LightningPaul

04 May 2009 • 527 views
 
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photoblog image Beautiful Girl on Bench

Beautiful Girl on Bench


A lovely nice and beautiful girl sitting on a bench near the beach. Taken on Easter. It was a nice day. The weather was good though a bit chilly but many people came to the coast anyway.


TECH-INFO: that day I was experimenting with my new lens, a Nikon 35mm f/1.8. Very cheap, great sharpness, especially between f/2.0 and f/5.6 and a pretty fast auto focus. I really like the 35mm focal length which is comparable with the 50mm on full frame (FX) format. A 50mm on a DX camera is not so nice because it's pretty narrow but still not really telephoto at all.

I took a shot in RAW format which I converted into JPG using DxO Optics Pro. In Photoshop I used various layers to enhance the image. I brightened various parts of the background a bit using the levels and dodge tools. The edges are whitened with a white vignette (instead of darken the corners I selected the edges but in an irregular shape to make them very bright). The skin is softened with Portraiture. On top I put a contrast B/W conversion layer in combination with the curves tool to enhance the contrast. The latter is mostly very welcome for black and white. Finally I converted it to a duotone image. I choose the duotone colors in such way that the jacket of the girl looks almost perfectly the same as in the colored original RAW file.


Beautiful Girl on Bench


A lovely nice and beautiful girl sitting on a bench near the beach. Taken on Easter. It was a nice day. The weather was good though a bit chilly but many people came to the coast anyway.


TECH-INFO: that day I was experimenting with my new lens, a Nikon 35mm f/1.8. Very cheap, great sharpness, especially between f/2.0 and f/5.6 and a pretty fast auto focus. I really like the 35mm focal length which is comparable with the 50mm on full frame (FX) format. A 50mm on a DX camera is not so nice because it's pretty narrow but still not really telephoto at all.

I took a shot in RAW format which I converted into JPG using DxO Optics Pro. In Photoshop I used various layers to enhance the image. I brightened various parts of the background a bit using the levels and dodge tools. The edges are whitened with a white vignette (instead of darken the corners I selected the edges but in an irregular shape to make them very bright). The skin is softened with Portraiture. On top I put a contrast B/W conversion layer in combination with the curves tool to enhance the contrast. The latter is mostly very welcome for black and white. Finally I converted it to a duotone image. I choose the duotone colors in such way that the jacket of the girl looks almost perfectly the same as in the colored original RAW file.


comments (10)

  • rhys
  • Great Britain (UK)
  • 4 May 2009, 07:26
nice portrait, great toning. Looks even better with the websites white theme.
LightningPaul: Thanks! I changed it to white. Good idea.
As nice a portrait it is, I prefer the blurred people inthe backgroundsmile
great sepia tone, and I like the angle as well
Curioso retrato. Con el virado sepia y el difuminado blanco tiene una atmosfera muy antiguo. La composición inclinada tambien funciona muy bien. Me gusta.
  • Tero
  • Finland
  • 4 May 2009, 19:22
Nice portrait work.
Nice portrait Paul. I agree about the white.
LightningPaul: I changed it to white. I have to admit, it's a very good idea. Thanks!
  • Stan
  • United Kingdom
  • 5 May 2009, 09:15
I like the slant here. Gives it that little bit more in my opinion.

I was also thinking about the 35mm 1.8 but decided to go full frame so I'll be picking a different set of primes. the Nikon 85mm 1.8 is on the list though wink
LightningPaul: Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I like those tilts (slants) a lot. From time to time they can give a real lift.

I also was planning to go full frame (good quality, high ISO) but I won't do that any more because of:
- I have too many (very) good DX lenses which I really like smile
- DX lenses are lighter and smaller (easier for travelling)
- not so many (very) good FX lenses unless you buy the Nikon 14-24mm, 24-70mm and 70-200mm => expensive and bulky :-(

Regarding the 85mm f/1.8, I read on NikonRumors that an AF-S version may come (keep in mind, it's a rumor). I really prefer AF-S. A few months ago I didn't bother so much but to catch action and moving stuff, it's great. E.g. I don't like my 50mm f/1.4 AF-D because focusing is too slow to capture children in action but my new 35mm f/1.8 AF-S does pretty well.
  • Ilan
  • Israel
  • 5 May 2009, 13:19
I tried Rhys advise - It does look good on white background. Makes it kind of angelic looking.
Love her smile and the relaxed pose. Your processing is superb.


Wanted to comment your comment on my blog (unfortunately, I can't "reply" to your message on Blogger platform) - That frame I uploaded is very different from my usual style. I'm pretty proud of that frame because it was the first time I managed to shoot "outside the box" I'm usually in. It's less of the classic street photo and more "modern" kind, just like Parr's style.
I thought it good because it gives you a sense about "the whole person" just from those two red nails and a cigarette. The more you look - The more you can tell about that woman ,without seeing her!
Well, that's at least what I hoped to achieve smile.
I'm grateful for you straightforward comment - Many prefer just praise the photos and not criticize them, and there is very little one can learn from praise smile
  • Doum
  • Canada
  • 5 May 2009, 13:21
I'm leaving in North America with a melting pot of four century’s of indigenous and European settlers. I'm always cracked for these Eastern Europeans; they have an enigmatic visage curve...
Somehow the slightly tilted angle actually balances this image quite nicely, ad I love your PP on the colors!

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for this photo I'm in a any and all comments icon ShMood©
camera NIKON D200
exposure mode full manual
shutterspeed 1/1000s
aperture f/2.0
sensitivity ISO100
focal length 35.0mm
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