Critique #65 - Portrait

[Gabriel M.A.]

Enter my entry. 🙂

R-D1, M-Rokkor 40/2, iso1600, 1/12 sec., probably f2.8.
B&W conversion in RAW developer.
Curves adjusted in PSP.

My daughter playing violin for us on X-mas day.

I like the diagonal from the face down the violin, but unfortunately the scroll is cut off the frame. The use of sensor noise is use effectively in this monochrome photograph, so the choice to use B&W was not only for aesthetic purposes, but to make use of a situation to one's advantage, and add "character" to the feel of the photograph.

The focus is evidently on her face, and that stands out, so we are looking at her, and not her playing, which is secondary, as is the Christmas tree in the background, situating the shot.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Here is my image ..posted this in another thread ....but interested in your comments .....Thanx

I think this is a magnificent use of blur. I'm sure there would be many people that would complain that the face is not in focus, that you can't see the face, that nothing is sharp. Mediocre this shot is not, and will not please its unlikeness.

This engages the viewer to focus, to see the subject. The light, the shades. All is not concrete, but we know what it is. We know what it is not. So evocative and teasing, as if the photographer is communicating through...art.

And art is forgotten when people look for sharpness, for adherence to strict little rules, for simple, fast satisfaction and noncomplications. Yet, this is so simple.

Well done. It is a portrait. Who? Hard to say exactly, but I like what I see, and both my right and left brain are satisfied.

 

[ampguy]

critiques

critiques

visiondr - nice shot of a youngster with his wagon. It looks like he is happy and ready for a day's full of play with the wagon. Nice and sharp, with a pleasing background.

RML - nice b&w portrait of your daughter in front of the tree. It looks like she is concentrating on playing her best. A very nice photo.

shiro_kuro - very dreamy photo, the blur makes it like a painting, soft and abstract, very nice.

Gabriel - Nice contrasty colors, very sharp and a nice clean background, excellent.

 

[RML]

ampguy: it took me a while to get used to this shot. It disturbed me. 🙂 After having looked at it for some time, however, I look at it differently. The girl's expression is great: absent from the world, yet focused (probably on a tv program or such). The rat on her shoulder doesn't bother her, as if it always lives there. The rat seems to be looking at the same thing as the girl. There's a story for everyone in that shot. The shot makes me wonder and imagine.

 

[RML]

visiondr: nicely balanced shot, great colours and a wonderful expression on the boy's face. The only little niggle is the lack of a fourth wheel. A great detail, though, is the boy's huge eyes. They draw you in the shot and lead you to his smile. The smile pulls my view up again to his eyes. And so on.

 

[RML]

shiro_kuro: great use of blur. And a wonderful subject. I'm just a little distracted by the placement of the geisha: a bit too much in the middle of the shot. Otherwise it's a great shot.

 

[RML]

Gabriel: I love the vibrant colours, the near perfect skin colour, and the slanted position of the lady's body together with the contrasting position of her head. The only thing is that her bright yellow shawl is drawing my view down to her hands and there's nothing that pulls my view back up again to her face. That shawl is a mighty strong magnet.

 

[ampguy]

thanks all.

thanks all.

the story behind my photo is that this girl is up way past her normal bedtime watching tv during the winter holidays. normally she would aggressively fight any rabbit ear antics or photos with unapproved stuffed animals, but by being so weary she is letting her guard down.

ampguy: it took me a while to get used to this shot. It disturbed me. 🙂 After having looked at it for some time, however, I look at it differently. The girl's expression is great: absent from the world, yet focused (probably on a tv program or such). The rat on her shoulder doesn't bother her, as if it always lives there. The rat seems to be looking at the same thing as the girl. There's a story for everyone in that shot. The shot makes me wonder and imagine.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

My posted photo was taken with a Leica M6 and a Nikon 35mm f/2.5 LTM lens, wide-open. Given the feedback (and its stead) I can see that the prevalent notion about portraiture is to focus the face, and blur everything out. That's what normally people want. Normally, portraits are also posed, and taken with artificial light and telephoto lenses.

There is no color correction or saturation; the colors are as shot.

This was taken with a moderate wide-angle lens, with everything in focus, and unposed. She was just standing there, looking out the window, waiting for her husband to come back as they were getting ready to leave. Her lively, yet quiet demeanor is what I wanted to capture. The scarf, her hands, just like her hair, her eyes, her lips, they are all important. And that is why they are all in focus, and all in the frame.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

I'm just a little distracted by the placement of the geisha

I don't understand this comment at all. How are you distracted? What is it distracting you from? What are you looking at mainly, that the placement is taking your attention from it? How is the main subject of a portrait distracting from the main subject of a portrait?

Could you elaborate on your distraction?

 

[visiondr]

My shot was of my son (then 2 years old) this summer with his favorite outdoor toy; his wagon. I too wish the fourth wheel were completely in the photo. Unfortunately, this was a case of not paying attention to the framelines.

It was shot with my Leica MP, 50mm Elmar-M, and Portra NC 160 film, scanned on a Nikon Coolscan IV at highest resolution. Only mild sharpening was applied in P'shop with dumbing down to net resolution.

Thanks for your comments.

Ron

 

[RML]

Gabriel, let me explain as good as I can.

The position of the subject doesn't feel right. Somehow there's an imbalance in the shot: too much weight on the right side and not enough to counter on the left side. The negative space on the left doesn't balance the railing and the light on the right. I think this imbalance could be brought in balance if the subject would be either more to the left or to the right.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Alright, fair enough; valid points.

Still, that doesn't explain how it is "distracting" and what it is distracting you from; I am curious to learn what the distraction is and what is the main focus that you are being distracted from.

Also, do all photographs need to be balanced? Does this one need to be balanced? It's already out-of-focus, so why should it be "properly" balanced, when it's "improperly" focused, logically speaking? Would it be fair to say that if the main subject were not centered, that other viewers would feel that it is not balanced?

 

[RML]

Still, that doesn't explain how it is "distracting" and what it is distracting you from; I am curious to learn what the distraction is and what is the main focus that you are being distracted from.

The imbalance between positive and negative space is disturbing me (perhaps initially I should have written disturbing instead of distracting).

Also, do all photographs need to be balanced? Does this one need to be balanced? It's already out-of-focus, so why should it be "properly" balanced, when it's "improperly" focused, logically speaking? Would it be fair to say that if the main subject were not centered, that other viewers would feel that it is not balanced?

I'm very partial to the notions of Japanese and Chinese aesthetics and as such I have become attuned to the importance of positive and negative space. I feel an imbalance in those forces in this photo, and that imbalance is disturbing me, distracting me from fully appreciating the beauty and emotion in this photo.

 

[shiro_kuro]

Interesting comments ...my shot was random ..standing on a dark balcony watching some performers and this women appeared beside me so I took her photograph .. there was hardly any light and handheld and this was the result .....which I am pleased with .. This is a cropped version ,the originally shows more of the railing hence not so centered .

Visiondr wrote "Distracting background and foreground. The apparently metal railings don't seem to belong with such an 19th century (at least to my Western mind) tradition. Though the obliquely angled railing does serve to help bring my eye back to the subject. " I really do not mind the background or the metal railing .... It belongs because it is now and this was the environment she was in ...for me it shows the how far Japan has drifted away from its culture and more often than not you catch glimpses of traditional Japan through concrete ,neon lights and metal railings ...

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

I really do not mind the background or the metal railing .... It belongs because it is now and this was the environment she was in ...for me it shows the how far Japan has drifted away from its culture and more often than not you catch glimpses of traditional Japan through concrete ,neon lights and metal railings ...

Thank you for the info; it gives the image more context. I don't understand why the use of the verb/adverb "distraction" is made in lieu of something that is not or won't be understood.

To me, everything in this picture has my attention.

 

[visiondr]

I really do not mind the background or the metal railing .... It belongs because it is now and this was the environment she was in ...for me it shows the how far Japan has drifted away from its culture and more often than not you catch glimpses of traditional Japan through concrete ,neon lights and metal railings ...

I get it. I see now what you meant. My gut reaction is that the 21st century elements make sense only insofar as they are clearly, unambiguously of the here and now.
In other words, a bit of out of focus neon (as you mention) in the background would have been the icing on the cake as far as the temporal juxtaposition of the Geisha and today's Japan. Of course, you can't just put neon wherever you want. You take the picture with what you have (sounds like Rumsfeld's comments: "You go to war with the army you have.").


Ron