an old portrait

[Dennis Gallus]

Yesterday's responses to Reed's retrospective photo are excellent.  I particularly like the fact that not everyone agrees; personal taste is evident and healthy.

Here's a portrait that that I took of my bride back in 1984, while we were living in Yokosuka, Japan.  Although I've always liked both the subject and the photo, I never felt that the photo was quite right.  So--tell, me, what did I miss?



This is a scan of an 8x10 print; not sure if I can find the negative right now.  The shot was taken by window light with a Mamiya Universal, 6x9 back, and the 150mm/5.6 lens, probably on Plus-X.

Critical comments welcome.

Dennis

[rgeorge911]

Dennis,

This is a wonderful image.  Other than the obviously wonderful subject, there are a lot of great elements.

I particularly like the "Z" stripe of the pants leg, and the anchoring light rug at bottom (with echoes of similar lines).

On the negative side, I think the shadows are a little dark on the left, and it's a shame that her hair blends in so much with the background.  Makes it hard to see where she ends and the furniture behind her begins.

Here's my meager attempt:


Not My Photo by reed_flickr, on Flickr

I think the framing is perfect.  I adjusted levels to get some full blacks and some whites (increasing contrast in the process), dodged the left side (her right side), as well as the background, and really dodged her right eye quite a lot.

By the way, I've made this 'private' on Flickr.  Let me know if you prefer it not being on Flickr at all and I'll take it down.

Reed

[wlewisiii]

Reed got it almost exactly as I would have. As I read your OP, my thought was "nothing wrong here that couldn't be fixed in printing". Or Photoshop

Very nice image with excellent compositiion. Thank you for sharing it.

[jamesmck]

Dennis - Apart from dealing a bit with some of the shadows, this is an excellent portrait pf Ann.  Ditto what Reed said about the pants stripe.  Well done!

James

[radiophoto]

Increased contrast is the key, definitely, but since this is a scan of a print, and the print is some 26 years old, probably, I'm not surprised that it's a bit faded.  The pose is terrific, I agree with all who came before me on those comments.

However, since no one's made any comments on the dog, let me wax a bit poetically on that in my own meager way:

Well, first, I like the way Ann's hands are positioned here, holding the pooch gently but firmly.  She has nice hands.

But that is (was?) a great-looking dog.  The face-front gaze, those big doggy eyes, and the sense of tenseness I'm getting make me imagine he's (she's?) going to jump right out of the frame at the earliest opportunity. And the dog is perfectly lighted, as well.

[br1078lum]

Can't add anything that hasn't already been said.  Wonderful shot Dennis.  Was this the only one that you took, or did you get lucky with the dog on the first take?

PF

[Dennis Gallus]

Gents,

Thanks for your comments.   I agree wholeheartedly with the contrast issues, the print was made by a Japanese processor that serviced a camera store in Yokosuka.  The print is contrasty, and I didn't adjust the scan.

Pete, the Jack Russell terrier was Puck, a female that was with us from the time we were dating until about 1992.  I'm glad you like her too.

Phil,  I took other photos of Ann that day.  The only other one I can find is this one, featuring Mr. Runner, our Japanese short-tailed cat.  I've cropped this one quite a bit from the original, and adjusted brightness and contrast a bit. 



What do you think of this one?

Thanks,
Dennis

[wlewisiii]

I like this a whole lot. It's very difficult to get a feline/human portrait that doen't make one or the other look foolish and this one does it well. Very good catch, as if it were right before he decided you camera was a funny looking bird that he wanted to hunt

Of course, I am a cat person LOL

[radiophoto]

I like this a whole lot. It's very difficult to get a feline/human portrait that doen't make one or the other look foolish and this one does it well. Very good catch, as if it were right before he decided you camera was a funny looking bird that he wanted to hunt

Of course, I am a cat person LOL

+1 (although I am a cat-and-dog person)

[br1078lum]

Mr. Runner.  Gee, I wonder how he got that name?  Another fine portrait Dennis.

PF