A Step Back

Peanuts · Jun 12, 2006

First off, my apologies for not commenting as much as I should be as of lately, with exams approaching, I haven't been making my (hourly?) rounds.

In Calgary, there is a historical village known as Heritage Park which has numerous rides and buildings from the early 1900s where volunteers will reenact tasks and occupations which existed then. I have probably in total visited at least fifty times since I was younger and next to the ferris wheel and caterpillar, my favourite 'spot' to visit was the blacksmith's shop.

Both of these I decided to change to black and white with the hopes of giving an 'old' feel with the highlight being on the defining characteristics of what a blacksmith would have done a century ago. In the first image, I wish there was a tad bit more backlighting, and this might have been accomplished by changing position as all the light was natural, as well, I could have asked him to push his classes up so they didn't end up right over his eye. My apologies for these being slightly larger than normal.
Thanks for looking

2.

danalec99 · Jun 12, 2006

LensWork material!!

I'd crop the empty space on the right in image 2. Imo, it is a distraction and serves no purpose. Apart from that, these are classic! I love the feel to it.

Alison · Jun 12, 2006

danalec99 said:
LensWork material!!

I completely agree :thumbsup:

The tones in these are just fantastic. I agree that some additional light might be nice in the first, but it stands well on its own, too. The detail in these is perfect, I feel like I could almost feel his gloves in the second. Probably some of the best b/w shots I've seen on the forum.

craig · Jun 13, 2006

Beautiful work! I get a real sense of the man and his craft.

fotophia · Jun 13, 2006

lovely images! i agree with what craig said ^

Holly · Jun 13, 2006

Great portrait shot! really like the last shot here

omeletteman · Jun 13, 2006

dude these are awesome, both have great qualities about them, and the black and white is perfect.

markc · Jun 13, 2006

Wonderful shots!
Two minor nitpicks would be the hot spot under his eye and the empty space Daniel mentioned, but great work. B&W was a great choice for these.

Did you take these digitally using RAW? If so, you might be able to back off on the "exposure" a touch and get more detail under the eye.

Peanuts · Jun 13, 2006

Thanks for the comments everyone

Thanks for pointing out the cropping Daniel as well as the burnt out spot beneath his eye Mark. Both of these I have changed on my computer copy and haven't yet had the oppurtunity to replace the photos online. Fortunately both of these were shot in RAW so any changes were very easy to make. I am hoping to have these pritned off perhaps in the next week or so and see if I can track this fellow down at the park sometime and give them to him just as a 'thank you'.

jemmy · Jun 13, 2006

loving these! xx great tones - perfect

markc · Jun 13, 2006

See if he'd be willing to sign a release in exchange for the prints. That way you can use the images in the future, like on business cards and the like.

JonK · Jun 13, 2006

fantastic shots and beautiful conversions brittany...my only nitpick is the highlight on the glove in #2...it's drawing my eye away from the hammer which is the real centre of attention here IMO. I'd jus tone that down so it's less bright than the hammer.

Awesome light and sharpness in #1

what lens?

Skylined · Jun 14, 2006

I really like it.

I first looked at the photograph and then read what you wrote.
The photograph reminded me of old photographs of our great grandfathers that came from Europe.

Maybe a little bit of noise would make it look a little bit more like an old photograph.

Arch · Jun 14, 2006

These are both superb......... great tones..... i agree with the crop in 2.....and about asking if he's willing to sign a release, these could be used for promotional purposes. excellent work :thumbup: