NON Square Cropped Portraits - (nSCP's) - please post them here

[Dave Humphries]

Pretty good Alis, isn't it Dave ?

Yes, it is.

I couldn't put my finger on how to improve it, so I had a play myself.


Burned down background highlights and also cloned out some stuff to simplify.
Neat Image NR
Crop

I think I over did the background though
Also still a little unhappy with the bright ground in shot by the fence.

Not sure that helps,

[batman44]

Hi Kori,

Ah, what Antonio means is they were over-exposed (if red) or black crushed (if blue).
Those are the colours that ACR applies to warn of clipping at either end of the exposure range. The red would equate to "the blinkies" in camera.

The girl's cheek isn't too far gone, within range of ACR "Recovery" I would have thought.

Cheers,

Thanks guys! I do agree her face is very white, and in reality - it is pretty white too. Should I have exposed for her face seeing that it was probably so "white"???
How do I "fix" this problem after the picture has already been taken?
I'm still thumbing through my software book - just wondering if you had a quicker suggestion. I use (Corel)Paint Shop Pro - I know that photoshop steps are similar.

Thanks!

[Alis]

Yes, it is.

I couldn't put my finger on how to improve it, so I had a play myself.


Burned down background highlights and also cloned out some stuff to simplify.
Neat Image NR
Crop

I think I over did the background though
Also still a little unhappy with the bright ground in shot by the fence.

Not sure that helps,

Good suggestions, Dave! Specially the bright ground is something I need to fix when I print this.

But do you see what the 5D MKII plus a 70-200mm f/2.8 IS Canon lens can do? Marvellous! No flash, nothing...

Thanks!

[Colin Southern]

Colin, don't you think that the flash in your image is too strong ?

No

Seriously (for a moment) - no - that's pretty much the way I like it

[Antonio Correia]

... But do you see what the 5D MKII plus a 70-200mm f/2.8 IS Canon lens can do? Marvellous! No flash, nothing... Thanks!

I wonder if there would be any substantial difference between an old and the new 5D using the very same lens ...

[Antonio Correia]

No Seriously (for a moment) - no - that's pretty much the way I like it

If so, it's OK. It's your style ...

[Alis]

I wonder if there would be any substantial difference between an old and the new 5D using the very same lens ...

Not if you keep the photographer the same! You have to switch to MKII or I remember you were thinking of buying a 1Ds III when the price goes down?

[Karlos Markus]

A Merry Bunch (!)

Well, I don't know if these (3) classify as portraits or not. I know that they are not technically perfect and have been highly croped and then much further reduced. They were also taken in a very difficult situation--bad light and people dancing all around-- the reason for the tight crops.

I put them up just for the irony/humor of seeing a "very happy" bunch of musicians. But they are good souls. It was a concert for the residents of a nursing home and these folks gave up a nice day of their weekend for this.

[Karlos Markus]

A Merry Bunch (!) II

[Karlos Markus]

A Merry Bunch (!) III

[Antonio Correia]

Not if you keep the photographer the same! You have to switch to MKII or I remember you were thinking of buying a 1Ds III when the price goes down?

If I have ever said I were thinking to buy a 1DsIII I was at the time completely nuts / crazy / without my mind working as it should.

I rather get a new Mac with a huge monitor.
Panos kill my current Mac. Normal: files around 350 Megas what was expected ?

Have a nice working week Alis ...

[Antonio Correia]

Obrigado Carlos ! (Thank you in Portuguese)

I classify these pictures as portraits and let me drop some lines about them.

1.st one - I like the idea of enhancing the instruments of the musicians while keeping them in color and change the scene to black and white.
I may find that you could have framed more creatively but it is good enough.
Why - you couldn't remember of course - haven't you got a group shot, classic style for example. The guys standing with others in the back. Or the guys seated and the instruments - what's the English for that ? "acordeon" in Portuguese - on their feet or legs.
Oh well, you know how easy it is to criticize !... Sorry my compatriot.
But this is my job !

2.ed one - Too tight. Get more room for these people on both sides and on the top. Were you able to move them around the way you like ?
That would be very nice if you could...

3.ed one - The worst for me. I don't like the white background in contrast to the dark one. I see you used the flash - as on the 2.ed - but huuummm, no. Not good. So far Carlos. So far.

Carlos, let's move on and get better pictures. I want to see exquisite images. Images with something different, with something like a good composition, a good light, light coming from the musical instrument to the musician's face - since you have an off camera one.
Come on Carlos. I want better, man. Better pictures.
I am here to push people to take better shots.

Carlos. Don't be mad at me because I write this way. I am just saying things seriously with my bad, very bad character of Scorpion. No offense, no hard feeling. No, just friendship.

Have a good working week. (Tenha uma boa semana de trabalho)
Health. (Saúde)

[Karlos Markus]

Antonio,
I put these photos here in the forum, therefore I am receptive to criticism. But I put those photos here primarily as a sociological test.

Let me explain. I found it very strange that these musicians were playing music while at the same time they had totally joyless expressions. They almost seemed afraid of the band leader (I presume) on the left with his neck pointing forward. So this morning I put those photos online on a Portuguese photography site to see if I would get some laughs. I titled these photos “A Merry Bunch—Uma Malta Divertida” in that Portuguese site, and I hoped that the irony/joke was evident. I got a lot of feedback in terms of (easy) praise, but not one person picked up on the joke!

So I decided to put them here in the afternoon to see if the reaction would be different from the one I got from the Portuguese people and if I would get at least ONE laugh here.

Call it a cheap experiment in national psychological analysis, if you must. I.e., I was trying to gauge if that “seriousness” that I received from the Portuguese would extend to the “dwellers” of this site. I know that the sense of humor of the Portuguese is much different from that of the more easy going Americans, but as it compares to the rest of the world (including their European neighbors) I am at a loss. Now I can’t really reach any scientific (observe: humor again!) conclusion because the only comment I got was yours—and you are Portuguese.

Now, about the pictures themselves. They were not staged. I didn’t speak with the musicians. They were playing (yes and having those expressions at the same time!). This was indoors in front of a wood paneled wall, with a large window thrown in for good measure. I changed the brackgrounds to B&W because the colors on the wall and the window were very intense. I like the tight crop on the second one and besides as you will see on the original picture there were people sitting on chairs and on wheelchairs in front of the leader on the left. I was there trying to be like the other family members of the people in the nursing home, taking snapshots with simple cameras or cell phones. Also I don’t like (to take, but love to see) classical group shots, like the ones you describe. They remind me of shots from the American Civil War, or pictures of Pancho Villa, of times long gone by. I remember seeing a large photograph in my grandfather’s house when I was a very young kid. A beautiful large black and white picture of him on the wall in a grey medic uniform during the First World War, with red crosses on his collar and on his grey head cap, boots laced up to his knees, and his right foot resting on a stool. Beautiful picture —I still think about it—but not one I would like to take.

Now is I who fears that you might be a little mad at me. Please don’t. You are there to do that job, I am here (self-appointed, and only this time) to say that the Portuguese can let loose a little too.

But any little fear I might have had about you being mad at me is totally gone now. --The original pictures I will be emailing (hope you don’t mind) for you to compare the before to these after ARE SO BAD, that you will pardon my trespasses in a matter of seconds.

THEY ARE SO BAD THAT I DO NOT HAVE THE COURAGE TO UPLOAD THEM TO CiC. But feel free to work on them, if you want to, and post your afters on the forum.

Um abraço. (Translates to “regards”, in intent. Literally it means “hugs”-It is very appropriate to say it in Portuguese but a little awkward to say it that way in English.)

[Colin Southern]

not one person picked up on the joke!

LOL - I have the opposite problem - I post something like "a powerful composition" (of a power pole - power-lines and transformer) - everyone gets the joke, but hardly anyone comments on the image (too busy with electrical puns )

[Dave Humphries]

Me thinks Colin doth protest too much

[Antonio Correia]

Thank you Carlos for being so kind to write down such a large and interesting explanation.

Let me tell you to begin with that this is not my job/work at all. I am not even a modest/humble moderator.
I was pulling your leg
Here, I am as much as you are Carlos. Just a visitor.

As an excuse I can tell you that if - just IF - you had titled the images, then we - probably - would be able to get some kind of joke.

If you couldn't have any intervention on the group I am sorry that they were so un-happy paying their "acordeons" / musical instruments.

Yes, send me your files but don't expect me to give you a quick answer. Raw files OK ?
I will be away for a couple of days...

I sincerely hope to see more pictures of yours.

Thank for being cooperative and participative.

... Um abraço. (Translates to “regards”, in intent. Literally it means “hugs”-It is very appropriate to say it in Portuguese but a little awkward to say it that way in English.)

[Karlos Markus]

Antonio:

Sorry if the titles don't show up in your computer. Perhaps I did something wrong. In my computer it shows: "A Merry Bunch, and Merry Bunch II and III", for the titles, but above the photos.

Anyway, I keep on receiving comments (perhaps now more than 30) about these photos since I posted them on that other website this Saturday. They all give positive feedback about the photos but I still didn't receive a single one about the title describing the exact opposite feeling shown by the musicians' faces and demeanor. No one commented on the joke.

There is something very interesting in this (spoken with a professorial voice). I guess someone should get a (totally useless) Ph.D. by studying how the sense of humor changes among the various populations. Now that I think about it, I'm sure some have done it, and either they are teaching at Harvard, or driving a NYC cab.

Sorry, but the files for those pictures are jpg. I took them last Dec/Jan after I got the camera. At that time "raw" meant "uncooked", like "steak tartar". So I'm off the hook and don't have to send these bad pictures to you.

Have a safe and beautiful trip. Take many pictures and share them with us.

Um abraco.

[Colin Southern]

I am not even a modest/humble moderator.

Neither are Dave or I ... but fortunately we can still fool some of the people some of the time!

[Alis]

Who likes broccoli this much?

[KentDub]

Now that's a "photoshoped" picture if I ever saw one!