Controluce
Saturday, March 26. 2005
Kendra and Tycho (Apr 18, 2004)
I enjoyed the discussions on my last posts, so here it is another shot that may be a little controversial, and I hope will stimulate similar comments. This is a photo of a friend of us with her child, taken one year ago in their apartment. I was going after a back-light effect so I took advantage of them sitting in front of the window in a cloudy afternoon to try it out. I believe the result is a bit too dark (I have lost most details in part of their faces), but I still like it as there is enough light to show where they were looking at, and their expression. I also like the fact that the highlight in the window are not totally blown out, and still show textures on the window pane. And most of all I like the composition (it was not staged, this is just a candid shot with available light). Some people that have already seen the photo didn’t like it very much because of the darkness issue: what is your opinion?
In this case the Photoshop work was minimal (just desaturation to convert it to B&W, and some curves to adjust the contrast).
Trackbacks
Trackback specific URI for this entry
No Trackbacks
Comments
Display comments as
(Linear | Threaded)
I love it. The beautiful mother has the face of a Madonna, in the spirit of the season and the lighting works perfectly for me.
I think this is a lovely portrait, for all the reasons you cited. The darkness adds a certain mystery, but there is just enough light for the mind to figure out what their exact expressions are. I especially love this effect on her face. The only thing I might wish for is that the child’s face was turned more towards the window so that there would be slightly more light around his darker eye. But for me, this is a minor point which is far outweighed by the portrait’s other strengths. I really like it.
Fantastic portrait, I love the sense of intimacy and affection. Detail isn’t always as important as what a photograph represents, how it feels. I think, if you were willing to do so, that a little dodging and burning... pah, actually I wouldn’t do anything to it 
A wonderful portrait, really beautiful. You have captured the atmosphere incredibly well, I feel as though I’m there in the room with them. And I like the lighting very much.
This is a beautiful portrait. It’s not too dark either. I believe it tries to capture the mystery of the relationship between Mother and Child and it’s purity. Excellent shot and very inspirational.
This is almost a silhouette... So in a textbook world you would have a reflector to add some subtle light, or would you? I like the image as it is. It draws you in and makes it an interesting portrait. Your eye looks for detail. If you could go back and take it again would you do it any different?
whoa, nice photo.
You controlled the light very well, and the exposure is just right
You controlled the light very well, and the exposure is just right
You’d normally expect a child portrait to be shot in high-key lightning. This quite often results in too-sweet, cheesy pictures. I love the one above. It may be too dark for some though. My sister being a prime example - if it’s not all sweet light “positive” colours she’ll dismiss it straight away. For me your image works perfectly. I love the lighting - it adds such a great mood. Then there’s the amazing eye contact that makes the picture even more striking. Great work.
I don’t consider this image too dark at all. The whole scene is one of ‘feeling’ the image, and this is conveyed totally. We can sense what the mother is feeling as well as the child. More lighting would destroy this effect.
A very heartwarming and loving image, it gave cause to a catch in my throat, and an ache in my heart.
A very heartwarming and loving image, it gave cause to a catch in my throat, and an ache in my heart.
I think it is a bit dark but what light there is touches the Mother and child just right. It frames them perfectly and creates a wonderful moment between them.
Honestly, I can’t decide if I think this is too dark or not. Which means, that I guess I might think it is slightly too dark. But at the same time, I think it conveys everything it should, and does it well. It’s not the case that everything is dark - for example, the light on her right arm creates a nice line that mimics the frame and outlines the child. I also think the expression on the mother is just perfect. Overall, very nice photo!
It works perfectly. The lighting on both faces is beautiful and creates strong expressions, and the framing is very good. I’m just a bit (but just a bit!) annoyed by the dark curtain in the upper-left corner.
I don’t think the lighting is a problem at all, it’s great - intimate and moody, works very well with the pose of mom and baby. I agree with you too, excellent job on not blowing the window higlights.
Thanks for all the comments. I agree that in some cases a photo is a keeper independently from its technical merits. My first regret when I saw this photo was that the second eye of the child was not visible, but in the end I decided that I liked it anyway for the expression of the mother with the kid. I originally tried some dodging and burning, but there wasn’t much to work it in the dark areas, so I decided to leave it as it is. Thanks again for all of your inputs, I find them very useful.
very sweet. The shadow is interesting, I love how the baby is looking at the camera, but not the mother. nice one.
This is beautiful. I definitely don’t think it’s too dark.
Add Comment
Calendar
|
November '08 | |||||
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
| 1 | 2 | |||||
| 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
| 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 |
| 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
