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Portrait

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Great shot. Nice composition. B&W tones work well. Classic expression. I think he needs to drink a bit more of the coffee though!
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Looks like Ansel Adams. You appear to have a pipeline to the other side.

 

I think it could use a touch more contrast.

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Thanks. Actually I was thinking about that contrast. Over most of the image I think it is fine, but I'm not happy with the skin tones. I was also concerned about the detail in the hat, but I guess there is no need to worry about that, as they are blown out anyway.

 

And, yes, it does appear to be Ansel Adams.

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I want no more talk that you can't do portraits. This is classic. I love the contrast between his rather laid back expression and the 'perk em up' coffee cup. He must do a lot of writing - he's got a full supply of pens in his pocket. Bottom line here is that he's a fascinating subject in a fascinating place. Thus, a fascinating portrait!
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for all intents and purposes this is a very fine portrait which has a greater quality because of that fascinating background. His eyes and expression are very telling indeed. You've got yourself a real winner here, it's a captivating and extremely interesting portrait. About the contrast, that's just minor stuff. I just fooled around with it a bit, started out with selective corrections of those backgroundphoto's before applying some corrections to the overall photo. Like I said, minor stuff but it's all there. BTW, I love that Rotterdam postcard.
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Thanks. I know it has potential. I just have to figure out how to improve it. I figured you'd like that postcard.

 

I know you are a solid technician, so I ask you a question. I've seen many fine portraits where all the detail is there. I looked at this gentleman's hat, and was very disappointed in the fact that there is no texture there at all. I know blown highlights don't give detail, but I didn't think the image was over exposed. So why is there no texture in the hat?

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first of all I don't mind the top of his hat being as white as it is. To me it looks perfectly OK. Secondly because of the fabric that the hat is made from makes for minimal texture in direct lighting conditions. Looking at your photo there seems to be a light source opposite from the man and higher than he is sitting. Anyway, you've got a fairly direct reflective light there which means there wasn't a lot of detail to be photographed in the first place but it's not what I would call a blown highlight either. Besides that white hat looks great with his beard.
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I see this as fully deserving of high ratings (as if that indicates anything) or at very least a round of applause. This tells a story in layers with each detail adding another clue. The white hat (who wears a white hat besides the Lone Ranger?) to the bolo/pens in the pocket/brace/sleepy-lidded inscrutable half-smile--it all communicates a complicated story. The wall is literally layered in memorabilia. My favorite part is the "Perk 'Em Up" sign next to the old man. Hope springs eternal (and apparently has free refills).
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This is a classic case of one of those photos that would not get good ratings here precisely because it is SO good.

 

As both Ton and Jeff have said, as well as others, this really captures something quite special. There's a level of intimacy, a great amount of life, energy, and storytelling, interesting elements and textures, lines and curves at work. It's, of course, a great face.

 

I agree with Ton about its potential. If you're at all interested in really learning about technique and post processing, I'd suggest making this a guinea pig. It's definitely not overexposed and I also wouldn't worry too much about the hat. Notice what shadows/highlights will do to the hat if you play with the highlights slider bar. With some work in photoshop, you'll see that you can affect selective portions of the photo, so you can start toning back some parts while leaving others as is, raising the levels in some places while lowering them in others.

 

My main suggestion here would be to put depth into this photo. His face itself can be a whole universe with a little attention to detail. Look at any of Annie Leibovitz's non-fashion and non-Hollywood portraits (I'll post one in the next comment box) and notice how light subtly changes over the face, how crevices are like roadmaps, etc. You certainly may want and may have a lighter touch—less contrast—than what she's done, but giving his face depth and a feeling that it is three dimensional will bring this to another level. I'll also post an Avedon for a much more neutral and less contrasty way to go, but still with depth, dimension, and interest. Note his use of soft shading on the face. How do you bring his features forward and allow the sides to recede? How do you draw us into his eyes so we are touched a little more deeply?

 

Then, there's the way the lines of his shirt work with the lines behind him. That could be something you could bring out . . . or make more subtle. The contrast to the graceful crocheted material behind him, the relationship of his white beard to that material. While it's nice that he's so a part of his environment, there are many ways to approach that to make his visual presence a little more interesting relative to the background. It's really not just a matter of contrast overall. For me, it's a matter of richness of texture and depth.

 

You've got something special here.

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Thank you very much for the encouragement and teaching. I promise I will work on this one and see what I can do.

 

Now that we have gone this far with folks looking at it, I think I will offer a bit of background. As most of you know I've been on the road for the last month. Most of you also know I'm pretty shy and self conscious about taking people's portraits. In this case, we arrived in Montpelier, Idaho, and I needed a latte. I needed wone bad! It seems I have this serious latte habit. Well, they don't have stuff like Starbucks in those parts, so we spotted this little hole in the wall place, and, despite my doubts that there would be much chance of getting a decent cup of coffee, much less a good latte, we proceeded to order up. While we were waiting this gent started up a conversation with us, and his friend (another picture to come) joined in. We got our lattes from the proprietress named Carla, but called "Lulu" by the old man, and I ll be damned if they weren't pretty good. We had planned on taking the drinks with us and hitting the road, but the conversation and atmosphere was so fun and full of local flavor, that we just stayed and soaked it in. Eventually it dawned on me to get my butt out to the car and bring the old D200 in to see if I could get a couple of snaps. I sat there with it for a bit, and then got my courage up and asked if they would mind if I took a few snaps. They kind of reluctantly said okay, so I snapped away. I'm not overjoyed with the results, but at least I did screw up enough courage to ask and snap. There will be more pics from this place coming as soon as I get some catching up done. I told Carla I would send her some prints, so I have to do that too.

 

All in all, these rare but wonderful types of encounters on the road are what entices me more than anything else. Only twice or three times did that kind of interaction and local participation happen in the whole trip of almost 4,000 miles, so they are to be cherished for sure.

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I came late to this one, and I love it ! a whole life is folded in this frame ! The man is the first plan , not young, has a medical problem that needs a crutch, still looks active, maybe writes,as his shirt pocket is full with pens.... looks interesting with his white trimed beard and hat ,typical for his surrounding for sure . I love the BG wall , full with photographic stories of people's life, his own probably interwoven in these stories of past reality( when he was younger), Looks a place he is used to spent his time there. I love the story of your meeting , wonderful human relation that are so compatible to the scene( with the coffee cap... ), you will send them the photos and your meeting will become another life detail on the wall...( nice suggestion you have already recieved....;-))
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I love this image..to me there isn't any blowout..he just happens to be wearing a light colored hat and there's a light throw hanging on the wall behind him...If you weren't shy, you could politely ask him to change his hat and take down the blanket...by the way..he looks like he could be your friend Juan's father the day after spending time at his favorite watering hole...Great work....Marjorie
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Nice work for certain. I don't think anyone is likely to see much detail in the highlights in this size of a screen image to begin with. You don't say how the image was captured or what sort of post processing was done which makes a difference in how you might go about adjusting the contrast.

 

I would duplicate the layer and set the new layer to "multiply" then add a dark mask to hide the new layer, next paint the mask with a soft white brush to reveal the parts of the darker layer that I wanted to burn in. After I got it close to where I thought it should be, I would reduce the opacity to 50 or 60%. It's almost always better to back off of your first edit a little.

 

You could also try reducing the the highlights to 250 from the max of 255 and or add a little bit of "noise" or grain to the highlight areas to make them print better.

 

I think you are very close with this exposure maybe 1/3 to 1/2 stop over but that's how you get details in the shadows. It's very subjective in the end and you are the best judge of the correct exposure.

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A very natural and simple portrait in situation with the backround...the technical apsects always refer to some trade-off or compromise taken (you can always play a bit more, a bit less)...what strikes me most is the natural and you preserve it wonderfully with little processing....I 've seen image heavily worked out to the finest details but then the natural is lost to the tech specs...

 

I also enjoy greatly the story of the shot, that you get out of your natural way and ask for shooting people...I think this kind "of out of my box" is essential if ones don't one to repeat images...congrats....

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"what strikes me most is the natural and you preserve it wonderfully with little processing....I 've seen image heavily worked out to the finest details but then the natural is lost to the tech specs..."

 

An alternative way of seeing suggestions about post processing:

 

It is very "natural" for most of us to sit down at a piano and play a scale that is not very smooth, that is choppy, does not have a good sense of tone, and does not rise toward its finish. Nevertheless, most of us pretty well know to start at middle C (as Julie Andrews says in The Sound of Music, "A very good place to start") and end at the key of C above it. It is the musician who learns the legato and staccato of things, how to hold his fingers, how best to depress the keys, how to build on his way up the scale and move the line of the scale along who we will want to hear play that beautiful Chopin Waltz or ragtime rhythm. I promise you, nothing of the "natural" is lost in a musician's learning of technique. He learns how to harness what comes naturally to him and how to make glorious-sounding music.

 

Why should photography be any different?

 

(Of course, some photographers overdo their processing, just as some musicians over-romanticize Beethoven and some scat singers sound screechy. That's about lack of artistic nuance and subtlety and not about technical details supposedly getting in the way of artistic expression.)

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Fred I basically agree... by the way I have nothing against processing as long as it support some expression and does not become the center of interest (which is not your case at all don't get me wrong)...the only thing I wanted to express to David is that for shooting people the natural is what strikes me most (I do not generalize, that's my opinion only)....but you're totally right that if the processing support the expressive nature of the image it's even better...
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Thanks for responding. I just felt the point was worth making. I've too often seen PN photographers use "art" as an excuse for not learning more about their craft, as if technique, learning, and process will get in the way of their extraordinary visions. You're right about technical supporting vision. I agree. Right now, I have a hard time separating my "vision" progress from my "technical" progress. They seem to feed each other. The point you make about bad overprocessing is important. I'd just like to add that even overprocessing can be artistic and well utilized. It's bad or unconscious overprocessing that's unfortunate. There are some very "processed" (could be called overprocessed) photos throughout history and contemporarily that are quite great.
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Thanks for the nice comments. Yes, the wall is needed for the environmental quality it provides, but it sure is a clutter. I guess a lot of have lives like that. I know mine is cluttered as hell. He told us some stories, and I'm sure he had many more to tell, but there came a time to move on.
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I love that bit about being Juan's father. I'm not too sure about that, but I do think he could pass for Ansel Adams' brother. Thanks to you.
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Thank you for the high praise. I'm really fond of that perk em up cup too. It just fits right in even though this guy is drinking a cold drink.
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Thanks a bunch for your thoughts. Some of what you are suggesting is a bit beyond my PS knowledge. I'll take a look at some of the techniques you are suggesting and take into account what Fred suggested and see if I can improve this a bit.
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Thanks so much for your thoughts on this. I think what you are saying can be meshed quite well with what Fred is saying. I've been quite guilty of over processing more than once, and Fred has probably pointed it out more than once, so I know what he is NOT suggesting. I think you and Fred basically arrive at about the same place in the long run. I can never hope to be the technician Fred is, but we all have our strong suits. And one other thing I'm quite sure of is that none of us really believes technique trumps content.
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"I can never hope to be the technician Fred is" sure you can, if you put in some effort

 

 

"none of us really believes technique trumps content" while basically true that's no reason to not work on your technique

 

have a ball

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