No Blue, a photo from Kibale, Western

Photographer's Note

I think this little guy was about 2 years old. When his brothers and sisters ran to see the "Muzungus" (Ugandan word for "white people"), he came running along after them to see what the commotion was. Desperately in need of a tissue and a clean shirt, I thought he was the cutest of the bunch!

I experimented with saturation and colours in this photo. Honestly, I'm not sure what I think of the results! I'm a bit dissapointed with the sharpness/clarity of the pic, but decided to post it anyway (my trial version of photoshop has expired so I'll have to be satisfied with this until I actually purchase it!). All comment/critiques/suggestions/workshops welcome! :)

Paolo, Vagabond, markpanos, stat, ocskaymarci, alejandroguzman, betawu trouve(nt) cette note utile

Critiques | Translate

Vagabond (5848) 2005-10-14 11:24

I like this picture a lot ..
The main subject is very well portraited and the blurred background drives our sight to this little and poor child ..
Congratulations ..

keanfan (696) 2005-10-14 11:45

Hi Shannon, nice shot. I really like the focus on the boy...the noise in the background is fine actually. Cheers!

Kean Fan, Singapore

davy (231) 2005-10-14 11:54

Hi Shannon,

I think that the noise in the picture actually suits it, I know what you mean about the local children running to see the Muzungus :). It reminds me of when I was in Zambia in 2004 with a group of youth from church, 19 of us traveled round in a bus and when ever the youth saw white people they were all shouting Muzungus, Muzungus, Muzungus. It was quite funny although embarassing at times.

Thankyou for sharing, Davy

fc22 (746) 2005-10-14 12:00

Shannon, I really like this portrait. It has something very authentic, perhaps because of his appearance and maybe because he is not looking directly into the camera. And I feel like the noise is quite welcomed here, it goes well with the boy's appearance.

Congratulations and Take care, Florin

Paolo (41258) 2005-10-15 4:19

Fantastic shot Shannon!
it's a little bit out of focus, noisy, but the saturation is perfect for that type of portrait!
great light and excellent balance of colors.
great, great, great!
thanks, ciao

markpanos (1977) 2005-10-15 22:49

Hello,dear Shannon.

Well,about the sharpness,I have to tell you that, is the thing that I most like,really.
The DOF you show here is very nice,its express something more about the scene you saw.
As this little and pretty kid was dirty,your noisy and "dirty" background fits very well here.
You catch a great moment.
About the compo,the truth is that I prefer to have the kid in the left side of the image,because he seemed to turn and watch at the right side.

Anyway ,I love your photo.

Gia sou friend.

JMcDowell (655) 2005-10-17 13:53

Shannon,
From my experience taking photos of children, I've found the little one in the back, trying to catch up to the other kids, usually is the cutest of them all. They are usually last because they are so small and their diaper is dragging, or they have no diaper but their legs are short, or they just plain can't run without being akward yet. It looks as though he's concentrating hard here, not so much on you or the camera, but on his wobbly steps and what the other kids are doing. I like the de-saturation of this photo, it gives texture and character (especially in the child's face). Also, good DOF. Would love to see more photos from Uganda.
James

moxon (78) 2005-10-18 3:16

This is a really lovely portrait although I find his expression sad rather than cute. I don't mind the noise and lack of sharpness at all, I think it actually adds to the mood. Also like the desaturated colours although on my screen it looks a bit too blue (rather than no blue ;D)

danielswalsh (13597) 2005-10-18 11:06

Wow Shannon;

What a shot... I'm not 100% sure what it is about this shot that I like. The composition, or the PP you did- regardless it's great. It has a news like quality to it which gives it a rough edge. If your questioning your quality on this one, I'd LOVE to see which one of your shots is a great one!

Hats off to you, keep up the great work!
- Dan

tictic (232) 2005-10-18 16:45

Hi Shannon,I realy like your shot.Like the colors,green noisy back suits it.It's so different from digitals pictures where all is so smooth,so
clean.

stat (2878) 2005-10-18 18:41

I like your photo.I don't express what i imagine when i see this child..
Shannon i was made a WorkShop fot this picture.
The program you need is "Neat Image" for noisy pictures (with hi ISO ...).
What do you think? It takes me 30 sec...;-)

---Stathis---

[workshop] [compare]

shachar (13) 2005-10-19 4:20

i just like it. it's a real pic' for me. saying a lot.

shachar

scallywagin (842) 2005-12-01 4:28

amazing portrait. love the desaturation. you've done a great job with the trial version indeed, Shannon! love your notes as much as your pictures. i love noise so i love it more.

iGirl (1223) 2006-08-08 1:01

Hi Shannon, I think this photo is really cute, nice composition and I think the desaturation really gives a nice feel to it. Too bad about the grain, but NeatImage can fix that, as Stathis has shown in the workshop.

Thanks for sharing!

Erin

marcelsan (1) 2006-09-11 1:10

Beautiful man! Very impressive.

tdsi (246) 2006-09-21 14:16

hi

great photo.very impressive.

tdsi

ocskaymarci (2832) 2006-09-21 14:48

Hello Shannon,
Very cute and personal photo! Don't worry about sharpness, I like it this way. The only problem I can mention, is that we can't see the top of the boy's head, and he could be in the centre of the photo. Well framed! Thanks for sharing!
Best wishes,
Marton

fijiphil (1355) 2006-11-23 15:01

I love the tone and colour cast you have achieved here, intentional or not. It reminds me of the old National Geographic style. I think your noisy background adds to the mood here, and I also like the fact that the child isn't looking at you. I would have cloned out the black spot in centre top of frame but otherwise it is perfect. TFS.

alejandroguzman (4684) 2007-02-15 23:23

Hello Shannon:

Very well composed photograph.
And Ihave to say that Im very touch with you work. In some way it remains me some childrens from my own country (Bolivia).
CONGRATULATIONS, it's a great photograph !!!!

Take a look the theme Children of the World where I will put your work.

TFS
and have a nice WE,
Edgar.