A few weeks ago our 10 year old daughter took part in the annual show put on by her dancing class, and as photographs weren’t allowed at the time we took some the week after at home. My wife did her stage makeup, and we took various shots of her wearing the four costumes she wore during the show. I haven’t really had time to do much with them, and didn’t intend putting any of them up here, but I was looking through them today and came across this one.
From what I can remember she was getting a bit bored with the whole thing by this point, and I took this shot as she was changing her shoes. As for the title: this shot captures something of her contemplative nature – hence typical – and providing our eight year old agrees I’ll post typical (2) tomorrow, which is an altogether different shot.
camera capture date aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO focal length image quality white balance optical filter
Canon G5
2.14pm on 13/3/04
f3.0
1/60
program AE
+0.0
spot
50
28.8mm
RAW
auto
B+W UV 010
I really dig how you composed this shot -- I'm a big fan of playing with extreme subject orientation like this. It really works well with little to no background clutter I think, such as in this shot.
Couple questions. First, how did you light this? Flash, or just AL and the joys of spot metering? ;) I like the soft focus too, I'm curious as to how you achieved it (GB in post?)... Cheers.
She looks like she's in deep thought. Lots of black space too. I like this one, it says a lot without trying to say a lot...
Incedently, is the black on the right atificial? The monitor I'm on right now is way too bright, I can see a line where the black is seperated from the part with her in it.
comment byMando Gomez at 02:08 AM (GMT) on 8 April, 2004
very godly looking, beautiful picture of your daughters face, she must be proud of daddy's photography talent!!! Nice work.
comment bybrandon at 03:43 AM (GMT) on 8 April, 2004
Wonderful focus - I really like the softening of the shot. I think she'll be very proud to one day look back at the effort you put into your subject. It will provide a great sense of pride for your family in years to come.
comment by djn1 at 07:50 AM (GMT) on 8 April, 2004
Thanks everyone.
Jon: this was flash-lit, with a Speedlite 420EX fitted with a Lumiquest Ultrabounce - it gives a fairly gentle light. And the soft-focus was achieved in two stages. I've been experimenting with blurred overlay layers: this shot has two. The first additional layer is blurred by around 12px (on the full size image), set to overlay blend mode, with an opacity of 55%. This layer was then duplicated and Gaussian blurred again (by 30px). The combination of two blurred layers adds a quite subtle soft-focus effect.
Matt: the original was shot in portrait format, i.e. there wasn't as much negative space on the right, but I can never decide how best to present portrait shots on the web (do you have a smaller image that you can see all at once or a larger, more detailed one that you need to scroll?) so I added some more space to the right. Clearly I didn't get the levels quite right ;-)
D, this is art. And when she grows up I guarantee you this will be one of those images where she is going to be so grateful that she had such an awesome and talented Dad. :) It's just stunning, one of your best yet.
comment byMike Golding at 10:28 AM (GMT) on 8 April, 2004
Very nice, this type of composition is one of my favorites and I have have mounted two similar B&W pictures (one composed on the left the other right) next to each other at home, created a very nice effect when hung on a large wall. Great photo.
comment byheather at 04:00 PM (GMT) on 8 April, 2004
In my opinion your best work has often involved your daughter. This solidifies my opinion. I think that you should try more portraits (of anyone) if you get the chance.
comment byScott McDonald at 09:14 PM (GMT) on 8 April, 2004
Of all your photos, I think that I enjoy the portraits of your family the most.
Beautiful photograph.
comment by djn1 at 12:22 AM (GMT) on 9 April, 2004
Thanks again. Generally I find it much easier to photograph the inanimate world than I do people, but I do enjoy portraiture so should probably spend a bit more time taking this sort of shot.
comment byrachael at 02:36 AM (GMT) on 9 April, 2004
comment byRobert at 04:11 PM (GMT) on 12 April, 2004
Isn't it amazing how the best images sometimes appear to be the simplest ones, and the ones that happen by chance? I like the subtle effect of your post processing. Best of all, I like the way this one grabbed me immediately...all that negative space and her expression give me a sense of calm. Great stuff.
comment by Kate at 03:34 PM (GMT) on 13 April, 2004
A very beautiful girl.
comment by jane at 12:35 AM (GMT) on 15 April, 2004
Being lucky enough to know your daughters I particularly enjoy your pics of them. This is breathtaking and haunting in a nice way. I can see the beautiful woman she is going to become at the same time as the gorgeous girl she is now. How do you do it???????
A few weeks ago our 10 year old daughter took part in the annual show put on by her dancing class, and as photographs weren’t allowed at the time we took some the week after at home. My wife did her stage makeup, and we took various shots of her wearing the four costumes she wore during the show. I haven’t really had time to do much with them, and didn’t intend putting any of them up here, but I was looking through them today and came across this one.
From what I can remember she was getting a bit bored with the whole thing by this point, and I took this shot as she was changing her shoes. As for the title: this shot captures something of her contemplative nature – hence typical – and providing our eight year old agrees I’ll post typical (2) tomorrow, which is an altogether different shot.
capture date
aperture
shutter speed
shooting mode
exposure bias
metering mode
ISO
focal length
image quality
white balance
optical filter
2.14pm on 13/3/04
f3.0
1/60
program AE
+0.0
spot
50
28.8mm
RAW
auto
B+W UV 010
she might be getting bored lol but the shot transmits such a peaceful and beautiful atmosphere :-)
jus lovely ...
I really dig how you composed this shot -- I'm a big fan of playing with extreme subject orientation like this. It really works well with little to no background clutter I think, such as in this shot.
Couple questions. First, how did you light this? Flash, or just AL and the joys of spot metering? ;) I like the soft focus too, I'm curious as to how you achieved it (GB in post?)... Cheers.
She looks like she's in deep thought. Lots of black space too. I like this one, it says a lot without trying to say a lot...
Incedently, is the black on the right atificial? The monitor I'm on right now is way too bright, I can see a line where the black is seperated from the part with her in it.
What an amazing photo - really wonderful.
very godly looking, beautiful picture of your daughters face, she must be proud of daddy's photography talent!!! Nice work.
Wonderful focus - I really like the softening of the shot. I think she'll be very proud to one day look back at the effort you put into your subject. It will provide a great sense of pride for your family in years to come.
Thanks everyone.
Jon: this was flash-lit, with a Speedlite 420EX fitted with a Lumiquest Ultrabounce - it gives a fairly gentle light. And the soft-focus was achieved in two stages. I've been experimenting with blurred overlay layers: this shot has two. The first additional layer is blurred by around 12px (on the full size image), set to overlay blend mode, with an opacity of 55%. This layer was then duplicated and Gaussian blurred again (by 30px). The combination of two blurred layers adds a quite subtle soft-focus effect.
Matt: the original was shot in portrait format, i.e. there wasn't as much negative space on the right, but I can never decide how best to present portrait shots on the web (do you have a smaller image that you can see all at once or a larger, more detailed one that you need to scroll?) so I added some more space to the right. Clearly I didn't get the levels quite right ;-)
D, this is art. And when she grows up I guarantee you this will be one of those images where she is going to be so grateful that she had such an awesome and talented Dad. :) It's just stunning, one of your best yet.
Very nice, this type of composition is one of my favorites and I have have mounted two similar B&W pictures (one composed on the left the other right) next to each other at home, created a very nice effect when hung on a large wall. Great photo.
this is a breathtaking photograph! bravo.
In my opinion your best work has often involved your daughter. This solidifies my opinion. I think that you should try more portraits (of anyone) if you get the chance.
lighted face on left
balances darkness on right
picture the haiku
Of all your photos, I think that I enjoy the portraits of your family the most.
Beautiful photograph.
Thanks again. Generally I find it much easier to photograph the inanimate world than I do people, but I do enjoy portraiture so should probably spend a bit more time taking this sort of shot.
this is absolutely breathtaking. wow.
just stunning.
stunning.. your photos really inspire me ..
Isn't it amazing how the best images sometimes appear to be the simplest ones, and the ones that happen by chance? I like the subtle effect of your post processing. Best of all, I like the way this one grabbed me immediately...all that negative space and her expression give me a sense of calm. Great stuff.
A very beautiful girl.
Being lucky enough to know your daughters I particularly enjoy your pics of them. This is breathtaking and haunting in a nice way. I can see the beautiful woman she is going to become at the same time as the gorgeous girl she is now. How do you do it???????
Browsing through you portfolio I saw this one. Can't remember if I did see it before, but it is so beautiful!!!!! Simple, elegant, serene. Love it!!!!