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Young musicians

Graham Mitchell

New member
This morning I did a portrait session on location with two young sisters. It turned out to be a sunny morning so I tried to use the natural light, though I needed a 0.5s exposure on the piano shot to get enough ambient light! I used a huge octagonal softbox to create the main light source in both cases.

This shot using 80mm @f2.8:
music-school_117.jpg


This shot using 40mm @f3.5:
music-school_59.jpg
 

Doug Kerr

Well-known member
Hi, Graham,
This morning I did a portrait session on location with two young sisters. It turned out to be a sunny morning so I tried to use the natural light, though I needed a 0.5s exposure on the piano shot to get enough ambient light! I used a huge octagonal softbox to create the main light source in both cases.
Lovely. The first one is especially exquisite. The background works wonderfully in color, texture, and bokeh.

It is a shame that the depth of field was not sufficient for violinist's right hand to be in better focus.

And it's the first time I have seen an Estonia brand grand piano!

I'm sure the family is proud to have two such beautiful musicians.

Thanks for sharing these with us.
 

Alain Briot

pro member
Hi Graham,

You achieved a beautiful light quality in these images. Congratulations. It's no small feat, especially indoors in a private home.
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Graham,

I love both these pictures, the first one is especially well done. The second is technically satisfying but misses one important elements for the lovely pianist: the hands! It's likely you have taken that magic image but just happened to show this one. This is delightful work and they'll treasure the pictures.

The first one, however, with it's lighting, composition and simple want to come back and visit draw, is an artistic image I'd love to see printed!

Kudos,

Asher
 

Graham Mitchell

New member
The second is technically satisfying but misses one important elements for the lovely pianist: the hands!

I can understand why some people think that but I didn't notice and it doesn't bother me (probably because she was hiding her hands in her dress anyway). I wanted to be that close, and pulling back (which I couldn't do thanks to a wall) would have introduced a lot of dead space into the image and reduced the impact.

I'm sure there must be a way of doing this and keeping everyone happy. I'll definitely keep it in mind next time!
 

nicolas claris

OPF Co-founder/Administrator
Bonjour Graham
The 1st one is my preferred… beautifull light!
I maybe would have cropped it on top and bottom, but keep the hand!
 

nicolas claris

OPF Co-founder/Administrator
Yes, it could look better in a more panoramic ratio. Feel free to post your version if you like.

Hi Graham
Since you asked!

music-school_117.jpg

© Graham Mitchell foto-z.com - Edited by NC

BTW done some light/shadow and midtones contrast + a small remap of blacks (more black, less other colors)
However I'm not sure it is any better!
 

Graham Mitchell

New member
I find it interesting to see how others crop your work. I would never have chosen as dramatic a crop as you did, but I like it. I changed my original image to be a little cropped top and bottom now.
 

nicolas claris

OPF Co-founder/Administrator
I find it interesting to see how others crop your work. I would never have chosen as dramatic a crop as you did, but I like it. I changed my original image to be a little cropped top and bottom now.

Ha! allowing someone else to crop a image you carefully framed needs a lot of humility…
And yes I know what I'm speaking about !
 
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