Critique #56 *Portrait* 5 Participants

[shiro_kuro]

@jeff .... this is the hardest one for me as I really like him and this photo......I think you captured the moment ......I only wish there were more light and sharpness in his eyes ---it seems the focus is a little bit past his face ..more around the ears ..... also maybe a different position as to avoid the brightness in the upper right corner and perhaps more of the books as the background ...its all there I just feel you could of used the light and the surroundings more to your advantage ....

 

[shiro_kuro]

I just finished reading all the comments ....great feedback on all the images so far ...Thanks !
My image was taken at the entrance to the shower ...and the war paint is actually a facial mask .. as it is drying you cannot move your face ..so the expression is through the eyes and mouth ...with her face frozen It was interesting to me how a she would come across ... I only wish I could bring more light to the eyes .. i think that is a challenge to do in a portrait ...and I always look for that ... I am a beginner so maybe I look to much at small details and not the photograph as a whole ...... mostly my critique is more from emotional response ..my personal likes and dislikes rather than a firm grasp of the technical aspects of photography .... allowing the chance to critique your images is very helpful ... Thankyou

 

[raid]

Charley: I find it very useful to allow us free expression of our thoughts and opinions when critiquing photos. We don't have to like what is being said here, but maybe we can become more openminded about accepting other views as input to our work.

Raid

 

[EmilGil]

It is an arranged portrait, taken in the middle of Gothenburg (Sweden) about two years ago, the girl is a former colleague of mine. This picture was taken on one of our first shoots, since then we've shot 4-5 times more.

One of the first things I thought about when I uploaded this shot was that I should have taken a small step to the left to put her head more in the center of the tree behind, exactly as you propose Charley. On the print, there is a just discernible tone difference between the scarf and the sky but I agree a small burn-in would have been suitable. Her dress was partially open in the back so no buttons undone by mistake. I think a similar shot today would have been much more relaxed and allowed her to look more comfortable.

As to JeffGreen's last comment, thank you 🙂 However, I do think there is a huge difference between setting up a portrait like this and street shooting with a rangefinder. I'm but a beginner in both fields, but I find it much more difficult to point my camera at somebody on the street. I've learned lots here at RFF, but I feel that my focus has come to equipment, not pictures. I never took the time to join threads like this but this is definately not the last time!

 

[raid]

Emil: Bergen is a very photogenic city with plenty of opportunities for street photography. Wait for the chance to observe a street musician, then oberve the observers.


Raid

 

[nico]

I agree with Raid, Bergen is a beatiful and photogenic city. I've been there a couple of year ago and had a good time 🙂
bye
nico

 

[raid]

Wow, lots of fun and useful tips reading your comments.
Raid, I think your experiments are interesting so feel free to try new versions of my photos 🙂.
From your critiques I had a couple of toughts I'd like to share with you right after Charley's comment.
Ciao
nico

Nico: I am waiting for your shared thoughts ... 🙂

Raid

 

[nico]

Nico: I am waiting for your shared thoughts ... 🙂

Raid

Ok, my friend, I've just eat a tasty pizza and i'm in the right mood 🙂.
what really stroke me about the mistery in shiro_kuro's portrait is that in the comments I (and Jeffgreene too) did not use he/she pronoun and in two different comments were used "he" in one and "she" in another: the portrait is so misterious to hide the real personality of the subject; I think this is really great (lets go figure: a photo is shot to show something but in this case is hiding something and this - imho- is just great). The same happens with the background: as Raid I thought it was an open refrigeretor door but it was another "brilliant disguise"!

Then on Raid's portrait. I'm in a "total b/w" period so the b/w conversion is a great improvement for me.

On EmilGil portrait: I forgot to mention that I like composition because her pose perfectly cut as a diagonal the photo; i do not know if it's "correct" or break some composition rules but I really like it.

As already wrote, I have nothing more to say about JeffGreene portrait, I like it "as is"

about my shot, I took it while Gaia was chatting with our neighbour Marcella. She's a very brave woman, she did some very difficult choises recently but she has a lot life and energy to spend. I'd like to try to catch some of this dynamism changing the point of view and showing the hand with glasses (she moved it a lot while she was talking!!). Raid, even though I'm not fond of sepia toning feel free to experiment it on my photos 🙂

Thanks everybody for the nice comments, I had a lot of fun here,
ciao
Nico

 

[raid]

Nico: As regard to Charley's photo of a masked person, I first commented on "him", but then read your comment and I edited my comment to be "her".
I also like my B&W conversion more than the original color one.

This discusison is flowing well. I like it.

Raid

 

[nico]

Raid,
i did not mean that using him than her was a lack of respect (hope that Charley thinks the same) but I just wanted to point out the sense of mistery of the shot. 🙂
bye
Nico

 

[shiro_kuro]

Raid,
i did not mean that using him than her was a lack of respect (hope that Charley thinks the same) but I just wanted to point out the sense of mistery of the shot. 🙂
bye
Nico

No problem ..... as you can always comment freely on my images ... as to the gender it is interesting that you and Raid bring this up ... For me this images does come across very asexual ..

 

[raid]

Charley: Thanks for clearing up the gender issue.
Raid

 

[nico]

Charley: Thanks for clearing up the gender issue.
Raid

thanks Chaley, i hope I've been not unfair.
bye
nico

 

[raid]

This thread has so far over 900 views. It has set a record in the critique forum!

Raid