Sisters, a photo from California, West

Photographer's Note

I spent the late afternoon today on the waterfront in Richmond enjoying the wonderful autumn light on a sunny day. I was sitting near the water taking photos of sailboats returning from a day on San Francisco Bay on their way to the Richmond Marina, when these two girls approached and asked what I was doing. The older girl seemed very interested, especially when I offered to take their photo. The younger girl shook her head no. I told them I'd only take their picture if both girls wanted me to. They talked for a few moments before striking this pose. The young girl said okay, while her older sister beamed. When I saw the young girl's toothless smile I thought I understood her reluctance, though to my mind, this is a lovely photo and her smile is captivating. I wonder if the tooth faerie left money under her pillow when she lost those two teeth... ;-)

I was seated at the foot of a wide staircase, peering up toward the girls as I took this photo, the afternoon sky as a backdrop. This was captured as a RAW image. Thanks to those who offered suggestions about working with this format. The image was much finer than jpegs, as observed by others. The only drawback is that the information that was automatically recorded on the jpegs and transferred to TE is lost in processing RAW images. I now understand why some post the EXIF information with their images, and how others post images without shutter speed or f-stop recorded. Despite those drawbacks, working with the extra information available with these files is a delight. Hopefully, the finer image will survive the single compression into jpeg required for uploading to TE. Enjoy my first experiment.

Galeota, carper, paguru, spence, wilkinsonsg, gemme, kikvel, bharat, michel_r has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Galeota (10352) 2004-11-22 2:41

What a co鮦cidence! My son just lost one of his teeth last night, and the first thing I did this morning was putting myself in the shoes of the tooth faerie without waking him up.

They both have lovely smiles and although they are somehow posing for you, they seem rather spontaneous. I like the low POV and the uniform blue sky in the background that really helps the two faces to stand out.

As far as your raw processing, I guess you'll have to check your workflow: it is perfectly possible to process these images without losing the exif data when converting to JPEG. Check the parameters of your RAW converter, or the way you save to the web (this last function, in PS, makes you lose the EXIF data).

Cheers

olli (2091) 2004-11-22 2:48

I really like their natural pose. I also like how the simple blue sky works with the colors of the girls � so, very well chosen background. Technically very good, too.
Excellent experiment, Curtis � I惴 looking forward to see more...

jayita (191) 2004-11-22 2:59

very natural expression of both of the girls, specially smile! well chosen BG, hairstyle and dresses all make this shot..a lively shot.

carper (96) 2004-11-22 3:15

fantastic portrait Curtis,
When you don't know what to do you always can make portraits as a profi. This portrait is very good natural colours, good angle you took it, well my compliments for this good photo

clodreno (0) 2004-11-22 3:54

I like this one Curtis, but by now you might know I am fond of portraits.. Those two girls are really cute , always nice to start the day withsuch a smile..
The pose is very nice. The only thing I might have done : may be a crop at the top of the image.. It's personnal, I do understand. I don't undersatand why but i am always bothered by a full head...
A very nice image.

[workshop] [compare] +

maciekda (19895) 2004-11-22 4:17

very nice picture Curtis, really spontaneous - lovely expression and a lot of you in their eyes. the compo is also nice, even if i prefer tight crops (that's why i like Claude's workshop ;)), I try to appreciate different approaches too. one small flaw here - colors are shifted toward yellow i think, i'd adjust it in PS, and maybe contrast a bit. anyway, nice work

Rinie_Hoff (9340) 2004-11-22 4:25

Congrats, Curtis, what a fine portrait you made here, the light on the girls' faces is excellent, almost as if you have used a fillflash. You captured a lovely smile and a lovely expression, especially the younger one is really funny.
The details are great, as usual, but I indeed think that it's also because of the RAW format, i'm glad you strted that thread. Was it difficult to proces after all?

yesterday (9833) 2004-11-22 4:54 [Comment]

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sohrab (7439) 2004-11-22 5:48

a great capture curtis
im glad that you're experimenting, it'll help you improve.
i thought of seeing this one in black and white but i think colour is more appropriate for this because you've got some gorgeous sunlight falling on these kids
very well done curtis :)
when you talking about the RAW format.. did you mean TIFF mode?
take care

spence (65) 2004-11-22 6:12

Lovely kids and a charming portrait, Curtis. I like the warm pose and the beautiful light, especially on the face of the older girl. I like tight crops too, but I can understand why you wanted to retain the cute hairstyle here.

wilkinsonsg (8662) 2004-11-22 11:57

Nice cheeky shot - great POV :)

gemme (43) 2004-11-22 13:14

How pretty and spontaneous. The nice blue background makes it look as if you were in a studio, only the light is even nicer. I hope you found a way to get them with a copy of the picture.

Porteplume (4036) 2004-11-22 14:13

Maciekda's posting on the Photography forum made me look more intensively at this lovely picture.

Even if I mostly prefer very tight framings by portraits, I particularly like this photo and the blue space around the girls, and I appreciate a lot the incredible sharpness you got here.
They've posed for you but they look very natural at the same time, great work!

kikvel (4784) 2004-11-22 14:23

hi Curtis!

nice to see a posting from you again! what a coincidence! a girl without a few teeth (I posted a lovely girl in the same conditiones lately).

I like their expressions mostly, they are really great! the complete smile is full of confidence while the uncomplete one seems a bit shy...

great experience and moment you captured...
the blue sky as a foreground accompanies well the moment.

K.

Zanni (6108) 2004-11-22 14:33

I have three little children but nobody of them have still lost the tooth. I will have good time to catch these special smiles. Sweet double portrait, full of joy.
Yesterday for the first time I tried to shot with raw format but I haven't a good software so I am not stisfied.

elroyie (2750) 2004-11-22 16:44

Great portrait!!!
Very good exposure and very expression you caught there from these lovely systers, the blue background gives a very good contrast to their skin tone.

bharat (474) 2004-11-23 2:27

Wonderful potrait and candid shot.Thanks

sn00zie (2384) 2004-11-25 6:13

this is so adorable!!! lovely capture Curtis. so nice and warm...

michel_r (1118) 2004-11-25 17:11

Very natural expressions Curtis that you perfectly captured. This makes it a very lively, smiling picture that is enhanced by the golden light. So nice to look at before going to bed. thank you for this one.
michel.