Embrace

[tlooney]

A wedding candid.

http://home.houston.rr.com/thelooneys/embrace.jpg

[Leighow]

A lovely candid shot. The ring is a strong symbol.

I have little experience with "people"hots. I wonder whether it would be just a bit stronger if:

- a bit of the left had side was cropped. That might square the image. I have inserted a post (look for entire thread) that "oops" entered a couple of years ago re square images.

- I'd like to lighten the image a tad -- although I realize that at larger sizes the image appears brighter

-- the second couple thru me off. I thought that it was a mirror -- but of course the dress was red. My instincts are to select and blurr those guests.

All that said -- it is a lovely indoor image and one that that the couple would love to be cc'ed on!

TY

HOWIE -- and welcome to this great forum


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oops .. "on".. Master: Diane Arbus

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I learn a lot from studying the "Masters" and want to share this lady with you. What better way to critique your own work than to view the works of those on possibly different planets than us!

Diane Arbus used a square format. The negative is about 2.25x2.25 (please correct me if I am wrong) and the square format is probably the most difficult in the world to frame. The very format does not lend itself to the rule of nines or 1/3-2/3 composition so she had to bend the rules on every shot. She made her start in magazine photography and became a "Master" during the Vietnam War era. A good site is: http://www.temple.edu/photo/photographers/arbus/arbus.htm but you can get hundreds of "hits" from any search engine.

Please don't miss her quote about "freaks". It makes me smile and look at my petty problems differently. Diane Arbus took her own life in 1971 but left a message in her images that will never die.

[tlooney]

Thanks for the ideas Howie.

I did a version in black and white and did crop the left side out a bit.

http://home.houston.rr.com/thelooneys/Reception060bw.jpg

The grooms face was a little dark on the color version. By converting to BW and using curves I was able to even it out a little. I am just not sure which I prefer.

[Leighow]

Both are lovely images.

As regards the B & W, I do love the crop, the brightness, the new emphasis on the groom's lapel flower, the groom's face, the less obvious "other couple", and the bride's pearl bracelet.

On the otherhand, the B&W may be a bit weaker re the bride's hair, and the next-to-cheek hair string seems quite white.

On close, I guess that I would stick to color if it can carry these B & W details. But that too may reflect my general preference for color (at least in sunny outdoor images !).

Decisions, decisions!

TY

HOWIE

[defordphoto]

I really like the B&W version. That couple in the background, however, is very distracting. A little gaussin blur maybe? This is a very romantic shot.

[Don Ellis]

I hope you'll forgive a little touch-up, but sometimes a picture demonstrates better than words.

1. Get rid of the second couple entirely -- and because the man's jacket is a dark gray, you can do that with a black brush.

2. Auto-Contrast.

3. Sharpen -- I used Ultrasharpen6 at 50, and then flattened the image and used USM at 200, 0.2, 0.

4. Crop to leave either all the woman's hair, or crop square to make sure you have both hands.

Here are the two results...

http://www.kleptography.com/dl/fm/embrace-de-cr2.jpg

http://www.kleptography.com/dl/fm/embrace-de-cr11.jpg

It's a lovely shot or I wouldn't have taken the time. Congratulations. And the suggestions I made, if you like them, will work even better on the originals.

Cheers,

Don

P.S. For me, the black-and-white doesn't work at all -- you want the warmth and emotion of color here.

[tlooney]

I tired a blur on the background couple in the bw but the blurred effect seems distracting to me.

http://home.houston.rr.com/thelooneys/Reception060bw2.jpg

I much prefer your version Don with a completely black background and all her hair. It really allows the eyes to be drawn to the moment I was trying to capture yet leaves the detail of her hair which was an important detail for this bride.

She had a hard time getting the perfect hairdo for the day. I learned this by listening to her during coversations leading up to the wedding. It even had her in tears one day. Hair has got to stay. :D

Thanks!

Tina