snapshot

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I've posted this elsewhere, but I'd be interested in the impressions the good folks on this forum have of this photo.



-- Mike Dixon (mike@mikedixonphotography.com), April 10, 2001

Answers

Were it not for the borders and copyright statement, I would not have thought this to be a mikedixonphoto because I can actually see this one! (just kidding) It is toned or aged differently than is typical. But onto the photograph and off the image: It doesn't have the strength of many of your others, but there is the small element of suspense ("What is she doing?"). I like the grain. I like the darkness toward the edges. Her shadow behind her is interesting. Her expression betrays her modesty and shyness. I don't see hands or any thing she may be holding or working with, and I can't figure out whether that adds to the suspense or if it just bugs me. The background is pretty good in that it's not cluttered, but I don't like the window jam corner rising straight out of her head. I like the composition, which says something more than "snapshot." The fact that it's not extremely sharp doesn't bother me. Why not selenium this time?

-- Tony Rowlett (rowlett@alaska.net), April 10, 2001.

Thanks for your thoughts. This one was heavily toned in a rather concentrated and grungy Se soln. In the print, the mid and dark tones have shifted toward an eggplant color. The scan looks a bit green on my monitor compared to the print.

I think this was HP5+ at EI 1000.

-- Mike Dixon (mike@mikedixonphotography.com), April 11, 2001.


i like the compostion - kind of equal background with the figure to one side. Have you ever noticed how often HCB's portraits have a door jamb or at least a line behind the centre of the head? Maybe the allignment with her hair part is a bit strange looking. what was the lens? the slightly downward viewpoint makes the background lines converge to the bottom suggesting a focus below the frame.

-- Charles Curry-Hyde (charles@chho.com.au), April 11, 2001.

Mike - I would be interested to know what you like about this photo...

-- Chris Yeager (cyeager@ix.netcom.com), April 11, 2001.

Thanks for the additional comments. I hadn't noticed that about HCB's photos--I'll have to go back and look for it. The lens is a first-generation Leitz Summilux used at f1.4.

What I like about the photo is the sense of tension that I get from it.

Here's another shot from later that evening. Same film, camera, and lens.



-- Mike Dixon (mike@mikedixonphotography.com), April 12, 2001.



The last image is significantly more interesting than the first one.

I like the contrast between the feet and the background.

-- edward kang (ekang@cse.nd.edu), May 08, 2001.


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