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Girl with Sand Dollar
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PostPosted: Thu May 17, 2007 1:16 am    Post subject: Girl with Sand Dollar Reply with quote

Sometimes, the world boils down to the size of the first sea shell you ever found.

Nothing else counts.



Jules

Hartblei 45mm Super Rotator, Mamiya 645 AFD, FP4+, Pyro.


PostPosted: Thu May 17, 2007 1:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wow Jules! This is a terrific shot. Love the perception of roundness!

The figure of the child has something that in Italian we call "plasticit?" and I have no idea on how this could translate in English. The word derives from the art jargon and was always used to describe how painters can translate into 2D the depth of a sculture - the origin lying in the ability of humid clay to retain the shapes the sculptors give it.

At first I thought you used a flash light on the child as she seems to be more illuminated than the rest of the landscape. But the absence of a second shadow reveals this is sunlight only. So I assume that the impression is caused by a red or orange filter - am I correct?

The bokeh on the background smoothly fades away really creating the impression of vastness. A bit surreal as no one is around except for the figure on the right. But it fits the mood!
It reminds me a bit of the Wim Wenders movie "The state of Things", where there was this Portugal beach in B&W, with the same kind of muted lighting.


PostPosted: Thu May 17, 2007 3:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Orio wrote:
Wow Jules! This is a terrific shot. Love the perception of roundness!

The figure of the child has something that in Italian we call "plasticit?" and I have no idea on how this could translate in English. The word derives from the art jargon and was always used to describe how painters can translate into 2D the depth of a sculture - the origin lying in the ability of humid clay to retain the shapes the sculptors give it.

At first I thought you used a flash light on the child as she seems to be more illuminated than the rest of the landscape. But the absence of a second shadow reveals this is sunlight only. So I assume that the impression is caused by a red or orange filter - am I correct?

The bokeh on the background smoothly fades away really creating the impression of vastness. A bit surreal as no one is around except for the figure on the right. But it fits the mood!
It reminds me a bit of the Wim Wenders movie "The state of Things", where there was this Portugal beach in B&W, with the same kind of muted lighting.


Thank you so much Orio,

I’ve been following your most interesting conversation on roundness and I think I understand what you are talking about. It’s a very subtle concept and difficult to intentionally bring into a picture. One can shoot with the “elements” of roundness in mind but the developing and the printing also add or take away from the concept.

This is why I often develop negatives using Pyro, Wimberley Pyro WD2D. It seems to give a dimension to the highlights and the shadows that I don’t see in other developers.

You are correct. I used a deep red filter for that shot which gives human skin a slight “inner glow”. The depth and vastness that you perceive is actually there. There is about 5km of beach behind the girl. I took this a couple of years ago in January during a very unusual warm spell when we went to the Gulf Coast over a weekend and no one was there. It is a somewhat remote beach only accessible by boat. This was shot at about F8 so the bokeh is almost real-time, as much as a function of the Mamiya 80mm lens.

Last September I had a show which I hung this shot, printed about 82 x 106 cm, and was very pleased at the reaction. In this show I had a lot of snazzy color shots, one 61cm x 2.4m infrared panorama (that I particularly like), lots of color and action, but many, many people liked and commented on this shot. I live in a small university town so the audience is a bit more aware of the arts than most and is appreciative of B&W photography.

Thanks again.

Jules


PostPosted: Thu May 17, 2007 5:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

lulalake wrote:

Thank you so much Orio,
I’ve been following your most interesting conversation on roundness and I think I understand what you are talking about. It’s a very subtle concept and difficult to intentionally bring into a picture. One can shoot with the “elements” of roundness in mind but the developing and the printing also add or take away from the concept.


Very true. It is a very difficult thing to obtain, and also one that easily slips away any time in the process from the click to the publication.

lulalake wrote:

This is why I often develop negatives using Pyro, Wimberley Pyro WD2D. It seems to give a dimension to the highlights and the shadows that I don’t see in other developers.


I do not develop my negatives (yet), so unfortunately this is a dimension of the work that I do not have control on. But judging from your result, you have found the successful "ingredient".

lulalake wrote:

You are correct. I used a deep red filter for that shot which gives human skin a slight “inner glow”.


Yes! Yes! I knew it had to be there! Very Happy
There was too much difference in the illumination between the girl and the sand and sky, there was no additional light, so it must have been a filtre that ligthtened her skin and darkened the blue and green tones at the same time.
I'm very happy when i can "read into" a photograph successfully! Because it means that I have not wasted all my time, and I have actually learned something!

lulalake wrote:

The depth and vastness that you perceive is actually there. There is about 5km of beach behind the girl. I took this a couple of years ago in January during a very unusual warm spell when we went to the Gulf Coast over a weekend and no one was there. It is a somewhat remote beach only accessible by boat.


It looks like a magical place. It inspires me just by seeing it in this one picture.

lulalake wrote:

This was shot at about F8 so the bokeh is almost real-time, as much as a function of the Mamiya 80mm lens.


That's the power of the medium format! I always say it. People thinks it's all about the larger size. No! The DOF is different, and it makes ALL your photography different. I love the medium format. If digital did not exist, I would shoot medium format film only. Of course the power of digital is something I don't want to give up completely, and at the moment I can not afford a digital back for a medium format camera. So the two things will have to live side by side.

lulalake wrote:

Last September I had a show which I hung this shot, printed about 82 x 106 cm, and was very pleased at the reaction. In this show I had a lot of snazzy color shots, one 61cm x 2.4m infrared panorama (that I particularly like), lots of color and action, but many, many people liked and commented on this shot. I live in a small university town so the audience is a bit more aware of the arts than most and is appreciative of B&W photography.


Yes, it's a pleasure to show your photographs to people who can appreciate it. In this shot there is a lot of interesting elements. One I have not written about is the perspective. There are three lines (the shore line, the border between wet and dry sand, and the dune line) that are converging to infinite in a point that is just slightly to the right of the child's head. This and the absence of distracting vertical elements create a powerful sense of space which in turn greatly enhances the perception of roundness I talked about. The fact that all over the beach there are small elements of interest (the debris) helps also with the sense of scale and gives the eye an element on which evaluate the progression of the blur and therefore the distance.

Very, very well composed.

BTW, I am curious about those black lines on the child's legs, what are they?


PostPosted: Thu May 17, 2007 5:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

By the way (and on completely different subject) I was not aware that Claudio Basso uses your camera! :

http://www.mamiya.com/cameras2.asp?id=1&id2=1728

I would love to have this camera one day.


PostPosted: Thu May 17, 2007 8:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Excellent! Really professional!

You've used a fantastic camera to shoot a wonderful picture.
Exposure and composition are just great.
And the usage of the filter was just the right decision!

Congratulations!

Carsten


PostPosted: Thu May 17, 2007 10:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I didn't have the words to make comment like Orio, but I have to say that this is one of the best images I have seen.

Michael


PostPosted: Thu May 17, 2007 10:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

What a shot. The shell and the little girls face girls tell such a story Lovely lighting. A well thought out shot


PostPosted: Thu May 17, 2007 11:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great Shot Jules,
You have taken risks with succes! placed in the center, hard sunlight.
You turned it all in your favor wel done.
Wich scanner did you use.

Guido


PostPosted: Thu May 17, 2007 12:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Beautiful shot.
I like it a lot.

Sorin


PostPosted: Thu May 17, 2007 1:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Orio, "I do not develop my negatives (yet), so unfortunately this is a dimension of the work that I do not have control on. But judging from your result, you have found the successful "ingredient".

If you print much I want to suggest you take the plunge into processing your own negatives. It's pretty easy and can be done, as I do, in the bathroom.

You are correct. I used a deep red filter for that shot which gives human skin a slight “inner glow”.

Orio,"Yes! Yes! I knew it had to be there!
There was too much difference in the illumination between the girl and the sand and sky, there was no additional light, so it must have been a filtre that ligthtened her skin and darkened the blue and green tones at the same time.
I'm very happy when i can "read into" a photograph successfully! Because it means that I have not wasted all my time, and I have actually learned something! "

No one else has ever commented about that Orio. You have Eagle eyes!

Orio, "BTW, I am curious about those black lines on the child's legs, what are they?"

Ha Ha! They are stick-on non-permanent tattoos. In the large print they become obvious but compressed for the internet the details blend a bit too much to see.

Thanks again Orio.

Jules


PostPosted: Thu May 17, 2007 2:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

LucisPictor wrote:
Excellent! Really professional!

You've used a fantastic camera to shoot a wonderful picture.
Exposure and composition are just great.
And the usage of the filter was just the right decision!

Congratulations!

Carsten


Thank you very much Carsten.

It's my favorite "modern" film camera, very easy to use.

Jules


PostPosted: Thu May 17, 2007 2:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Borges wrote:
I didn't have the words to make comment like Orio, but I have to say that this is one of the best images I have seen.

Michael


Michael I appreciate and thank you for your thought here.

Jules


PostPosted: Thu May 17, 2007 3:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Rob Leslie wrote:
What a shot. The shell and the little girls face girls tell such a story Lovely lighting. A well thought out shot



Thanks much Rob.
You know, it's almost a picture within a picture. For the girl, almost nothing else existed for her but that small shell, its feel, smell and color, and in the picture, almost nothing else exists except the girl, the sand and a few other elements. A house of mirrors? Ha Ha.

Cheers

Jules


PostPosted: Thu May 17, 2007 3:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jigt wrote:
Great Shot Jules,
You have taken risks with succes! placed in the center, hard sunlight.
You turned it all in your favor wel done.
Wich scanner did you use.

Guido


Thank you Guido,

I use Vuescan software on a "well tuned" Epson 4870.

The standard Epson negative holder is not so good in these scanners so I bought Doug Fisher's negative holder which allows one to determine the proper focal plane, and assures flatness of the negative.

Here is the URL for the Neg/transparency holder

http://www.BetterScanning.com/

This holder is to Epson scanners what Leica glass is to most cameras.

Cheers

Jules


PostPosted: Thu May 17, 2007 3:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Himself wrote:
Beautiful shot.
I like it a lot.

Sorin


Thanks Sorin.

Jules