Diana in a way she had never seen herself

Monty.....Why don't you see if Hiromi? would make you a 40x48 Ebony SU then you wouldn't have to worry about ever taking another photograph in your busy artistic life! Or you could set it up in the backyard in one spot and leave it there for 30 years ready for the light to be "juuussst riiigghhht". I like your work and your compassion. Now I need 2 valium washed down with a Crown.

Tav

Monty....From the comments about your other photo of the same woman I guess you should never ever turn anyone around and shoot the back of their head! They all liked the face. What were you thinkin?

Tav

Monty-

I'm assuming you are shooting this in your own backyard or some other location familiar to you, and not hauling the beast around hither and yon to strange locations (although I know you've done that before, climbing to that waterfall with the monster on your back). Since you are familiar with the environment in which you shot this, sometime when you're not taking photos with it, just set it up and look through it at the space where you use it. Get familiar with the backdrop, how it lights itself, where is a conducive place to pose a subject, and so on. Observe the lighting at various times of day and figure out when is a good time to shoot there. Take some time when you're not shooting a new subject, and do some shots of your family (your kids are particularly photogenic). Manage the quality time with the family AND the photography time together; that way you can balance the learning curve with compliant and readily accessible subjects.

Do you have notes on your printing technique? Did you use a contrast agent for printing this? If so, which one and how much? The image on my monitor looks soft overall - are you shooting the digital version with a digicam handheld? I'm wondering how much we're losing of this to the reproduction.

As an addition to Tav's last comment, I highly recommend that all your "self-portraits" are taken from the back of your head.

Dinesh.....Now you're talkin! But the aura would be too harsh to print down.....

Tav

As far as softness goes I think that is very subjective. I could have shot it even softer with a wide open verito so I like the mood it evokes. As far as the hot spots on the hair- that can be easily fixed with a little burning- in during printing. I've burned in way hotter spots than that when Pt/Pd printing. Of course I use a plate burner which makes this so much easier to do than when using a UV box. I think this negative still has a lot of potential. I would probably dodge the dark vertical/diagonal line in the backgound (right shoulder), lightening it so it blends in better with the rest of the background. And please don't start worrying about " its 20.00 everytime I hit the shutter" If you start doing that it will rob you of your creativity. ( of course that's why I'm probably broke since moving up to ULF) just keep shooting with your heart. You're doing fine.

Scott,

At the risk of sounding like I'm copping out to easy excuses--knowing the light is not the issue unfortunately. Most of the shots in my gallery are shot in the same exact spot under better lighting conditions. The problem I have is truly a function of time--I literally have 12 day trips on the road, followed by 1 day at home and then out for another 8 and so on and so on. I have to take the light that is given that day, at the time my sitters can come all the while trying to fit my familial obligations etc if I want to shoot during my time at home--often that is when my children are at school, middle of the day to early afternoon. It is hard to justify to MYSELF, much less the rest of my family that they should take a back seat to my photographic pursuits when they already take a back seat to my professional obligations in regards to time. Therefore I am left with the choices of shooting with what I've been given that day or not shooting until the next trip in. When I can I choose to shoot as often as makes sense to my life and that often means less than ideal conditions. Mix that in with a steep learning curve, talent level, and a desire to learn on the fly you get some results that can be improved upon--such as this one. Unfortunately the same can be said for printing time for me--after everyone goes to bed. I agree that this image can be printed much better with many of the suggestions made by yourself, Les and Robert. I should have done so before posting as I knew the hot spot was a problem--but sometimes the desire to share with those of you here at APUG makes for some hasty decisions of presentation!

Now down to some of the points of the actual critique-- the point of the background being distracting although debatable based on taste has much validity. I think in this instance I agree with you overall, as the lighting is more mottled that I would like, but locally I actually like how the light made an image of a cross above her left shoulder, although unintentionable. Maybe dodging the parts Robert discussed but leaving that cross portion might fit both perspectives for a better background. Since the negative has the information in the hot spot I will work on both the chemistry and the burning in of that area to present a different version and see how it changes the photograph. I especially look forward to shooting Diana again and exploring some of what Les suggested in terms of showing less. That idea is a strong one in presenting her from this angle.

For me photoraphy plays a strange role in my life--a path of discovery that is often as much about the time spent doing as the final product in the print. That attitude may stunt my growth some but it won't lessen my joy for it leads to good discussions such as this. Once again thanks for taking the time to think thoughtfully about the picture and how it could be improved. I really will try to post the other effort over the next couple of weeks. This should be fun!

Monty

ps yes this was shot wide open at f11 and then put to the web via a 169$ sony antichrist, so some of this is a result of that but that doesn't lessen the critiques to the image which I find valid.

monty,
I saw this image last night and meant to comment. Didnt get around to commenting and came back today to see alot of "traffic" on here. Lots of suggestions/critiques/comments, which is damn near wonderful to get peoples opinions. With that said...

One thing I would like to comment. For what it is worth, this is a "zebra" image. I knew it when I saw the thumbnail.
It has a visual signature to it.
One that I feel is a strong and compelling signature.

matt