Monday, January 19, 2009

Peter 010 - Fleur




What better way to make double figures than by breaking my duck with the girls as well!

Fleur and her partner Paul were demonstrating Paul's range of Delta Slide Guitars (Cigar Box Guitars) at the Eumundi markets. For reasons I can't explain she reminded me of a fiddle player I photographed (without introducing myself) a few years ago at a Folk gig in South Australia.

There's not much time for idle chatter when you are playing blues and selling at the same time, but I managed not to get them in the same shot so that I could claim two "scalps" for one "ask"!



I was just not happy with the original (and I have a few similar), It just didn't work for me, the background seemed to be fighting with the subject and the colour was all wrong. I cropped it heavily and dropped the saturation out of the background and I think it's a nicer result. Now I just need to learn to think like that on the spot!

11 comments:

Julie said...

Y'know, you're not up yourself at all. You just have a sense of humour that one has to click with. And you have a lot of technical expertise - more so than one might expect for this sort of project. But you are very harsh on yourself. Public forum, right?

Now to Fleur. I can see why you changed the crop. The smaller one is much busier and less about the person, maybe. Actually was Fleur "sighted"? The way she is holding her head, the smile and the sunnies put me so in mind of Ray Charles. That is an interesting looking instrument. Is it made from a cigar box? Wow!

bitingmidge said...

But you are very harsh on yourself. Public forum, right?

I think I go easier on myself in Public! I don't mind being harsh, by pulling apart each detail I can think about it next time.

Fleur was watching her partner's notes as they were playing - more on that tomorrow!

Julie said...

Yes I like to be super critical of my own shots to try to imprint into my poor brain what I need to do differently. How on earth do you selectively desaturate? Dont tell me - something deep down in Photoshop, right?

bitingmidge said...

Selective desaturation: I use "Aperture" which allows a desaturation across half a dozen colour channels.

It's another learning curve I'm on, and one that has some promise I think, although I did upset the colour balance a bit.

I think in photoshop I'd have to do a masking layer and mask the area, which is a lot more work.

Ann said...

I like the crop you've chosen with just enough of the instrument to tell the story. Congratulations on approaching a woman.

What program are you using for editing?

Julie said...

I look at this again, Peter, and somehow I think I would have taken a different crop. On the LHS I would have sliced through her arm to remove a bit of background. On the RHS I would have sliced through the arm of the guitar just abover her fingers. This would remove most of those distracting windows in the background and left Fleur with a bit more body. Whatdayaregon?

bitingmidge said...

Ann, I use Apple's Aperture, a bit of professional editing software that cost an amazing $250.00!

Julie, why not have a go and post your version? I often play with other people's shots just to see what difference it would make. Often a little editing can turn an ordinary shot into a beauty.

Joan Elizabeth said...

I can't see why you fuss so much about the on site situation when you can turn a good photo into a better photo with post processing, like you did here. It will give you more time to enjoy the encounter.

bitingmidge said...

Not meaning to fuss, but there has to be one "old woman" in the bunch! ;-)

I'm convinced that by paying attention to all that stuff on site, and learning from this sort of analysis, that the amount of post processing will eventually be minimised. Of course that means that future encounters will be absolutely more enjoyable as the outcome will be certain!

That's my hope anyway!

Joan Elizabeth said...

Ah but you know me. Tinkering with a computer is my joy so why not tinker with photos? I'm planning to get better at it.
Also, you can tell you were once a film man ... not happy to take a hundred shots in the hope of one good'n. Of course your approach is absolutely what you should be doing.

bitingmidge said...

The trouble is, if I take a hundred shots, I don't dare throw any away, just in case I need one of them in future!

I sometimes take two though, even if I know I've got the goodie!