Girl in Purple

[Mike Buckley]

I saw the girl coming toward me. My first thought was every photographer's nightmare, that I had the wrong lens -- a 12-24 zoom -- on my camera. I knew the moment would be spoiled if I asked her and her family to wait for me to change lenses. So, I made the best of the situation.

The occasion was the Day of the Dead celebration in Oaxaca, Mexico, where families gather in the cemetery and have an absolutely great time. This little girl was in full costume, which was extraordinarily unusual. I don't speak Spanish and the family didn't speak English, but that didn't get in the way. The parents were grateful for the attention that I paid to their daughter.

I don't think I ever showed the image to anyone other than my wife because I never got it to live up to my expectations. More than three years after capturing the photo, I just now came across it and had my ah ha moment. (Translation: Duh. It suddenly came upon me how to post-process it and I should have known all along.)

C&C encouraged, as always.

[jeeperman]

Mike, my first thought was a light vignette. I was wrong. lol The vignette changed the look of the vail. You have worked it nicely, which I suspect was more difficult than it appears.

[Mike Buckley]

You gave me a good idea, Paul. At least it seems like a good idea. I'll check it tomorrow once my eyes are fresh.

[Mike Buckley]

Now that my eyes have gotten a good night's sleep, I like the changes that I made so much that I replaced the photo in the first post. I expanded on Paul's idea of using a vignette (it's only partially a vignette), though I went in a direction and style that enhances the look of the vail. I also brightened the skin tones just a tad.

[ucci]

Nice work! As a suggestion, which means 4/5ths of 2/20ths of bugger all from someone who readily concedes portraiture is well beyond his ability, would it help if the purple costume on the girl's LHS were extended to cover the orange splash of colour from the garment worn underneath it? It is a bit distracting and the theme is ' Girl in Purple'
But a well framed shot which I found grabbed my attention. The handling of the background is superb.

Just one other non consequential thing. What colour is a hiccup?....... How about "Burple?"

[Mike Buckley]

"Burple" works for me.

I could easily change the orange bit of clothing to a complementary color and I might do that. For now, I kind of like that this is a little girl, not yet a young woman, which is exemplified partly by the orange clothing protruding from underneath the purple costume.

[pasusan]

Mike - I really like your photo... My only complaint is that you replaced the original one before I could see it - I'm really wondering about it now. I think there should be a rule that if you want to change the photo you have to add the new one and leave the original one in so we can all follow the thought process.

[ucci]

Mike - I really like your photo... My only complaint is that you replaced the original one before I could see it - I'm really wondering about it now. I think there should be a rule that if you want to change the photo you have to add the new one and leave the original one in so we can all follow the thought process.

I wanted to say something in that vein but was too chicken to do so!

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, Susan! Shame on you, Ken, for being so bashful.

The original version is shown below. Please view the two images in the Lytebox, going back and forth between them, and let me know if you agree with me that the (now) second photo in the thread is inferior to the (now) first photo.

[pasusan]

I agree with you Mike! Thanks for putting the original back. You did a great job with the vignetting - it is subtle enough as to be unnoticeable until you compare with the original. The darkness of the veil around the edges seems natural because of the overlapping material. Great job - very nice picture.

[Mike Buckley]

You did a great job with the vignetting - it is subtle enough as to be unnoticeable until you compare with the original.

Thanks for mentioning that! Ironically, that's exactly why I initially chose to remove the original; I felt that making it possible to switch back and forth between the two photos would make the vignette appear more intense than it really is.

By the way, I didn't just darken the photo in the vignette. I also added the light purple color of the veil to the vignette. I have never had the opportunity to use that technique in the past and might never have it again.