POTD 2 May 2015 - Tommy

[Mike Farley]

I am a long way behind with my POTD postings, but I am making a concerted attempt to catch up. Yjos was taken at the WWII re-enactment event on the Kent and East Sussex Railway that a few members went along to.

A technical note. This image has been entirely processed in Lightroom and I have toned down the background. It still needs a bit more work as I would like to remove the lighter area behind the soldier's helmet, but that is more easily achieved in Photoshop.

[davidb]

Nice image.

[Mike Farley]

Nice image.

Thanks.

It is possible that I will use this image as part of my Lightroom demonstration in July, so I thought that people might like to see the original as shot without any adjustments applied.

Tommy - out of camera version

Tommy - Original.jpg (126.94 KiB) Viewed 1867 times

I have also created a mono version using Silver Efex Pro 2 of the processed colour image.

[Nina]

That face is a god's gift to a photographer!
Well captured and thanks for the helpful processing tips.

[Mike Farley]

That face is a god's gift to a photographer!
Well captured and thanks for the helpful processing tips.

You will have seen some of my other results from my visit to the WWII re-enactment at the KESR, but this was the standout.* I was fortunate that the background was not too intrusive in this instance. Glad to know that you are finding the processing tips useful.

* I have no doubt that in competition the judge would criticise the shot for lack of eye contact. People shots often seem to be problemmatic and less preferred compared to other genres.

[Rose]

People shots often seem to be problemmatic and less preferred compared to other genres.

I can vouch for that... Having put two portraits into the last round of the digital comp, only for them to bomb completely.

I knew the moment Bob Mendus started commenting right at the beginning of the evening that he wasn't going to like my pics. And I was right. The best he could come up with was "Some people like this sort of thing" and "It's all about the hair, but I'm not sure the eyes are level...?" My eventual scores were not only the lowest of the season, but the lowest ever in the 6yrs I've been coming to the Club !!!

[Mike Farley]

Having put two portraits into the last round of the digital comp, only for them to bomb completely.

Sorry to hear that, Rose.

I try to vary the genres of images I submit into competition to avoid having them compete against each other - judges will invariably try to rank them and mark one lower whatever its merits - and at least reduce the risk that a particular subject is not to the judge's taste.