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Response to Self Portrait (Response #11)

Uploaded 822 Days Ago by Turfdigger - 11 comments

Photo © Turfdigger (Phil Ruokis) - pixels.slpro.com
Unauthorized reproduction not permitted.

User Comments

theatresky said 822 days ago:

This is like a classic confrontation, each trying to figure out what the other is thinking.

SteveO said 822 days ago:

Excellent image, great lighting, very well done.

Mark_Hamilton said 822 days ago:

Interesting composition- the framing is nice and the prop adds quite a bit of interest to it. Much better than the usual reflection shot.

culberda said 822 days ago:

Love the tones, and would love to learn more about that camera in your hands.

dawn said 822 days ago:

This photograph makes me smile - maybe it's the desire to smile for the camera; maybe it's because you are so intent upon looking into the lens. Whatever it is, I like it.

amity said 821 days ago:

Great soft, dreamy quality~

your_waitress said 821 days ago:

hi phil! i'd know that mug anywhere. ;-)

love this interpretation and tonal choice. who is in control, the man or the camera?

Remiss63 said 821 days ago:

the image tells us a great deal about you. the use of the camera pointed toward your face is a clever way to incorporate the self-portrait theme as a part of the content of the image itself. something strikes me as not quite right (for the image to be really stunning). perhaps distance between the camera and your face? perhaps aligning your glasses and eyes directly into the lens would have created a stronger reciprocal connection with respect to the idea of seeing? perhaps its a bit unbalanced due to complete image of camera and cropping of head and body? i'm not sure.

the softness and sepia tone are a nice touch. excellent concept. beautiful image.

tekalpha said 817 days ago:

I love the expression on your face.

simran said 817 days ago:

the ultimate photographer! staring at the world through his aged lense (no pun intended). great picture.

Turfdigger said 812 days ago:

Wowzer! Thanks for all the feedback on this one, folks :-)

A bit of info about the shot: Canon EOS Digital Rebel - EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM @f/2.8 for 1/4 second. Existing light.

I love this lens for portraits, although I rarely force myself to make those of a 'self' variety - I was crouched in front of and against a sliding closet door in my studio and the camera I am pondering is a vintage Ansco #4 pocket camera with a shuttah like buttah (wish I could miraculously get 118 film again). Properly placing myself in the focal plane was quite challenging since my remote cable was not long enough to reach the sitting area - ten seconds to go from camera to camera was harder than originally anticipated :-)

Although I now use predominantly digital methods for visual and musical creation, I am rather proud of my background in more conventional analog media, having a strong foundation in both 35mm b/w film, and the kind of music that one writes by hand rather than with the assistance of computers and laser printers. Always remembering that foundation has been key in my work thus far.

Remiss63 - you raise some interesting points and I agree that there is something 'missing' in this shot. I think that the angle of my glasses distorts the alignment of my eyes to the center of the camera lens, but they are indeed lined up - the specs, they toss the wrench into it, methinks. The thing that's always bugged me a bit about this image is the flatness of the background that to me, causes a reduction in the overall depth of the image.

Once again, thank you all for you feedback - WeeklyShot is really growing into a perfect venue for this sort of critical evaluation and discussion - we're all part of a good thing here, folks :-)

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