kezia

Critiques welcomed

Critiques welcomed

Critiques welcomed

Thanks for the comments, Stuart. Would it have helped if I had thought ahead and blurred the background a bit to help him stand out? I don't really want to tone down the colour of the background because the contrast between the sunny, bright background and the shadow on the lonely looking man and the pigeons was what attracted me to the atmosphere of this scene in the first place.

Critiques welcomed

I haven't reached a final conclusion on this week's picture, but the comments so far seem more indicative of a subconscious reaction to the artificiality of some aspects of the picture than to what is actually happening here. Square format? Surely, whether you like the effect or not, cropping would destroy the intentionally weird perspective and the cluttered, claustrophobic atmosphere. I don't understand the comments on softbox use and the flash reflection in the 'window'. The main light source is surely meant to be the television screen (and that is what is reflected). I don't even have a problem reading his expression at my screen size. There is a need to 'read' small details in this kind of photo - for example, the dropped ticket - and that kind of detail doesn't perhaps display well at this small size, but I love pictures that tell a story with lots of detail to move my eyes around. Also, I enjoy seeing photoshop used to produce an atmosphere and enrich the story at a more human level for a change. So, no final opinion on this as a photo, but I do think it tells its story well.

Critiques welcomed

Critiques welcomed

Critiques welcomed

Critiques welcomed

Critiques welcomed

Critiques welcomed

Critiques welcomed

Critiques welcomed

Doug, another possibility may be that the background is a textured plaster wall (the balcony wall?) with a picture of trees and some texture digitally added and blended with it. Of course, Gundega doesn't have to explain if she thinks that will destroy the magic, but why don't we just ask her? I wish such beautifully subtle backgrounds had been available when my children were having their 'Zellers specials'.

Critiques welcomed

Sorry, Doug, I forgot to say that I'm referring to your version in my comments.

I accept now that the patch beside her elbow is the same value as the area you point to. However, shouldn't the darker tree trunk values that you point to below her elbow logically continue up behind her arm? I also prefer how in Gundega's version the tree branch on the right is anchored to the small piece of trunk that is visible rather than floating as it is in your crop. I also think that darker area of trunk at the edge behind her, even though quite small, frames the picture, defining the edge and giving it a better balance.

PS. That's a bandage on the heart she is holding, not a ribbon, so I disagree with Doug Burgess and Bill Tate here: this is not a portrait that is meant to be prettied up.

 

I think it looks amazing technically. One tiny thing only - the background visible between her elbow and body seems to me just little bit lighter than the rest of the background and a slightly different texture.

 

PPS. Sorry, Linda, I notice I was wrong - you don't bite your nails.

I particularly like the use of the typical props of the Victorian portrait where children were often represented not as children per se but as adults in miniature. This combined with the fairytale 'child lost in a forest' background adds to the unsettling feeling of childhood under threat. She is a beautiful child, but also, I suspect, an actress and model for her mother's message in these photos. The sombre and unsettling mood here is, I think, well supported by her unnervingly unswerving gaze, the prominence of the hands with their bitten fingernails, making it much more than just a pretty portrait in the Victorian style. I agree with Florian, Kierkegaard sounds about right.

Critiques welcomed

Critiques welcomed

Critiques welcomed

I really like the lighting, composition and DOF here. He is looking at the camera, so knows there is a photo being taken, which is good (it feels less voyeuristic than sneaking a photo), but he doesn't look as if he really wants the picture taken. I would have preferred to see signs of genuine interaction in his expression - he looks a bit stiff and uncomfortable here. Could you maybe have talked to him a bit before taking the photo to get him more relaxed about it?

Just a quick shot of the living room to add to my house folder. I

hope to repeat it with better control of the lighting soon.