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Author Topic: strength  (Read 569 times)
ponykilr
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« on: April 26, 2007, 11:24:44 PM »

I guess a little background is forthcoming. My wife and I adopted Erica when she was ten years old. She was in an extremely bad situation at home and through several miracles, she became our true love. She is my favorite subject, helps me tremendously and loves photography as much as I do(and fishing and convertibles and fashion). She will be 12 this july, and is a normal pre-teen girl with lots of love and plenty of it to give in return.

I am sometimes startled by the look in her eyes and I am unsure if it is pain from the past, or contemplation of the present. In her eyes I glimpse the real Erica for a moment, and it is scary and wonderful all at the same time. What do her eyes say to you?

This image does not display full size here, so here is a link to the host
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y252/ponykilr/riverpics7copy2.jpg




« Last Edit: April 27, 2007, 09:26:02 AM by ponykilr » Logged
JaketheSnake
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« Reply #1 on: April 27, 2007, 12:20:08 PM »

Her eyes look great.  But I feel like the background is a bit distracting and I am not too fond of the toning of the image.
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Uroplatus
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« Reply #2 on: April 27, 2007, 03:46:04 PM »

I like the shot... I like the feel, the look of her face and the eyes. I like how it drives straight to you.... the photo does talk, and the eyes help make a connection for sure.

The tone is too maroon'ish. I think a standard sepia or just a nice semi high key/ High Contrast black and white would do it more justice. And crop it square and a little tighter around her head... eliminating some of the distraction of the background.

My 2 cents Smiley
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eob
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« Reply #3 on: April 27, 2007, 05:30:57 PM »

Well, I won't dwell on the meaning of the look in her eyes. It's different to view a portrait of a person you know and love and a person you've never met. I always recommend to look at your own work with the unprejudiced eyes of a stranger (if you can do such a trick). Only then you can approach evaluating your work without personal bias. There may be many different readings from many viewers, but rarely will all of them be same as yours.

As far as a formal quality of this shot (from technical and artistic point of view), without any personal slant, I can say this:

My position on the value of any photo is that the technique, composition and message must all come together to have a real impact on me (sometimes the message is replaced by a mood).

In this particular shot, I don't really care much about the technique. The face looks flat and almost featureless. The color is lifeless and unflattering. I understand, that in your mind it may fit your daughter's mood or state of mind, but still, I don't like it. The composition is not entirely bad, but could be better. In that matter I agree with Silas - about the distracting background and the shape of the frame. I think, square would work nicely here.

Well, I will stop here, because, as I said, without the element of good technique, there's no point to get to the artistic value. I know, I know, you can say that some great photographers take great shots seemingly without regard to good technique... But they do it entirely conciously and their breaking the rules of technique and/or composition is done in the way that amplifies the message or the mood. So, in a way, their technique is just right for their particular shots.

I always hope that my negative critique is not taken too personally. Please, don't get discouraged, Paul...  Kiss
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eob

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ponykilr
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« Reply #4 on: April 27, 2007, 05:49:33 PM »

Not at all. When you ask for opinion of something, you have to be prepared for good and bad. Someone may like a certain something while another may not(food, clothes, cars, colors). Without hearing other's opinions however, we will not be able properly to critique ourselves. I believe we are all here to test the waters with our work to get something more than a local review. I have this in a 20x30 canvas gallery style print, and it's impact is never lost when someone sees it for the first time. Cheers all.
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habakuk
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« Reply #5 on: April 27, 2007, 06:12:42 PM »

Well, let's see... I can live without good technique. Right, I HAVE to live with that, but that still doesn't change the fact. Cheesy

While I can understand what you wrote, and I can easily imagine what you see in her eyes, I don't get that captivating feeling. First of all, the left pupil has such a weird reflection in it, that I can hardly look to something else. And this little detail alone drives the whole picture effect in the directon of a uneasy feeling for me. I tried and darkened the pupil, and then the face starts to come out...

I see a girl that seems to be in deep thoughts, partly in a sad mood, partly in a relaxed feeling. The angles of the mouth suggest some sadness, some scepticism to the thoughts going on inside the mind. If I cover the mouth and just look at the eyes, I see a longing, a look that isn't moving away when it has contact with my eyes, a look that searches, that scans my own expression to detect something about my feelings...

Beside the technical aspects, the shot works for me in that it touches me and provokes emotion. It lets me wonder what goes on in her mind - I cannot really read it from her facial expression. And that makes me look, and look, and look...

cheers
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