Thursday, February 2, 2012

This or That Thursday

Thank you for your kind and helpful comments on my Scavenger Hunt Post.  I sent the basketball hoop and the fence into class and got a lot of positive, useful feedback.  I must be missing Shoot and Edit, because I feel a need to share that feedback with you.

Everyone felt the fence had a lot of potential, but they didn't like how over-saturated it was.  Said it looked fake.  That doesn't bother me since it totally did.  I was so tired of the gray weather and dull light I went a little overboard in post work.  So in class we played with black and white and desaturation and crop and ended up with this photo about.

I still didn't think it screamed "print me" so I came home and added some textures and a frame and tried other crops.
This is my "final" version, but I might just like the first version that reminds me of Gilligan's Island or a stage in a play best.  No worries.  It is my dad's fence.  I can keep trying.

Now the basketball hoop everyone really liked and my teacher was amazed that this "child photographer" took it, so that all felt really good.  They said often if you have a bright, white rectangle in a picture it can be really distracting, but because this one was not too bright and out of focus it added to the photo in terms of square with a circle of the basket.  Some people liked that I wasn't directly underneath the basket--said it gave the basket movement and others wished I was (though then the light would have been behind the shot and not so great.)  We did boost the black slider in lightroom in order to get all the other details that were not basket or light in the shot to drop out.
I agree it is much better.  My teacher did wonder why I titled the photo 5 baskets because he could not see the "10" in the photo.

It was a great class.  We all talked about a lot of great pictures and said what we did or did not like about it.  By explaining why we felt the way we did it became easier to see how that critique could be applied to future shots.

Now I'm working on my Black and Whites for tonight's class.  It is my last one and a makeup of the one we missed the week of snow.  Should be fun!
Seriously this girl has some looks!

Have a fantastic Thursday!  I am.  We got an update on our future daughter...though no pictures...the orphanage answered 10 questions that are a treasure for us now and for her in the future.


Photobucket

13 comments:

Mock-Turtle said...

Oh my word, that last portrait is STUNNING! Possibly one of the most beautiful candid portraits I have ever seen. I LOVE how sharp her eyes are. Bravo!

jackspapermoon.blogspot.com

Susan said...

Cedar, these are great. And the one of your daugther is just stunning!!

Susan said...

Nice, I like the texture you added to the fence. Love the catch lights in Sunflower’s eyes!

Andrea Dawn said...

That girl of yours is a stunner for sure. Enjoyed your followup with these shots.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful, beautiful portrait! Lovely eyes.

Gina Kleinworth said...

What a striking shot of Sunflower!!!! Well done Cedar!!

Susan said...

Visiting from This and That Thursday, what a stunning portrait! Her eyes are amazing.

Tamar SB said...

Love the pictures of the fence! And her eye, oh so stunning!

Daenel T. said...

I love all of your photography so I'm no help.

Your daughter is expressive ~ love.

And, yay, for the adoption.

Tonya said...

I love the basketball hoop shot (no pun intended!) I think it would look great on a kid's room wall.

I love the highlights in your daughter's hair.

I really need to take a photography class. I just wing it, so I don't know if I'm doing it all wrong!

Linda said...

As usual, your photos inspire me. I like what you did with the fence - the rope is not as intrusive as in the original one. And the shot of Sunflower - Oh, my! She is a true beauty, and you have captured the look perfectly! What a joy it is to view the world through your eyes! Have a great day!

seabluelee said...

I'm glad you got some good feedback in class this week (and I mean good both in the sense of "positive" and "useful"). The basketball hoop really is much improved by the darker background. And I have to agree with everyone else who commented that your daughter is a stunner! That's a lovely B&W - nice lighting and skin tones.

deb duty said...

Such a gorgeous girl! The light in her eyes is fabulous! Love the edit of the fence with the black frame too!