Jack
Old barn - crooked door
plate #3
wet plate
Jack
combined negatives-3
combined negatives-4
combined negatives
Greg Heath

Jack

My Son, Unrehearsed pose. 2 seconds after I took this he was off running around. I took 12 shots on the rolleicord II and this was about the best that came out from the negative and the available light.

I am a beginner. I have shot about 10 rolls of film, but I have no experience printing,except for this past week. I purchased some Ilford Polycontrast filters 2 days ago and have been having fun trying to make this picture work out to the "glow" of a little boy, with some light that came through the curtains that lit up one side of his face...but also correctly exposed the rest of the room.
I posted the original in the gallery last week, but this is the updated picture with the filters. I never knew filters could do so much.

I am interested in your thoughts on composition, light, and anything else that you can add via constructive criticism to help me be a better photographer.

I am using a Beseler 45M and a 135mm lens and I'm manually timing the exposures...got to upgrade the system, but I got this whole darkroom setup and everything for $30. So I am trying to do what I can with what I've got...

Thanks for your help and ideas..

Greg
Click to expand...
Location
at home
Equipment Used
Rolleicord II
Exposure
3.5 at 1/100
Film & Developer
Kodak 400 TMY-2/ Isfosol 2
Paper & Developer
Ilford Multigrade Deluxe RC Glossy/Ilford Universal
Lens Filter
Ilford Polycontrast 2.5 and no dodging done.
Domenico Foschi
Good job, Greg.
The print looks great now.
The composition looks good although I am not sure about the lower part.
I feel as if there is too much couch but at the same time that area gives some "weight" to the image and adds as a graphic element, even because the tonality is beautiful.
These are the little details that ultimately will characterize your signature.
Looks what works for you and check the work of the masters, they can be your best teachers.
 
Greg Heath
Domenico,

Thanks for looking.

I was unsure about the foreground. How much or any at all of it should be there. With the couch behind him, I wanted to tie into that for the balance and the depth, but as I brought up the bottom, I would had to include the piping on the ottoman and then would have had a more pronounced line at the bottom. I was almost afraid to cut it out, but maybe I will try it without the foreground and see what it looks like.

Now to try it on some other paper...the warmtone you suggested.
 
Vincent Brady
Greg this is so much better that your earliar posting. I would be tempted to crop some off the bottom but then that's just my way. A useful exercise is to cut a black or white card into two "L " shapes, then hold them together to form a picture frame and place them down on your photo. You can increase or decrease the frame opening, thus cropping the picture until you're happy with it.

One last tip, stick with RC paper until you master the basics of printing. You're looking good so far.

Cheers
Vincent
 
Thomas Bertilsson
Greg, I think one can argue that the bottom not being cropped adds a size reference to the boy, and he has enough glow in the eyes and charisma to make up for being a smaller portion of the whole image.

The tonality you have achieved is lovely. For this setting and mood, it's perfect!

About paper. Use what you like, Greg. The RC paper you're using is nice in that it's easy to handle. Fiber has its quirks, but I like it better than RC, and it took me about a week to figure that out. But to each their own. Fiber usually tones better than RC, and to me they feel so much better when you hold them.

- Thomas
 

Media information

Category
Critique Gallery
Added by
Greg Heath
Date added
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Comment count
5
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Image metadata

Filename
jack_f11_48_2_point_fiv_.jpg
File size
120.2 KB
Date taken
Sat, 13 December 2008 7:58 PM
Dimensions
446px x 640px

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