Posted by eric weight on October 20, 2009 at 10:20 AM
Eight hours in my kingfisher hide and not a chance. The only wildlife that came close enough for a shot was a family of swans and the youngsters came right up close so I snatched a few portrait shots. When I got home and opened them in breezebrowser, I was surprised to find that they were all old-fashioned sepia in tone, but thinking back those were the true colours. Muddy water, muddy plumage and they certainly stood out from my usual shots, but I couldn't make my mind up whether I liked them or not. I think I must have because I keep going back for another look. At the moment, I am very taken with this sort of portraiture
http://www.pbase.com/sheila/faces_on_a_ferry_series
and am trying to incorporate the style into some of my wildlife pics.
Clearly I have a long way to go with this yet, but I really would be interested to know if this appeals to anybody else so please feel free to say it is crap or that you hate it and better still why.
Hello Eric, I like the actual portrait, excellent detail and the water droplets help make it. The 'apparent' sepia effect I quite like too but I do find the S shaped neck in the bottom keft of the picture to be distracting. I can't see how you could crop it in any way so if it were mine I'd be tempted to tone down that neck a bit.
Robert.
Posted by John Robinson on October 20, 2009 at 11:23 AM
I like this. Nits covered.
JohnR
Posted by Craig Jones on October 20, 2009 at 11:30 AM
Lovely light on the swan, I love it
Posted by Rob Fisher on October 20, 2009 at 11:43 AM
Eric,
Cracking shot! I like the subtle tones and the portraiture style has worked well.
Maybe including some more of the neck would help reduce the noted distraction.
Posted by Fran French on October 20, 2009 at 12:28 PM
Nits covered, I find this a pleasure to view. Nice and sharp where it counts, and a good eye.
Fran
Posted by Andy Astbury on October 20, 2009 at 12:35 PM
The brightness of the neck is what causes me a problem Eric - perhaps a multi-layer approach and reducing the levels of white in the neck will balance the tonality of the image.
Hi Eric,
Very strange coincidence, as only a few hours ago I was looking at those very same "Faces on a Ferry" pictures (I clicked on a link from the Alamy forum). Beautiful composition on your picture, and the sepia effect works well to my eyes.
Was that 'my' old lens doing the goods again?!
Posted by eric weight on October 20, 2009 at 1:22 PM
Thank you for the comments and suggestions, very helpful and I agree entirely that the neck is too bright and overpowers the rest of it. I have tried a re-work on the neck using levels and layers. I feel it is better but I am still not entirely happy that I have got it right. I don't mind doing more work on shots like this because they are mood shots rather than 'record' shots so I will play with it further; it's all good practice anyway.
Hi Jeremy, I wasn't sure if you were the same Jeremy after your avatar disappeared. I hope all is well and yes it is another from your lens. Nearly all my shots are these days and I am very pleased with what I get from it now. Money well spent.
Posted by Mark Davies on October 20, 2009 at 2:03 PM
Its a fine portrait and a new approach to monochromatic wildlife. nits covered , but certainly worth revisiting...
Since seeing it earlier today Eric it's good to see the feedback.
IMHO I am not sure about the 'sepia' tone for me, as I don't feel it really adds anything to the image. Perhaps a 4 colour B&W with just a hint of colour might be more sympathetic here, but again it is just a personal observation. The detail and clarity on the head is superb.
Steve
Posted by Andy Astbury on October 21, 2009 at 4:18 AM
Discussion
16 replieshttp://www.pbase.com/sheila/faces_on_a_ferry_series
and am trying to incorporate the style into some of my wildlife pics.
Clearly I have a long way to go with this yet, but I really would be interested to know if this appeals to anybody else so please feel free to say it is crap or that you hate it and better still why.
Robert.
JohnR
Cracking shot! I like the subtle tones and the portraiture style has worked well.
Maybe including some more of the neck would help reduce the noted distraction.
Fran
Very strange coincidence, as only a few hours ago I was looking at those very same "Faces on a Ferry" pictures (I clicked on a link from the Alamy forum). Beautiful composition on your picture, and the sepia effect works well to my eyes.
Was that 'my' old lens doing the goods again?!
Hi Jeremy, I wasn't sure if you were the same Jeremy after your avatar disappeared. I hope all is well and yes it is another from your lens. Nearly all my shots are these days and I am very pleased with what I get from it now. Money well spent.
Major
Sorry i will stop it now..
really nice eric detail is loverly as is the light, would make a nice calendar pic for sure.
Mark
IMHO I am not sure about the 'sepia' tone for me, as I don't feel it really adds anything to the image. Perhaps a 4 colour B&W with just a hint of colour might be more sympathetic here, but again it is just a personal observation. The detail and clarity on the head is superb.
Steve