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As you all know, I'll often revisit my archives to find something to post, but this is often a rather haphazard procedure. Today though, I decided to be a bit more systematic about it and went through all my RAW files from 2005 to April of last year. In the process I discovered that most of them were as bad as I remembered, but I also found around a dozen that I thought were worth working on. Of those, I'll be posting seven over the next seven days, starting with this one – a shot of Rhowan (on the left) and Harmony taken in September 2005. Of the rest, I'm really pleased with two of them, another two I'm happy with, and the remaining two are more experimental. I'll post one of my favourites tomorrow.

On an unrelated matter: I've started to receive quite a lot of emails asking about shots that I've posted, and how they relate to the material I've included in the tutorials. So, whenever I do post something using one of the techniques I've covered, I'll include a brief mention here.

In this instance, I used the Channel Mixer to convert the image to black and white then a Curve to create the high-key effect. This was covered in my Black and white: part one tutorial when I discussed this image.

captured
camera
lens
aperture
shutter speed
shooting mode
exposure bias
metering mode
ISO
flash
image quality
RAW converter
cropped?
2.17pm on 7/9/2005
Canon 20D
EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
f/2.5
1/50
aperture priority
+1
evaluative
100
no
RAW
C1 Pro
1x1
 
1x1 + children [portraits]
comment by Ryan at 08:19 PM (GMT) on 15 January, 2008

This is fantastic. You really need to check those archives more! One of my favourite shots.

comment by djn1 at 08:28 PM (GMT) on 15 January, 2008

Ryan: the odd thing about looking through the archives is that it's easy to overlook the same image again and again. Take this one for example: despite their expressions, which as their father I think are wonderful, the DoF is a bit too shallow, the highlights are blown, and the original colours are terrible. But, all that said, it works as a high-key black and white: it's just that I didn't think to try that the first time around.

comment by DedicatedRR at 08:33 PM (GMT) on 15 January, 2008

Wow...amazing processing! Love the tones

comment by Craig @ id7.co.uk at 08:52 PM (GMT) on 15 January, 2008

Dave, I am huge advocate of looking back time and time again at images that at first I had ignored. I am always looking back in the archive, in a way it helps you to move forward (if that makes sense), tonights was a shot taken back in October, and I have been holding off on it ever since then, never entirely happy with it until tonight, when it looked a lot better. Keep up looking back..... ;-) csj @ id7.co.uk

comment by Furanku at 10:32 PM (GMT) on 15 January, 2008

Difficult to believe you did not see this one from the begining. The result is simply wonderful.

comment by kate at 04:04 AM (GMT) on 16 January, 2008

David- as the great aunt of two such sometimes angelic sibling grand nieces, I have to say, you have captured the ethereal of which the little ones are so capable of displaying. Which I was just in awe of only few days ago when mine visited. Brilliant capture. So glad you revisit your work. Time has a way of clarifying, doesn't it?

comment by Eirik at 10:22 AM (GMT) on 16 January, 2008

Simply wonderful! This is the photo all parents dream of coming home with after taking the kids to a photographer :)

comment by Keith De-Lin at 10:55 AM (GMT) on 16 January, 2008

wow, the subtleties are amazing.

comment by Riri at 10:58 AM (GMT) on 16 January, 2008

Nice high key shot...
Love the blurry aspect.

comment by David Chabashvili at 01:53 PM (GMT) on 16 January, 2008

Wonderful shot!!!! Great!

comment by jelb at 02:21 PM (GMT) on 16 January, 2008

Bonjour,
Very nice shot..Well done effect..Bravo!

comment by minimodi at 05:14 PM (GMT) on 16 January, 2008

sweet! nice high key. /J

comment by djn1 at 05:29 PM (GMT) on 16 January, 2008

Thanks everyone.

comment by Joe at 04:29 AM (GMT) on 18 January, 2008

Unreal. Well done!

comment by Joe at 06:25 PM (GMT) on 21 January, 2008

Dave: its time to close up shop and seek another path. Nothing you can do will ever surpass the beauty of this moment.