If you browse through my other people photos you will

see a couple images I did a few years ago of Denise's daughter,

Whitney. You will see how much Whitney looks like her mother.

For me, it would make a nice portrait but, because of the chopped off people in the background, it doesn't make for a good photo. The light on her is lovely and seems to complement her skin tone, and her expression is sweet and sincere. 

You are right, Fred.  I would have loved to have done this out in the yard like the one I did of her daughter Whitney.  In each case I was doing a series of photographs of the people to document an event. 

Despite the "crowd conditions" her smile and spontaneous expression here, is to me, priceless; the kind of capture you only get once in a great while. 

It's not a "classic" photograph and I'm sure the various arms and legs in the background would bother most photographers, however, I'm not among them. For me, the feeling of casual spontaneity here trumps other aesthetic considerations. You've given us another version with blurred background which would serve as a studio portrait but for my money, messy as it may be, I'll take this one.

Thanks for your input Jack.  I like this version because it is a part of a series; a family gathering after the funeral of an elder member.  Its as real as it gets; we were just chatting and I had the camera and took a shot as we were talking.  Her expression is totally natural, as is the room full of people.  I also like her expression so much I tried in the other version to create a more formal portrait.  It seems there are people who people who strongly prefer one or the other version.  Interesting and not surprising.

For me, there might have been a happy medium between this shot and the more focused portrait or classic approach where you blurred the background. It's impossible now but would have happened with a differently-composed shot to begin with, one where that spontaneity Jack is drawn to might have been kept but with less of a background-gone-awry look than I'm getting. Her face and the way it's lit has incredible expressiveness and glow. This background doesn't serve her well, IMO, as it seems like the chopped off bodies were haphazardly arrived at or accepted. There might have been an angle or position that would still have allowed for the environment and sense of moment to come through without it feeling like a studio or staged shot, assuming the latter is not what you wanted.

 

The main thing is you've preserved a personal memory and have a likeness of this person that is meaningful and significant to you and likely others. That's nothing to regret and everything to treasure.

I appreciate your thoughts Fred.