plangereis

A great model, and portrait, Efim!  I like the tonality of this B&W, and the look on the model's face is great in terms of the ambiguous nature of it.  I know that many portrait photographers would not like the hair across her face, but for me it makes the shot more impromptu, and therefore, natural.  Nicely done.

Thanks Joao.  It is a very other-worldly place, and must see place for photographers.  Take care.

Thanks Alf.  We got lucky while in White Pocket.  It was overcast in the morning, which helped with the sunrise light and pink clouds in other shots, but it made the lighting quite flat for a while.  Then the sky began to open up, and BAM!...Nice lighting against very moody clouds!  Take care, and all the best.

Another shot of the surreal landscape one finds at White Pocket. Let me

know what you think of it, good or bad.

A shot taken at the end of the day in White Pocket Arizona. Let me know

what you think of the processing and composition. Thanks in advance for

your comments.

Hi Bill.  We were lucky enough to get into the library well before the public was allowed in, and this allowed many of our club members to capture many great images.  All the best.

Thanks again, Bill, for the kind words.  I must get to your portfolio and have a look at it soon.  Take care.

Thanks so much, Bill.  I worked on this one a bit in post to make it what it is now, but I feel the time was well spent.  Take care, and all the best.

Thanks for the tip, William.  I never thought about doing that.  I will do this to the original, and email it to the mother for the okay!  Take care, and thanks for stopping by to help.

Thanks Stephen.  When I took on this session I was a little uncertain of how far to go with the processing, even though I did a bunch of research on this area.  I am curious to to see if any others, such as professional headshot people, comment on this one.  Ultimately it is his mother's opinion that matters the most as she has taken her son to a number of professional studios, and said that my images were as good as the rest she has had done.  Take care my friend.

Thanks Ryan.  I already have a print made for an upcoming B&W competition.  All the best.

Here is the original for comparison.

This is an image from my first head shot session. I am going to attach the

original for comparison and would like to know how my processing is. Is it

over the top? How could I improve on it? Thanks in advance for your help

on this one.

Thanks Efim, Stephen, Wanghan, and Richard for your comments and kind words.  I posted this because I am thinking of entering it into a B&W competition.  Having read positive reviews here and in my Flickr, I will go ahead and get a print made.  Richard, I processed this image in Lightroom 3, then Silver Efex Pro, and then in Photoshop CS5, and then some final tweaks in Lightroom 3 again.  Thanks for your feedback.  Take care.

A shot of the lone tree in White Pocket. I decided to try a B&W version.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks for your comments, John.  I know that this and many other images i have posted may not work as well as others, but like I said in the previous post, I like to try to get away from all the popular hubub when visiting places like Antelope Canyon, and find other things that interest me.  I think that one of the big challenges, especially for photographers is trying to get a new perspective on a familiar overshot area.  I found when I was first getting back into photography that I focused on images of iconic places and would try to repeat what someone else has done, but i found only a little satisfaction in this approach.  This does not mean I will shoot iconic places from familiar perspectives or vantage points as i continue to do that as well, but now I shoot to please myself more than anything else.

Hi Joscelyn.  With regard to lightening some of the dark areas, I am of two minds.  First, I would have had to braket this scene, which I did not as i like to try to capture things once, and second, I tried to lighten these dark areas, but as you most likely know this resulted in some digital noise.  In the long run I am okay with the wide range of light because that is hat you saw in this canyon in most areas, especially when you shot almost straight up, which is what I did most of the time.  I find the contrast between the shadow areas acts as an organic kind of frame for the lit areas, and i like this aspect.  Each photographer goes into an area with preconceived notions and ideas about what the final result will be, just as I did, and I think that is what people should do.  If we all looked at things the same then we would have a bunch of images that looked the same, and to me that is not what art is about.  I am more about pushing limits when I can, and this canyon  offers anyone entering it that opportunity!  Take care.

Thanks Joscelyn.  It ws hard to go to a small area like Upper Antelope, and not shoot the iconic areas that the guides direct you to.  We were lucky enough to be with a guide who only took two of us, and allowed us to search for ideas on our own, as well as guide us to popular shots.  I could have spent a week in this canyon easily, even if it is only about 1/8 of a mile long!  Take care, and thanks for stopping by my humble little world.

Thanks Joscelyn.  I like when my images are open to different interpretations.  Your perspective, although different than mine, opens up my mind to seeing my own images in different ways,  Thanks for that.

Thanks for the comments, Jeff and Wanghan.  I understand your pont of view, Jeff, and tend to agree that this is not one of the strongest of my Antelope Canyon images, but I still like the play between the shadow areas and the lit up areas, which was my intention in this shot.  Take care.

Thanks Wanghan.  Another case of being in the right place at the right time, and also being observant.  I took a sequence of shots with these two characters.  Take care.

Thank you Rajat and Wanghan.  I got luky as I too this shot while coming down an escalator from a street crossing bridge in Vegas.  I just happened to have my 70-200 lens on!  All the best.

A shot of a section I found different than the classical formations inside

the canyon. I liked the almost optical illusion created by the areas in

shadow, and the lit areas. Let em know what you think of the composition

and processing.

A slightly different take on the canyon. What do you think of this

perspective, and the processing? Thanks in advance for your comments.

You are way too kind, Wanghan.  I like my image a lot, but I do not know if it is one of the best! Thanks anyway.  Take care, and all the best.

Paul