Melancholy portrait? Or is it?

[1981eagle]

When I was taking some B&W classes at a local community college, one of the assignments was portraiture. I was just learning and I asked around and found that a friend of mine's wife had done some amateur modeling in her past, so I asked and she said that she thought it would be fun. We did some of the classic poses - but then during a break, she was sitting on a bay-window sill, and she looked a little melancholy or wistful - or at least in thought. I grabbed the Yashika D and snapped the photo.

Maybe I tried too much in one photo, but I tried to use the frames of the window panes as 'leading lines', and incorporate that old 'rule of thirds', and a soft focus to bring out the melancholy mood that I saw in her face. Then, in the darkroom, I did my best to overexpose it slightly and I even burned some of the image outside the window.

Despite some flaws, this quickly became my favorite photo of the session. The funny thing is that we both had a great afternoon and she wasn't sad or wistful at all - she was just thinking of photo ideas for me to try from things other photographers had done in the past.

 

[jeffashman]

Not so much melancholy, as musing, lost in thought. Nice portrait.

 

[1981eagle]

Not so much melancholy, as musing, lost in thought. Nice portrait.

Thanks Jeff!