People in B&W

[Emspics]

New here. Hello, all. People in B&W are my passion, although I dabble in anything. Here are two of my newest I'm looking for comments on. Thanks. -em

[Donald]

Emory

Good on you for getting straight in and posting up some images for discussion.

I like the 'ruffled' look caused by the young lady's hair being 'informally' arranged. You were obviously shooting in very strong sunlight, which always poses a challenge. You may not yet have found Colin's series of workshops of portraiture. If you click here, you get a list of links to each of the threads.

In terms if the accessories/surroundings, I wonder if:

1. It would be worth investing time in cloning out that fence in the background.
2. If, given she has one of those i.... thingies that people have stuck in their ear with a cord hanging, usually, into a pocket (shows how old I am!), I wonder if it would have been better a) not to ahve ity there at all, or b) if it was to be there to have the whole unit showing rather than the cord disappearing out the bottom of the frame.

I love the idea behind this one. The exposure and sharpness is spot-on. You can almost see the pores in his skin.

The challenge is, again, the harsh sunlight and, in this case, the shadows it is causing across the man's face. I wonder if Do you have any others in this series where the shadows are not cutting across his face in this way?

[Emspics]

Wow, thanks for taking the time to offer so many good thoughts and observations. The great learning experience of being a "of the moment" candid photographer (my real passion) is figuring out on the fly what flaws are there and what can you do about them. The sister challenge of course is then figuring out in the editing if they matter so much the photo doesn't work or if in fact they can add to its reality (a shrinking school of thought in the world increasingly dominated by what I call the "New Digital" school, where perfection and constructed reality rule and shadows are a sin). All that said, I get back to thank you, because it is the trained observations of other photographers like you that help me constantly grow my own vision and perception of what really works and how to get there.
My thoughts on a few specifics: On the fence - most say clone it out. A minority, including me, think it helps create a story that a cleaner pic would lack. Fences, especially barbed wire, say things. The hair is completely natural, as is the pose. It was windy on the beach and she had just looked up to find me waiting for her to do so. I probably would have liked the cord thingy gone too, but it does say what state of mind she is in (ok, that's rationalizing).

Light, ah, real light - the love of my life and bane of my candid photographic existence. Yes, both shots were too close to mid-day. The beach of course makes that worse, but at least it was winter. In Laocoon, I think harshness is part of the story, so it doesn't bother me. The shadow on the worker's face gets a lot of dings, but I'm mixed about it. I love shadows - so many strong emotions dwell in them. Of course, they can just be a flaw. It's important here that the eyes are clear, but the rest is ... well, I don't know. Thanks for your view.

I hope this doesn't all sound defensive (I hope it isn't). More just thinking out loud about your thoughts. Thanks again. -em

[Katy Noelle]

Hi, em, and welcome to CiC! I have the same thoughts as you. I think that they're well put. I'm going to try the girls photo out on my boys when they get home to see if they catch on to what she's "doing". One of the things that people who use ipods seem to love is that it's very hard to discern what they're doing. (Rockin' out during class, for example or something like that. )

Anyway, technicalities aside (I mean, what do I know?) I really like these two photos. They have mood and emotion in them. and, yes, the question is, how can we make the communication of these things stronger.

Katy

[Emspics]

Thanks, Katy.

For all, I have worked to reduce the shadow on the worker's face with Adj Brush in CS5 RAW. Does it make any difference?

Laocoon Rev1 for shadow

[Donald]

Does it make any difference?

I would say - most definitely. Now we see a much clearer picture of the effort and energy, as well as more of the character, of the man. I think this is now a really, really good image.

[Emspics]

Thanks.

[Katy Noelle]

Yes! The whole story is clearer - great! Also, somehow, to me, it seems that there's more rhythm and flow - my eyes are, somehow, freer to explore the scene.

[Emspics]

I see your point, too. Good for future reference as well. Thanks, Katy.