Lady of Mystery

[RBSinTo]

This was taken on a horribly contrasty f16 kind of day down in the Kensington Market district, here in Toronto.
I noticed a woman wearing a wonderful straw hat, standing outside a cafe in the bright sun. Behind her was the interior of the cafe, which was in deep shadow and outlining her exquisitely
She was looking away from me, what could be seen of her face in shadow, so I exposed for the hat to give her an air of mystery.
motorized Nikon F with meterless, eyelevel prism
Nikkor 180 2.8 ED AIS manual focus
Agfa RSX 100 ISO colour slide
exposure 5.6 @ 1/1000th

[gregj1763]

And it has worked well Robert, the red hat and blue denim jacket compliment each other.
Great image, look forward to seeing more of your photography and welcome to CiC

[Shadowman]

Nicely exposed and composed.

[JamesScott86]

Very nice find and shot.

[John 2]

Welcome Robert. Good starter. Well seen and composed. my only thought is that the skin tones and jacket could lose a bit of magenta (?) perhaps.

[chauncey]

The hot spots on her hands are something that needs taken care of...otherwise great shot.

[xpatUSA]

And it has worked well Robert, the red hat and blue denim jacket compliment each other.
Great image, look forward to seeing more of your photography and welcome to CiC

+1. An opportunity well seized.

Perhaps a tone reduction in curves, just at the upper end? I'd use L in Lab if possible to keep the hues in the highlights - in RawTherapee there is a checkbox for keeping hues and a slider for protecting skin-tones, if you have that app.

Kind of like this - although I'm sure LR or PS can do similar:


.

[RBSinTo]

Thanks to all who have commented on this shot.
I appreciate the suggestions, and will play with the original scan to see if I can make them, and if I agree with the results.
Please understand that I am a Luddite using old manual focus film cameras and lenses, and that my expertise in Photoshop (I have CS3) is limited to say the least. To be completely truthful, while I appreciate Ted's (xpatUSA) suggestions, I really haven't got the faintest notion what he's talking about, or how to achieve them. For the most part because I shoot mainly street I tend to do very little to my scans both because I have neither the expertise nor the desire to sit at a computer for hours to work on images. Also I'm more interested in the story-telling aspect of my photos than whether they are perfect or not.
I am criticized for this shortcoming by the other members of my Evaluation Group here in Toronto, and while I'm trying to spend more time doing Post-Processing for me it is tough sledding.

[xpatUSA]

To be completely truthful, while I appreciate Ted's (xpatUSA) suggestions, I really haven't got the faintest notion what he's talking about, or how to achieve them.

Sorry, Robert, I got carried away as usual. It's hard to always know at what level to write. Too simple and the cognoscenti can get irritated; too complicated and some folks end up puzzled. I'm often guilty of thinking that if I know a bit then everyone else does, tsk!

As Chauncey said, the highlights on the hands need attention. If you're not into curves of any kind , simply adjusting a highlight slider downward would perhaps take some of the shine off those knuckles. The steps that I illustrated previously were a just more drastic form of highlight reduction with a correspondingly greater effect.

OT, is there still a Kodak factory in Toronto? I recall going there years ago to help install a Ruston gas turbine power plant.

[RBSinTo]

Ted,
While my level of photographic expertise is high (I've been shooting since 1977, am an advanced member of my club and am an accredited Judge), my level of Post-Processing skill is abysmally low, and for the most part rudimentary, so, much of the tech-talk goes right over my head.
I'll give eliminating the highlights on the knuckles a shot, likely by using the clone tool to "stamp" it out with some of her darker skin.
Kodak plant was closed a number of years ago, and the derelict buildings razed a few years ago for re-development.
I used to go there to attend the photo salons that the Greater Toronto Council of Camera Clubs (CTCCC) held in the Auditorium which was a wonderful place.
Sadly nothing of it left.
And while there are still a few places to get print film developed, there is only one place left in Toronto that does my E-6 processing, and they send it to a lab in Montreal.
It is tough to be a Film only shooter in today's Digital world.

[IzzieK]

It does not matter here at CiC what sort of camera you use to show your finished product. IT IS! the finished shot that is more important. And in this regard, I like your composition...Welcome to CiC.

[RBSinTo]

It does not matter here at CiC what sort of camera you use to show your finished product. IT IS! the finished shot that is more important. And in this regard, I like your composition...Welcome to CiC.

Izzie,
Perhaps I didn't express myself well enough. I make no excuses nor apologies for the gear I use.
My intense dislike of the modern dSLRs and the various other electronic camera formats and systems is exceeded only by my love of the old, clunky manual focus cameras (both SLR and rangefinder) and the lenses from the previous century that I treasure and use.
However, having said that, you are correct when you say it is the image that counts and in that respect whatever gets one to that endpoint is fine with me.
And thanks for the compliment. White knuckles and all, I am really pleased with the image.

[xpatUSA]

Ted,
While my level of photographic expertise is high (I've been shooting since 1977, am an advanced member of my club and am an accredited Judge), my level of Post-Processing skill is abysmally low, and for the most part rudimentary, so, much of the tech-talk goes right over my head.
I'll give eliminating the highlights on the knuckles a shot, likely by using the clone tool to "stamp" it out with some of her darker skin.
Kodak plant was closed a number of years ago, and the derelict buildings razed a few years ago for re-development. Sadly nothing of it left.
I used to go there to attend the photo salons that the Greater Toronto Council of Camera Clubs (CTCCC) held in the Auditorium which was a wonderful place

. . .

Thanks for the info - small world, eh?

By coincidence, I got my first SLR in 1977, a Praktica MTL3. From that year, we diverge, my shooting skill has barely improved but my technical interest in digital is almost obsessive

P.S. a belated apology - prompted by your reply to Izzie, I went back and re-read your post. I hadn't even noticed what you took the shot with and the later use of "scan" didn't penetrate my thick skull either, duh.

So, I'm about to throw out a Canon A-1. Do you want it for free + postage? Anybody?

[RBSinTo]

Thanks for the info - small world, eh?

By coincidence, I got my first SLR in 1977, a Praktica MTL3. From that year, we diverge, my shooting skill has barely improved but my technical interest in digital is almost obsessive

My first was a Nikon FE.
Today I'm still using Nikon SLRs: F, F2AS, F3P, FA, FM2, FG (all motorized), and rangefinders as well, Nikon SP and S3s and a Cosina Voigtlander R2S Bessa, plus a small mountain (I'm embarrassed to say how many) of manual focus prime, & zoom Nikkors and third-party lenses.
All of the photobuds I rub lens hoods with are extremely talented photographers (a handful are truly World Class) and all are highly, highly skilled in the Black Arts of Photoshop, Lightroom and the like.
One photographer, last name Gitter is so obsessed with Post-Production that I don't think he has shown a "straight" shot in years.
I even coined a term for his highly manipulated images. they are "Gitterized". And when he recently published a book of his stuff, he used my term in the title!
Me? Mine is not a search for beauty, but rather, I'm only interested in telling stories with pictures, so I'm far more interested in what one does before pulling the trigger, rather than after.

[xpatUSA]

My first was a Nikon FE.
Today I'm still using Nikon SLRs: F, F2AS, F3P, FA, FM2, FG (all motorized), and rangefinders as well, Nikon SP and S3s and a Cosina Voigtlander R2S Bessa, plus a small mountain (I'm embarrassed to say how many) of manual focus prime, & zoom Nikkors and third-party lenses.

We "crossed in the post" I could send the Canon with a couple of free lenses but I doubt you're interested.

[RBSinTo]

We "crossed in the post" I could send the Canon with a couple of free lenses but I doubt you're interested.

Thanks for the offer, but if you sent the stuff I'd either just ship it off to someone else who'd want it, give it to a photobud who has a shelf full of old cameras, or sell it at a photo swap-meet to the buyer from KEH or whomever.
Now if it were Nikon, I'd take it in a minute.

[Manfred M]

Welcome to CiC. As an ex-Toronto resident, those place names all bring back memories (we still have family in the area, so we get down that way several times a year, and in fact were there earlier this week). As an ex-film shooter (and wet colour darkroom guy), in some ways I don't miss the eccentricities of shooting film in now that we are in a mostly the digital world.

First of all, nicely spotted, composed and executed. It's a tough shot to nail, especially given the low dynamic range of slide films.

The simplest way of handling skin tones that are off is often just to reduce the overall saturation of the image a touch. As Ted has pointed out, there are more labour intensive ways of fixing them as well.

[bnnrcn]

Hi Robert Very nice shot. I converted it to BnW and added a tint in PS .It looks very nice in BnW with or without a tint as well. So, a nice image in any ways I can upload them to give you an idea if you want. Not very complicated and/or artistic edits but IMO they look nice.