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Archive 2015 · Nomadic Berber boy

  
 
Nab8
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Nomadic Berber boy


Hi guys, please critique and let me know what you think of this photo. Is the processing ok? What can be done to improve this photo?

These are two brothers from a nomadic Berber family I met in Tinghir, Morocco.

Many thanks

http://i.imgur.com/cUkvQpU.jpg



May 23, 2015 at 09:19 AM
ben egbert
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Nomadic Berber boy


It has a photojournalistic style like Life Magazine from the 1940's or National Geographic before they went color.

The image conveys a sense of place and culture. The zipper on his shirt says modern, and B&W says not modern.

I have no idea why you used shallow dof here leaving the second subject out of focus. This is a style that is in vogue to call attention to the main subject, but generally the secondary subject is hardly recognizable. To me it is a fad.

But what I just wrote is an impression from a biased observer.




May 23, 2015 at 10:17 AM
Nab8
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Nomadic Berber boy


Hi Ben, thanks for taking the time to have a look and comment.

Below is a version with a broader dof, I initially went with the first version above as, to me, this version is less sharp and contains less detail in the face. I wonder if it is worth giving up some image quality in exchange for a wider dof.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks

http://i.imgur.com/8i13GpG.jpg



May 23, 2015 at 11:26 AM
ben egbert
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Nomadic Berber boy


Well I like this version better. As I said, when you want to use shallow dof, it needs to be shallower than your first one. Now they are an equal pair, before it was 1 and 1/2.


May 23, 2015 at 11:37 AM
Nab8
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Nomadic Berber boy


I think you are right on the dof issue, it does add to the photo. I much prefer the expression on the face of the boy in the first photo, and while I know it does somewhat diminish the journalistic integrity of the photos, I have created a composite of the two. What do you think.

http://i.imgur.com/EhbaH03.jpg



May 23, 2015 at 12:34 PM
ben egbert
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Nomadic Berber boy


The composite looks fine, I have a hard time seeing any difference in expressions however. The first is a bit darker which maybe creates a mood. But my sensitivity to this is low.


May 23, 2015 at 12:40 PM
butlerkid
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Nomadic Berber boy


A more squarish crop would eliminate the excess white at the top and focus more attention on the foreground. IMHO....


May 23, 2015 at 06:56 PM
Nab8
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Nomadic Berber boy


You mean less square? Its quite a deceiving photo, it looks higher than it does wide, right? It is perfectly square, but for some reason it doesn't look it. But anyway, you are right, it might improve with a little less sky.

Many thanks



May 23, 2015 at 07:17 PM
AuntiPode
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Nomadic Berber boy


Perhaps, ... or a little looser:







May 23, 2015 at 09:40 PM
RustyBug
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Nomadic Berber boy


For me there seems to be a mismatch in processing between the two boys. One seems gritty, and the other not. That, and one seems more contrast / blocked up shadows than the other.

There also seems to be a mismatch between the lighting and the processing.

Curious to see the sooc / raw.




May 23, 2015 at 11:05 PM
Nab8
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Nomadic Berber boy


I think you guys are right about the crop, Its a better image with a bit less white.

Regarding the mismatch..... I was just being lazy I will re edit with the two images merged before any processing is done. The above photo was just a quick composite of 2 pre edited images.

Here is a copy of one of the unedited images, I would love to see what can be done with it. In hindsight, I think my editing ditched a lot of the detail in the face that could have been saved. For better or worse....

Many thanks

http://i.imgur.com/nZqhVtq.jpg



May 24, 2015 at 02:18 PM
sbeme
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Nomadic Berber boy


I agree with Karen's crop advice.


As presented, these are powerful and disturbing images, intensified by the high contrast and black pupils. I think death.
In offering processing alternatives, the question is what effect are you striving for?
Here is your last image processed two ways, color and a faintly toned monotone. In both I decided to play with square crops in part because I find them fascinating, in part because you have chosen that earlier. Not sure about where the boy's chest is cut off and whether the crops are ideal. I am curious what you and others think.
In both I did a fair amount of work to bring up the eyes and shadows overall. I still think the expressions are powerful but not sure what you want/think.

BTW, the processing of the small jpegs led to some artifacts around the heads that I didn't bother to clean up. Not likely to be an issue with the full size files.


Scott












May 24, 2015 at 07:05 PM
RustyBug
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Nomadic Berber boy


+1 @ Scott's points ... particularly the death aspect.

Took a stab at some things ... somewhat crude in certain areas / regards, but hopefully you get the gist. Scott's point @ what direction you want to take this is certainly one for consideration a variant possibilities. I tried to get a view of the details about this young boy that are available for us to learn about him. Your capture of he and his brother are engaging, compelling and intriguing ... hopefully, the edits help to bring that for the viewers to see a young boy similar to the one that captured your attention, so far away.

As always, S&P to taste.






Edited on May 25, 2015 at 09:01 PM · View previous versions



May 25, 2015 at 07:53 PM
AuntiPode
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Nomadic Berber boy


I'd suggest processing the original again in ACR to bump the exposure, lighten and recover. A slight hue bump in Photoshop would help and a little sharpening and perhaps bump the mid-tone contrast. Also, given too many displays don't deal well ProPhoto color space, I'd suggest converting to sRGB when posting.







May 25, 2015 at 08:55 PM
PeterP1D
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Nomadic Berber boy


+1 Scott's edit. Leaves me wondering and worrying about what is going on


May 27, 2015 at 09:15 AM





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