Weekend task #15 - Emotion

[Jeff WX1USN]

So I am closing the voting!

and the winner is Greatgrandma!

1) Greatgrandma 17
2) RDWP 9
3) Jan1977 8

 

[Stiga]

Congratulations to the winners

 

[Jack Dawe]

Congratulations, Rosalie, Rob and Jan!

As usual it was a grand set of entries. I placed Rosalie's photo first because the contrast between the two faces expressed so much. Jeff's photo I found very touching and Jan's particularly dramatic. Rob's photo looked sincere, but didn't speak to me so strongly, perhaps because the face was hidden. Levina's kids are very sweet, but they didn't convey as strong a sense of emotion to me as the three I chose.

 

[Levina de Ruijter]

Congratulations, Rosalie.

Congratulations to Rob and Jan also.

 

[RDWP]

Congrats GG'ma and Jan! And thanks for the Silver!

 

[Jan1977]

Congratulations to Rosalie.

I gave the number 1 for the mix of emotion in the photo and also because it is a 'playful' emotion that most people can recognize and indentify with.

Levina's photo had some of that as well, but it did not feel distinct for the theme like Rosalie's photo did. That also made this a very challenging theme, because emotion is connected to ones own emotion and feeling with the photo as well.

I fully recognize the emotion in Jeff's photo, but due to it being people I do not know it does not call on many emotion from my side. It is hard to to make a photo in such circumstances that photographically really makes an independent viewer feel it. In my case, my memory and brain needed to place me into a similar situation where I have been in, but than it is more my brain doing it. I think if it as edited in a certain way, the photo could have been calling on emotion of independent viewers a lot more. But I also feel that this is photo for personal memory and not intended to make it a dramatic photo for the general public.

Rob's photo felt a little stronger as a standalone photo and I think the subject of his photo typically is a subject where you can really bring on the emotion with the photo. If it had a face in it I think it would have been a lot stronger. But off course you have to deal with circumstances and not disturb the people paying their respect. That is what can make photographing emotions challenging as well, you have to do with what you get in a lot of cases.

I was in doubt whether I would participate with this theme as I do not take photos at very emotional moments. There are photos I took that certainly call on my emotion, like the last portrait of one of my parents dogs, but that emotion is on my inside and does not carry to others. In the end I submitted my photo, thinking that the title in combination with the photo might work a bit. The player hadn't been playing for over a year due to a nasty leg fracture. Scoring at that tournament really meant something to him, which I could see in the photo (because I know the player) and he himself acknowlegded it to me from his own initiative.

 

[Levina de Ruijter]

1. Rosalie
2. Rob
3. Jan

I thought Rosalie's pic was brilliant and the best in terms of showing emotions, especially since there are two distinct ones. I just loved the pic, despite the somewhat compromised image quality. But that is totally understandable given the fact that it was taken in 1965 on film, then digitised etc. So not an issue at all.
I gave Rob the #2 position because I thought it was a touching photo. That wall is impressive to begin with but it's clear that the man in the photo is very personally involved with it, no doubt touching the name of someone he was close to.
I put Jan's pic in third place as it too showed real emotion. Even without Jan's explanation that I just read, it's pure and raw emotion, so yeah, good pic.

I had problems with Jeff's entry. I thought it was too personal and private a moment and I found it difficult to view because of that. I read Jan had a similar feeling. Could be that it's the difference in culture where Americans are more likely to share very personal things where we don't, at least not to that degree. Could be.

My own pic, well, I hesitated but I love the pic because of the wonder I see in the girls faces. I had another pic in mind, with a very happy emotion, with laughter. This one. There was a sudden unexpected heavy shower and the girl did the only thing she could do and saw the fun in it. I didn't use it in the end because the face of the girl is rather soft, so not the best IQ. But a happy emotion.

 

[Levina de Ruijter]

So, no new challenge yet. A bit surprising as Rosalie is quite strict when it coms to time. I hope she's okay.

 

[Jan1977]

I thought Rosalie's pic was brilliant and the best in terms of showing emotions, especially since there are two distinct ones. I just loved the pic, despite the somewhat compromised image quality. But that is totally understandable given the fact that it was taken in 1965 on film, then digitised etc. So not an issue at all.
I gave Rob the #2 position because I thought it was a touching photo. That wall is impressive to begin with but it's clear that the man in the photo is very personally involved with it, no doubt touching the name of someone he was close to.
I put Jan's pic in third place as it too showed real emotion. Even without Jan's explanation that I just read, it's pure and raw emotion, so yeah, good pic.

I had problems with Jeff's entry. I thought it was too personal and private a moment and I found it difficult to view because of that. I read Jan had a similar feeling. Could be that it's the difference in culture where Americans are more likely to share very personal things where we don't, at least not to that degree. Could be.

My own pic, well, I hesitated but I love the pic because of the wonder I see in the girls faces. I had another pic in mind, with a very happy emotion, with laughter. This one. There was a sudden unexpected heavy shower and the girl did the only thing she could do and saw the fun in it. I didn't use it in the end because the face of the girl is rather soft, so not the best IQ. But a happy emotion.

View attachment 25764

I think you submitted the right photo for the challenge. This is a nice photo as well. In fact emotion (or a lack of and therefore expressing it as well) is offcourse in every photo. And joy and laughter definitely is emotion well, but a photo like this I would not quickly associate with the tag "emotion", whereas a photo like Jeff's probably would get a tag "emotional" or something similar.

The personal and private part definitely is something you have to feel comfortable with to a certain degree. Just for my own opinion I did some quick edits on Jeff's photo that I think would have made it more speaking to the general viewer. I think the photo can get stronger on its own, and if that happens the moment is still emotional and personal, but to me it is less the feeling of being too close to something that is none of your business. The setting and light of the photo just make it feel more like you stepped into their house uninvited.

(Difficult to express these things in words on an internet forum, so let me emphasize it definetely is not critiqing the photo or theme for the challenge, just me trying to explain things from a photography point of view).

P.S. If Jeff wants it, I can show my quick edit to give an idea on how I think his photo would be more 'appealing' to me within the theme and setting/ environment like this forum. I couldn't see his preference on editing of his images by other members, so not sure if he would be fine with it in general. But even then, I feel like this is a very personal photo to him and somebody editing such a photo which means something to you can be difficult or emotional (to stick with the theme ;-) ).

 

[Levina de Ruijter]

I sent Rosalie a DM.

 

[greatgrandma]

I'm sorry - my caregiver had an auto accident and I had a bunch of FindAGrave edits to do plus 'where am I?' photos to put up.

I thought the photo at the Vietnam wall was the most poignant maybe more because I couldn't see his face.

I am a very bad mother because I took her photo instead of dealing with her problem..... which was that even though she said she wanted that cereal, she did not want to eat her cereal out of a box - she wanted it in a bowl.

 

[Jeff WX1USN]

I think you submitted the right photo for the challenge. This is a nice photo as well. In fact emotion (or a lack of and therefore expressing it as well) is offcourse in every photo. And joy and laughter definitely is emotion well, but a photo like this I would not quickly associate with the tag "emotion", whereas a photo like Jeff's probably would get a tag "emotional" or something similar.

The personal and private part definitely is something you have to feel comfortable with to a certain degree. Just for my own opinion I did some quick edits on Jeff's photo that I think would have made it more speaking to the general viewer. I think the photo can get stronger on its own, and if that happens the moment is still emotional and personal, but to me it is less the feeling of being too close to something that is none of your business. The setting and light of the photo just make it feel more like you stepped into their house uninvited.

(Difficult to express these things in words on an internet forum, so let me emphasize it definetely is not critiqing the photo or theme for the challenge, just me trying to explain things from a photography point of view).

P.S. If Jeff wants it, I can show my quick edit to give an idea on how I think his photo would be more 'appealing' to me within the theme and setting/ environment like this forum. I couldn't see his preference on editing of his images by other members, so not sure if he would be fine with it in general. But even then, I feel like this is a very personal photo to him and somebody editing such a photo which means something to you can be difficult or emotional (to stick with the theme ;-) ).

I would be happy to see you changes to the shot. I guess it is a cultural thing on private moments. That was my sister and my Dad just before he died.

Here is one I had thought of entering

 

[greatgrandma]

I thought Rosalie's pic was brilliant and the best in terms of showing emotions, especially since there are two distinct ones. I just loved the pic, despite the somewhat compromised image quality. B

Part of that was because the image was severely cropped. This was the original

 

[Levina de Ruijter]

I am a very bad mother because I took her photo instead of dealing with her problem..... which was that even though she said she wanted that cereal, she did not want to eat her cereal out of a box - she wanted it in a bowl.

LOL The drama!

 

[Jan1977]

I would be happy to see you changes to the shot. I guess it is a cultural thing on private moments. That was my sister and my Dad just before he died.

Here is one I had thought of entering

View attachment 25827

Here is my (quick) edit of the photo towards the direction I feel it could have been better suited for the challenge here on the forum. It was not very high res and lots of bright whites so the editing of those parts was difficult with quick edits. So there are some halo like artifacts and spot like gradients in some areas.

(Following explanation is quite rational written, which does not do justice to such an emotional photo as it goes more to technique than to emotion)
With the conversion to black and white I tried to remove the attention of the yellow pillow and the red sweater. The bright parts like the pillows, the sheet and the tissues draw attention in the photo because of the brightness competing withe the subject. So I toned them down quite a bit to grey-ish. I cropped the photo and left the support hanging over the bed out of the photo. The cords and hoses on the right side make it clear enough that he is in a hospital-like bed. I also cropped of the edges that clutter a bit (coffee mug on the right and a curtain or the like on the left). The backrest of the chair next to the bed adds to the photo as it expresses that your sister was sitting next to the bed but moved out of the chair to hold her dad like she does. I added some more texture to your dad's skin to express the vulnerability. I tried to apply a bit more vignet to accentuate the faces in the photo and tried to make the face of your sister a tad brighter than your dad's.

I won't say nor claim it made it a better photo, just that in my opinion the photo now calls for a very different perception of the scene for me as a neutral viewer.