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Inside a dream
Inside a dream
XShadow


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Tribute (Advanced Editing IV*)
Camera: Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT
Lens: Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6
Location: Iasi, Romania
Date: Jan 22, 2006
Aperture: 3.50
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/60
Galleries: Portraiture
Date Uploaded: Jan 24, 2006

 For this challenge I was sure I wanted to make a portrait from the first moment. Mostly because I like making portraits :).
I looked for famous photographers on the internet to get some inspiration from their work and also improve my knowledge about them. I stopped at Diane Arbus, not because I liked her pictures very much but because I liked her approach to photographing people. She used to go out on the street with her camera and talk to strangers, getting to know them and making them feel safe around her, and then she took their picture. She was really interested in what goes on inside people's minds and tried to capture that on film.
She also was the first to use the flash in daylight and that gave a special glow to the faces and somhow emphasized them and separated them from the rest of the picture. I liked that and that's what I wanted to do.
I couldn't go outside to take photos of strangers, first because I'm not comfortable with it and second because this week it was really freezing here and you couldn't stay outside for more than 20-30 minutes. And your fingers would freeze as soon as you would start taking pictures. I think I would have tried to photograph a stranger anyway if it weren't for the cold :)
In the end I decided to stick to friends because I could take pictures of them inside and it was warmer.

In the end I stopped on this picture because I liked the angle and expression and since it's an advanced rules challenge I tired to do something special with it in photoshop.In the end I decided for:

-convert to B&W pro plugin, using violet pre-filter and multigrade up some levels to soften the skin and make it "glow"; sepia toning with light blue ~25%
-brightness -5 & contrast +5 to compensate for the loss of colour in the hair
- second pass through the B&W filter to further emphasize on the face and separate it from the rest of the picture.

In the end I'm satisfied with the results even tough I'm a bit worried that I overdid it (it's the most heavily processed picture I did so far :). The girl liked it tough :)

Now I'm curious what do you think?

Statistics
Place: 167 out of 188
Avg (all users): 4.7821
Avg (commenters): 5.0000
Avg (participants): 4.5890
Avg (non-participants): 4.8696
Views since voting: 665
Views during voting: 319
Votes: 234
Comments: 5
Favorites: 0

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AuthorThread
 Comments Made During the Challenge
01/30/2006 10:46:40 AM
Very dreamy with the angel, focus, and soft blue tint.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/27/2006 09:36:42 AM
Interesting angle, nice hair and lashes. Ear of person in background is confusing and distracting.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/25/2006 08:15:47 AM
Part of the fun of the challenge is comparing the photos to the work of the photographers they're paying tribute to. I can't figure out who that would be in this case. Creative idea and point of view. Composition is good but a little tight in the frame. Focus on the eye is good. DOF feels a little to shallow ... or a little too deep, I'm not sure which. Color doesn't help the image for me.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/25/2006 03:03:46 AM
very dream image like..
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/24/2006 08:58:06 PM
nice shot but not sure who the tribute is to...the hair on the chin is distracting but i like the colour treatment
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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