Environmental Portraits

[dperez]

Here is my most recent:

[View Large]

It looks best viewed large.

Whittier, CA
Ebony RW810, 300mm f/5.6 Rodenstock Apo-Sironar-N, Arista .EDU Ultra 100 8x10
Processed in a unicolor drum, Kodak Tmax RS 1:9, Composite image assembled in CS3.
Made using bits from 3 negatives.

[mdm]

Is it possible for a portrait to be made from bits of 3 negatives. I suppose so, if a portrait can be painted or sculptured.

[Peter Lewin]

I like the image a lot, but like some of the recent threads in the "On Photography" forum, it raises a philosophical question: must Cartier Bresson's "decisive moment" be captured, or can it be constructed in Photoshop? In your image the "key" is the three children. Were they there, or are they added?

[stradibarrius]

I don't know the answer to the question but I like the shot. It captures a moment in real time.

[dperez]

Peter,

Thanks for your comment.

I made four exposures of this scene. I liked elements in three of the four negatives and thought it would be cool to put those elements together. Yes, the kids were there. All I did was mask the other elements into the picture. I didn't change where they appeared or anything like that. So, instead of being a single snapshot in time, it's essentially three moments in time.

The three negatives were aligned and then I masked in the girl on the mattress, and in the bottom right. I also included her brother, who appears on the mattress next to her and on the right side of the image. In reality, the boy was on the mattress on one negative and the girl was on it in another, and it just so happened that they would both be able to fit on it at the same time, when I masked them in. The one on the swing only appears once, he's another one of the brothers.

The funny part was I was talking to their father the whole time and at at one moment the girl did something really funny and I snapped the shutter immediately, but being that I was yapping with their father in between exposures I neglected to pull the dark slide, so that moment was lost.

The fact that it was masked in PS means nothing, it could have been done in the darkroom as well as I'm sure most of you are aware. I've never added something in a picture that wasn't from the scene (such as adding clouds that were from some other place, or people that were not at the location). I've just never thought about doing something like that and doubt that I could pull it off successfully despite my years of experience using PS.

-DP

I like the image a lot, but like some of the recent threads in the "On Photography" forum, it raises a philosophical question: must Cartier Bresson's "decisive moment" be captured, or can it be constructed in Photoshop? In your image the "key" is the three children. Were they there, or are they added?

[Peter Lewin]

DP - Thanks for the story! My mind boggles: three children (oops, just found a fourth half hidden behind the tree, center of photo), appearing six times, in an image which is a "decisive moment" in virtual time, an image I'm drawn back to again and again; there is a true story being told...

[dperez]

Thanks again Peter.

-Daniel

DP - Thanks for the story! My mind boggles: three children (oops, just found a fourth half hidden behind the tree, center of photo), appearing six times, in an image which is a "decisive moment" in virtual time, an image I'm drawn back to again and again; there is a true story being told...

[Vaughn]

A couple I have shown before...

My three boys.
8x10 negs
Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park.

[dperez]

Vaughn,

I really admire these. The last one you posted recently, I think it was in the portrait thread, took me a while to find all of your sons. Great group portraits that I'm sure your sons will enjoy for many years to come.

-DP

A couple I have shown before...

My three boys.
8x10 negs
Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park.

[Andrew]

in the original post, I absolutely love the ghosty figure swinging in the doorway...