Red or Blue

[Mark Hampton]

red or blue... i asked my wife ... she wouldn't tell me...








*

red or blue - m hampton

i made the picture anyway ... not knowing which colour she was thinking of...

[Ruben Alfu]

Hi Mark,

Her expression is so captivating, the honesty of the photo is beautiful, refreshing, the lines drawn by the light playing with the selective focus adds a lot of interest.

Will we ever know the answer?

Ruben

[Jerome Marot]

This is a beautiful portrait and I like that the color balance hints on blue. Does that mean blue is the answer? I don't know.

What kind of flash did you use to open the shadows?

[Cem_Usakligil]

Simply beautiful. You are a very lucky man Mark.

[Mark Hampton]

Originally Posted by Ruben Alfu

Hi Mark,

Her expression is so captivating, the honesty of the photo is beautiful, refreshing, the lines drawn by the light playing with the selective focus adds a lot of interest.

Will we ever know the answer?

Ruben

Ruben thanks for the comments - i have been looking at Julia marget Camroans work of late - thinking about here use of selective focus and light - working with her subjects to tell a story throught the medium...

portrait of Julia Prinsep Jackson - Julia Margaret Cameron

will we ever know if its blue or red ? she wont tell - but it has made me think about a larger body of work based on this idea.

[Mark Hampton]

Originally Posted by Jerome Marot

This is a beautiful portrait and I like that the color balance hints on blue. Does that mean blue is the answer? I don't know.

What kind of flash did you use to open the shadows?

Jerome, the shadow in the image is a levels burn in and then a desaturation layer - the image was made with a ceiling light and computer screen illuminating the from below.

there is also a Filter lighting effect (opacity 18%) on the skin (single spot from above) on the green channel (bump map)- this helps define the skin - so no flash - below is the pre shadow image.

red or blue - M Hampton

on thing I had in mind here was the shutter speed - i didn't want the image pin sharp - - we used 0.8 sec so there was a small amount of movement - a few images were taken to get to the speed that worked.

hope this is useful. Thanks for the question.

[Mark Hampton]

Originally Posted by Cem_Usakligil

Simply beautiful. You are a very lucky man Mark.

Cem, thanks man. but it is my wife who is lucky...

as she wakes up next to this !

[Cem_Usakligil]

Originally Posted by Mark Hampton

Cem, thanks man. but it is my wife who is lucky...

as she wakes up next to this !

This is Matrix gone horribly wrong, lol.

[Mark Hampton]

Originally Posted by Cem_Usakligil

This is Matrix gone horribly wrong, lol.

Cem, its a beautiful render of me and hdr and jpg

here is the reaction to the image of me !

still not shure if its red / blue or something else that is going throught the mind of the subject.

red or blue - M Hampton

cheers

[Cem_Usakligil]

Originally Posted by Mark Hampton

Cem, its a beautiful render of me and hdr and jpg

here is the reaction to the image of me !

still not shure if its red / blue or something else that is going throught the mind of the subject.

red or blue - M Hampton

cheers

Perhaps the answer is green.

[Mark Hampton]

Originally Posted by Cem_Usakligil

Perhaps the answer is green.

Cem,

I am a bit worried that her left eye is sharper than the right in real life.... i hadn't noticed before....


could which eye is in focus tell us if its red / blue / or even green !

[Jerome Marot]

Originally Posted by Mark Hampton

Jerome, the shadow in the image is a levels burn in and then a desaturation layer - the image was made with a ceiling light and computer screen illuminating the from below.

there is also a Filter lighting effect (opacity 18%) on the skin (single spot from above) on the green channel (bump map)- this helps define the skin - so no flash - below is the pre shadow image.

Very clever, but I also like the unprocessed image. And the last one too: clever use of the square format.

[fahim mohammed]

Mark, some lovely work on show here.

Red. Looking at the man!!

Best.

[Mark Hampton]

Originally Posted by Jerome Marot

Very clever, but I also like the unprocessed image. And the last one too: clever use of the square format.

Jerome,

I liked the unprocessed image to - just thought I could lift it with a small shadow... I like the feeling of confinement that the square gives...

thanks for the comments.. they are much appreciated..

cheers

[Mark Hampton]

Originally Posted by fahim mohammed

Mark, some lovely work on show here.

Red. Looking at the man!!

Best.

Fahim,

thanks for the feedback ....

the colour and the question and the portraits do open a door to a larger body of work....

worked on one will post it later.

cheers

[Mark Hampton]

the subject again was asked to think of red or blue - the photographs were made over a period of a minute -

30 exposures were made.

The data has then been gathered together and stacked to provide an average over the time...

red or blue - m Hampton

cheers

[Cem_Usakligil]

Originally Posted by Mark Hampton

the subject again was asked to think of red or blue - the photographs were made over a period of a minute -

30 exposures were made.

The data has then been gathered together and stacked to provide an average over the time...

red or blue - m Hampton

cheers

So you like the left side of her face better I presume? It is represented 6 times versus the 3 times for the right side. Also, the focus in the previous pictures were on the left side of her face. Just an observation.

[Mark Hampton]

Originally Posted by Cem_Usakligil

So you like the left side of her face better I presume? It is represented 6 times versus the 3 times for the right side. Also, the focus in the previous pictures were on the left side of her face. Just an observation.

Cem,

there is only one side on show here.

i am not sure if its red or blue before you ask.

cheers

[Cem_Usakligil]

Originally Posted by Mark Hampton

Cem,

there is only one side on show here.

i am not sure if its red or blue before you ask.

cheers

I had just discovered it myself, albeit too late to correct my post. So in this case, the statistics are even 9-0. But seriously though, I don't want to sound like a silly old Dutchman stating those statistics. Before you know it, I may end up in a hospital without a wrist-band.

[Mark Hampton]

Originally Posted by Cem_Usakligil

I had just discovered it myself, albeit too late to correct my post. So in this case, the statistics are even 9-0. But seriously though, I don't want to sound like a silly old Dutchman stating those statistics. Before you know it, I may end up in a hospital without a wrist-band.

lol. they are part of it !

[charlotte thompson]

Mark

beautiful portrait!! beautiful woman-
now from a female point of view I think RED
because what I see in her is a deep passion true and full of energy
and we all associate red with that definition but the color red is "in her"

Charlotte-

[Mark Hampton]

Originally Posted by charlotte thompson

Mark

beautiful portrait!! beautiful woman-
now from a female point of view I think RED
because what I see in her is a deep passion true and full of energy
and we all associate red with that definition but the color red is "in her"

Charlotte-

Charlotte,

thanks for the comments...

cheers

[Mark Hampton]

another from this ongoing series....

still she will not tell me...

red or blue - Deka

[Jerome Marot]

If she won't tell you, we will never find out. Another nice use of the square format, very different from the first example. I like it.

[Mark Hampton]

Originally Posted by Jerome Marot

If she won't tell you, we will never find out. Another nice use of the square format, very different from the first example. I like it.

I never give up hope Jerome. There are many ways to skin a cat !

this one has more of a slippage in it and is less confrontational - she looking beyond the frame and the viewer.

thanks for the feedback it is appreciated.

cheers

[Mark Hampton]

.

red or blue - Deka

[Mark Hampton]

.

red or blue - Deka

view from 10 feet to see Sharpe (ish)


.

[Asher Kelman]

Mark,

Bravo! You made me getting up at 3:00 am because I couldn't sleep totally rewarding. I am so taken by this series of portraits of your lovely wife.

I cannot believe that I missed out on this thread as it developed. How can that be? I now come in to be totally in awe of this high intensity and close look at a beautiful young woman in thought. This is important work for us all.

There's immediate visual impact. Success at the onset! Then follows a sustained appeal to our empathy as you present more aspects of this exploration of a woman in thought. Again, "Bravo! "

Asher

[Asher Kelman]

Mark,

without wishing to divert your well focussed thread, I still have to wonder about your approach here. I'd like to know how similar or different it might be to work you do with inanimate objects with which you have no such emotional and intimate bonding. Do you happen to know?

Asher

[Asher Kelman]

Originally Posted by Mark Hampton

red or blue... i asked my wife ... she wouldn't tell me...








*

red or blue - m hampton

i made the picture anyway ... not knowing which colour she was thinking of...

Mark,

I had no idea that the shadows were constructed by you. I accepted that there was some source of high contrast and wondered what could cause that, but never for a moment thought it was not what anyone would have gotten had they clicked the shutter for you!

I am impressed with your experimentation with the inspiration of Cameron's shadowed portraits. Your version is boldly different, even dramatic. I hope you'll continue this exploration.

Asher