ricardojmendez

From a recent set of experiments. Comments are welcome.

There are some thing about the photo that I like (the radius of folds from her shirt, the way the necklace centers and weighs the image, even light with just enough shadows to add depth), but the boxed-in framing and her blank expression don't do it for me. Looking at what hair is visible, it seems like there was a lot of movement in this photograph that we are not seeing, movement that was constrained by the cropping. As Paul mentioned, it looks awkward.

Really good exposure for the lighting conditions you describe, and a great moment to catch the pose - the only thing missing is a small pool of blood spreading below her.

 

One thing bothers me, which is the jagged edges on her arms. I can dismiss that as JPEG artifacts, though, but it might have been caused by the USM.

Hi Christopher,

 

Good to see some new work from you, and to see that you're experimenting. I like the framing, composition and idea - the image looks almost tender and with no sexual connotations, like she's expecting to be fed and they're all alone in the world. For exactly that reason I don't like the solarization, since it brings to mind that somebody else was present and worked the image.

 

Could you post an unsolarized one? I'm sure it will work better.

Hi,

 

Thanks for the notes. All I had with me was the 50mm lens, because they wouldn't allow me to bring my camera bag into the hospital and so I had to carry the camera on my neck - no accessories. Also, light was pretty bad so I had to take advantage of the lens' f/1.8, even at EI 1600.

 

Mauricio: about the tone (which is more pinkish than sepia), my wife insisted. She said that the photo looked too cold without it, and that baby deserved something warmer. After looking at the results I agree with her - black and white looks just too stark for him (then again, I'm seeing it with uncle's eyes).

A translation of Rodolfo's comment:

Language, my dear friend shouldn't be a barrier for our communication, I hope you have somebody who can help you with the Spanish. These are spectacular images, I hope you won't end it here and keep experimenting, they're beautiful and I think they can accomplish much more. I should also mention that probably in the screen they don't look as good as in print. I hope to see more work about it, I think they are of an invaluable quality and esthetic.

Exquisite mix of light and shadows, Nelson, and you did a good job with the composition to match it. This is something I would hang a print of.

 

At first I thought that it was T-Max because of the texture. Did it come out of the camera looking like this, or did you do some post-processing to add the texture?

Impish. How obvious it is that she is smiling, even if we don't see her mouth!

 

A short technical question: you mentioned that it is pushed 3 stops and was exposed at EI 1600, but I thought that XP2 Super was ASA 400 (which would make 1600 a 2 stop push). Was it shot at 1600 and developed at 3200?

Excelente foto, Néstor. Preciosos colores (aún si fueron algo alterados), un buen uso de objetos que podrían haber sido distractores para enmarcar la foto, y un arreglo interesante de triángulos dobles: primero el de la grúa, y luego el de las aves. Estupenda.

 

Interesting how in the right light, anything can look pagan. I only wish that the three signs weren't there, so that it seemed even more primal. As for the technical minutiae, how did you meter this? Both the figure and the glass on the back look well exposed.

Great shot, full of personality. This expressiveness and look of "I know more than I'm letting on" is exactly why I love cats. Does she/he have the highlights on over the eyes and nose, or was that an effect of the light?

Nice cat, quite similar to my own tabby. It's good that the fur looks shiny, but the image itself looks underexposed. Try bracketing and see what comes out.

A candid portrait of my brother and his newborn son. While it is a

family photo, I think it merits requesting critique. I thought it was

time to post something more personal.

 

Comments are welcome.

Hola Mauricio,

 

Claro que cuenta una historia, especialmente cuando el ojo logra ubicar exáctamente lo que está viendo - entonces comienza uno a tratar de encontrar distintas sombras y tratar de averiguar qué pudo haber en algunas áreas (como el pequeño sub-techo a la izquierda, abajo).

 

De primera entrada pensé que un encuadre un poco más abierto podría habernos permitido poner la casa más en contexto y así ubicarnos más rápidamente de lo que trataba la foto, pero la verdad me gusta más la calidad casi abstracta que tiene este versión.

Hi Ellery,

Good to see some new (well, newly posted) material from you.

I agree with David, the off-center composition helps by avoiding to make the portrait too dead-on her face. Since it's already focused tightly on her head, centering it would probably have weighed it too much. Make up, hair and light are all good, and you managed to softly light her face without any obvious hint of where the light comes from. I'm still not sure about the highlights on the sides of her neck, though.

The only issue I have is that, pretty as it is, it doesn't tell me anything. It makes a good contrast against the less cosmetically perfect but more interesting Dressing Room #1. Then again, this is more like a glamour shot - it is supposed to make her look good, all other considerations pushed aside.

Hmpf, the changes might be subtler than I thought.

 

What I did was mainly highlight the face and hair, to bring more light on his face and to try and offset the bright reflection on the jacket.

 

Our monitors might be calibrated differently, since at least in the hair I think the difference is more plain (try flipping between the two to see what I mean). I calibrated my monitor according to the grayscale bar provided at the bottom of the page at http://www.usefilm.com/

I like the mix of colours and seasons. Have you considered cropping it a bit at the top? In this way, nothing but a carpet of fall trees would be visible.

Simple and well executed - love the repetition. It feels really grainy for T-Max 100, did you add it later on or was it pushed? Or is it just my imagination?

Hi,

This is a new version of another one of my photos. I'm trying to get a feeling for what different hues in shadows and midtones do to an image, as well as how the grain structure affects the effect people get from them. I'd like to read your comments on which one you prefer and why.

There are specially two changes that I wonder about the most. First, does it look more in focus than the original? If it does, do you feel that help or detract from the image? And second, do you feel that the extra light on his face removes any sense of mystery that might have been there before?

Thanks!

It's not a bad image - I specially like the tones and the sense of wind in the trees - but there are some things that need improvement. A few suggestions:

 

- The small shrine/house/building is almost lost in the image. It's ok for it to show only in silhouette, but here it almost seems part of one of the trees. Moving to either side would have allowed it to be framed on its own.

 

- Go wider! I feel like we need room to breathe, more space to look at more trees and the interesting secondary tones in the horizon.

 

Good luck,

I like it! Just off-center enough to add some imbalance, subtle but almost alien lighting and good detail, even in the dark cloth.

 

Was it hand coloured, or did you just use coloured light sources?

I like the tones. You did a good job, considering the apparently low light and a subject that seemed to be moving.

 

Is it just me, or does she look like Alanis Morissette?

Hi Mauricio,

 

It's sort of sad, he looks like he's seen better years. I couldn't get over the look on his face until I read that he was watching another torero - probably reminiscing of better years.

 

Composition is fine, since he's well placed between hte two white stripes and not too centered (he seemed to have been kind enough to help composition), but there's a softness to the image - I don't know if from the scan, the focus or the JPEG compression - that removes details that could add a lot to it. Take for instance his face: there seem to be wrinkles or folds on his cheeks that would have added to the idea of a bullfighter past his prime. It is also a problem in the hands and stockings, where the softness makes them look fuzzy.

 

Interesting tones, it looks more like infrared than Provia. How did you achieve it?

A traditional nude, but a well executed one Gavin. I'm not sure how I feel about her being cut off at the knees, even though it does make her upper body feel elongated. Nice job on the balance as well, both of the body and the light.