Portrait, a different take (pp inspired by Damon)

Michiel de Brieder · December 10, 2004

Dear friends,

It's been a couple of days... I've been working on some photos, had to shoot some stuff and I'm in the middle of graduating as a bachelor, man that takes a lot of energy. anyway, I did some shots of a friend with her boyfriend, as I posted a while back, and I took this close-up of her that I really liked:

Post processing is inspired by Damon, not the real thing though :wink but I like it

So, I'd really like your opinion on this (BTW, the girl loves it, she already ordered a print :thumb it is SO good to have people appreciating your work)

Well my friends I wish you a good evening!

damonff · December 10, 2004

Beautiful...I like it a lot (for some odd reason...)

Thiago Sigrist · December 12, 2004

whoa Michiel!
Very cool shot!

I really appreciate your composition on this one, and your B&W treatment is superb!

By the way, could you tell me what kind of lighting was used? It looks great!

Thanks for sharing!
Cheers!

-- thiago

nickphoto123 · December 12, 2004

Portrait, a different take
Very interesting.

The close up leaves me with an incomplete view of the subject's being.
My trying to discern who the subject is forces my attention toward the image.

I would not be quick to turn the page if this image was in a magazine ad.

It is always pleasing and useful to observe someone's new perspective on things.

Regards, Nicholas

wxwax · December 12, 2004

Michiel, that's a lovely shot.

Michiel de Brieder · December 13, 2004

Thanks all!!!!
@ Damon:
Cool that you like it

as I said, you inspired me!

@ Thiago:
Thanks for dropping in my friend, as for the lighting... well

I used lamps that they use on construction sites

a 1000 watt bulb and a 300 watt bulb both on a stand bounced to the ceiling. It's a poor man's setup, but it works for me so far (2 shoots)

@ Nicholas:
That's one of the nicest comments I've ever had, I'm still blushing here.... I am very pleased that the image has made that impact, as I said, I like it very much myself, your comments really strengthen that. You really put it into words well! Thanks!

@ Sid:
Thanks for dropping in and leaving a nice comment

Cheers friends!!

PerezDesignGroup · December 13, 2004

I appreciate it too...hell, I love it! That's a fabulous portrait.

clap

mercphoto · December 13, 2004

Very nice
I really like not only how shallow the depth of field is (notice the fingers, notice the outer edge of the eye, versus the clarity in the lips and eyes), but where exactly you put the focus plane at.

What camera, lens, aperture setting, etc.? I want to try this type of shot now.

Michiel de Brieder · December 16, 2004

@ perez and mercphoto
@ Perez:

Thanks man, that is much appreciated

@ Mercphoto:

Thanks for the nice compliments, here are the technical details:
Focal Length200 mm Exposure Time1/80 sec Aperturef/4 ISO Equivalent800 Lens used: Canon 70-200 f/4L USM
Camera used: Canon EOS 20D with grip attached
As for focus

to be frank, it was on the lips.. The sharpness around the eye is post work. B/W allows for much when sharpening up in post! The eye actually fell behind the DOF!
So I hope this has helped a bit

gus · December 16, 2004

God that woman has beautiful eyes !

Excellent shot MdB

lynnma · December 16, 2004

Michiel de Brieder wrote:

@ Perez:

Thanks man, that is much appreciated

@ Mercphoto:

Thanks for the nice compliments, here are the technical details:
Focal Length200 mm Exposure Time1/80 sec Aperturef/4 ISO Equivalent800 Lens used: Canon 70-200 f/4L USM
Camera used: Canon EOS 20D with grip attached
As for focus to be frank, it was on the lips.. The sharpness around the eye is post work. B/W allows for much when sharpening up in post! The eye actually fell behind the DOF!
So I hope this has helped a bit

thanks for the details Michiel, I'm always eager to see the settings. Great shot... now you mention it I can see where the focus is.. it really works tho..hmmm food for thought..

Michiel de Brieder · December 19, 2004

thanks gus

Humungus wrote:

God that woman has beautiful eyes !

That she does

plus I have an option of shooting her and a girlfriend of her together in a while :eek1 hehehehe, focus, focus........
Thanks for dropping in!!

Michiel de Brieder · December 19, 2004

You're welcome Lynn!!
Always eager to share the details

Now I'm interested to see if you can make something of it for yourself

Ciao!!

pathfinder · December 19, 2004

Michiel de Brieder wrote:

@ Perez:

.....As for focus to be frank, it was on the lips.. The sharpness around the eye is post work. B/W allows for much when sharpening up in post! The eye actually fell behind the DOF!
So I hope this has helped a bit
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I think the lips are the only thing in the image that is crisp and sharp and that is why my eye keeps returning to her lips. The fact that the eye is slightly out of focus contributes to the success of this image -- If her eye was in sharp focus, then I would not look at her lips as much. The way the image is focused, makes hers lips the primary subject and the rest of her face the backdrop for them. And her lips are lovely.

Well done, dramatic. Probably works better in B&W than it did in color too. Restoring just the color to her lips might work or be way over the top!

Portrait, a different take (pp inspired by Damon)

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