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Portraits of Children Series by Charlotte Thompson

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
So much better! This, Charlotte is a new level of work. I'm thrilled!

Asher

P.S. If you pack her up right now, I'll send the mailing!
 

Charlotte Thompson

Well-known member
Nill

thank you! stunning is a most stunning compliment-
yes I did do a tad more of the sepia on the second shot which is on my lap top but needed to see what say you guys on the difference- thank you again-

Charlotte-

Asher

well you and I will have to duel for her my friend cause she's not goin' any where but near me
and I am so very pleased you like the work
as I have said I have only started with photography since april or may so it's pretty new
and so many ways to find yourself eh? ha, you and I should know that about my work
I continue to learn and evolve with a voice- as I have always said "art is about seduction"
thank you so much-

Charlotte-
 

Charlotte Thompson

Well-known member
For Nill

a tad more sepia as you wanted to see-


DSC_06452.jpg
 

Charlotte Thompson

Well-known member
a few more and I hope I am not in trouble-but I know I am- yikes! sorrrrryyyyyyyyy-
but- I am going for sepia so much these days-forgive me-



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DSC_1500-1.jpg
 

Nill Toulme

New member
Peter Pan indeed. This is excellent work Charlotte. I am quite envious.

BTW, my oldest son went through an approximately two-year Peter Pan phase when he was very small. He wouldn't wear anything other than his bright green Peter costume, complete with feathered hat and yellow knife. We have photos of Peter Pan in a bike trailer, Peter Pan on the beach, Peter Pan in the church Christmas pageant (he left his knife in the pew, and we told people he was a grasshopper visiting the Christ child...)

And then my youngest daughter was Minnie Mouse for, as I recall, not two but three years...

Nill
 

Charlotte Thompson

Well-known member
Nill
well right now Peter" is Skateboard Dude"- and his sissy is and will always be "Tink"
I fell in love with both of them as a child and couldn't decide which one I wanted to be so I thought I would be both" I still feel that way today" -thank you for your kindness, I dont get many in this forum so feedback is just so precious for me as I am still learning-

Charlotte-
 

Charlotte Thompson

Well-known member
Nill

if I did then I would have to kill both of us- LOL-

I use Picasa and I can't really tell you exactly how but it comes from a shading understanding if you will- many art classes but who taught me first how to shade for max effect was nun when I was attending Catholic Schools- it impressed me so I forever stayed with it- I guess you could say it's just a way I have with color-a balance, if you will-I have no real technique just my eye"
long ago I used to do wall murals, I know longer have time for such, also I used to paint on canvas-all mediums-again no time
but I have always been involved in the arts-this is fairly new for me so I am exploring out the wazoo to find my voice- though truly I love human beings and expression-also my transparency overlays have been so fun-hard to do it the right way-takes a lot of practice, that-
"so now we can both live" no certain technique- just my own eye" and Picasa-
hey, thanks for being interested-

Charlotte-
 

doug anderson

New member
Charlotte: Why sepia? I'd prefer this one in black and white.

For some reason the sepia comes off as self-conscious, and interposes itself between the image and the viewer. At least for me it does.

I think digital black and white, although not yet as good as film, is less intrusive somehow.

D
 

Charlotte Thompson

Well-known member
Doug
I really like the warmth and depth sepia gives- that's all-
here it is in black and white
with the black and white it looks a bit uninvolved not grabbing the personality of the subject
but sepia is saying "hey Look"-but that's me-


DSC_1487-1.jpg
 

doug anderson

New member
Doug
I really like the warmth and depth sepia gives- that's all-
here it is in black and white
with the black and white it looks a bit uninvolved not grabbing the personality of the subject
but sepia is saying "hey Look"-but that's me-


DSC_1487-1.jpg

Hey, I LOVE the black and white version. That's just my preference. To me, she's so much more accessible.
 

Charlotte Thompson

Well-known member
Doug

yes I can see what you mean- both ways look good-

sepia for me brings such a warmth
where b and w lends to a cooler side
each does work
preference is always the venue isn't it?
thanks for coming back to see the b and w and for your valued opinions

Charlotte-
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Photographic Composition: changes should be hard to spot. Try to have some dynamics.

Let me focus on the first picture. I love your model, of course! she's fabulous and your pictures of her are simply delightful In the first picture, we see two beautiful eyes. Nothing wrong with that! But maybe we can have a little more?

The eyes, as shown, can be overpowering to the nth all other parts! For artistic rendering, we can emphasize or obfuscate as we wish. Still, emphasis should most often be subtle*, unless you're really having a going out of business advertisement. We'd rather that the changes the artist makes are so hidden that we don't realize what, if anything, was done. It's not only that parsimonious changes are needed but also balance.

Look far balanced distribution of centers of power. What offsets the two points of strength here? Think about the eyes as a fixed set of points. So what else is there to explore? When there is nothing, one has to really ask if there may be something you might need to do change about your processing of the image file.

Asher

*As I have stated before, I have a "3% rule". After I make a change, I want to try to reduce this to as close as 3% as possible. Amazingly sometimes I do merely use 7% of what I though necessary. Mostly I can't go below 80% but I really do try. Rarely it's more than 85%. We need to be constantly restraining our efforts as we tend to overshoot when doing one change at a time.
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Charlotte,

I like your work in sepia. It suits your subjects very well. In monochrome, distribution of importance is by the shading, detail and local contrast.

DSC_0722.jpg


Here, The eyes are very strongly drawn. The rest of the face is present but not with the same power. Therefore it appears, IMHO, too weak. Is that clearer? I could be not presenting my ideas clearly so let me know if you have an idea of what I'm referring too.

Asher
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Charlotte,

Hi Chaerlotte,

This makes sense! I think you understand my criticism. We do not need to show what is not contributing to the effectiveness of the photograph Yes, this latest crop is gutsy and perhaps extreme, but it makes sense! The bright area in the upper right corner is distracting. In fact you might also crop away the top 1". Photography is about choice of subject and exclusion of everything that does not decorate, support balance or converse with the subject shouldn't be there!

Asher
 

Charlotte Thompson

Well-known member
another recrop Asher" I didnt like the last but was an experiment-now I think I have understanding of what you mean- everything out that doesn't belong
so here it is-


DSC_0722-2.jpg
 

Charlotte Thompson

Well-known member
Black@White Portraits- Peter Pan

These were shot a couple of weeks ago while Peter was building his new club house- I thought I would do them in B @ W this time- would like your thoughts -


DSC_1432-1.jpg



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DSC_1436-1.jpg
 

Kathy Rappaport

pro member
Terrific

Charlotte:

These are lovely. I love the black and white treatment. The first one, his leg got cut off a bit but his personality shines through, the second one is framable without question and is my favorite of these and the third one is sweet.
 

Charlotte Thompson

Well-known member
mac and cheese portrait

I shot these this morning outside patio- I thought the mac and cheese face added to this little pixie face-she just finished eating and was in the mood for a few photos-soft morning light-


DSC_0733.jpg



DSC_0736-1.jpg
 

Charlotte Thompson

Well-known member
Doug

yes tis my fav of that morning as well- I use a Nikon d40 with 105vr macro
I have just only had this lens for a couple of months also use a Nikon speed light sb-600
but not with these actually my batteries need recharge on the flash so I havent been using it
but I adore natural light especially early morning to early evening west exposure-
I am pleased you liked the shot-thank you-

Charlotte-
 
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