Starting a serie - first image

wud

Senior Member
The first in an upcoming series, thinking of calling it Lovers 50+ -- its just portaits like this of couples who have been together for 20/25 years, and they have to be over 50 years. Maybe a little text should follow each image - something I can quote them for, but not sure of the questions yet..

Critique are most welcome
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Shot with 35mm, natural light from window (arranged the curtains so I could have some contrast), iso 160, f/2.2, 1/250.


love50-4761-web-ny.jpg

 

Krs_2007

Senior Member
I like it but it doesn't seem centered. I feel like I am looking into her eyes, like its really a picture about her and not a couple. If you could center and have them both looking in the same direction.

The idea is good, maybe "Silver Lovers" or something like that, just an idea, not that yours is bad. I really like the BW, so I think that works.

I am upset that I although I am close in both categories my wife and I can pose for you. We have been married 24 years, but not 50 yet, oh well.

Look forward to seeing more.
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
Kevin, I've been sleeping with my wife for 24 years now and I can tell you for absolute certain that the bed is never equally divided, so any photo would have to be off center. :)
 

wud

Senior Member
Lol Jake :-D


Kevin, my original thought was 2 images, placed next to each other. Some couples don't sleep in the same bed/room :)


Here where my first 2 maybe's, a friend liked it without a hard line between them but maybe it wont look as "separated" when placed on a white background at my homepage?

Im not a fan of number 2, I think it looks to flat, in number 1 she is to small compared to him.

love50-4761-web.jpg



love50-4743-web-sort.jpg
 

Krs_2007

Senior Member
Lol Jake :-D


Kevin, my original thought was 2 images, placed next to each other. Some couples don't sleep in the same bed/room :)


Here where my first 2 maybe's, a friend liked it without a hard line between them but maybe it wont look as "separated" when placed on a white background at my homepage?

Im not a fan of number 2, I think it looks to flat, in number 1 she is to small compared to him.

love50-4761-web.jpg



love50-4743-web-sort.jpg


Ok, I get it now. I like the separation because it shows exactly what Jake says and which is very true. And it doesn't look right with him looking at me now. Very funny how that happens. It does seem more powerful for them both looking away from the camera like this first example.

Again this is from a non-artistic person that does everything the boss tells him to do. Happy Wife, Happy Life......

Try a dark gray border, just for grins. And have it split the couple, just curious what that would look like. I did that on a BW image and it made a huge difference over white/black boarder. If that makes sense, I tend to ramble.
 

Woodyg3

Senior Member
Contributor
I like the original picture. Cool idea for a series. Although, if these people have only been married 20-25 years, they are youngsters. ;)
 

wud

Senior Member
Kevin, I tried your grey but maybe I cant find the right color of grey, I didn't really got it to work. If you and your wife ever come to DK, you can be in the series :-D

Woody, haha they are.


Looking again, I am really liking the woman in the 2. posted image. I will see if I can bleed up the black on the bottom in the mans picture, maybe those two will work together then (I made her a little bigger).
I think I'll stick to separated images, like, if they were printed, it would be 2 images. An image about the woman and an image about the man. But placed near to each other.


Either this, or I should invent something so I could get even higher above them, and make a true 'this is how we sleep' image. Because the man told me, he always have a hand on her when he sleeps. But he cannot lie on that side at the time, as he recently broke his shoulder. Poor guy ;) And also, many will naturally be on their side (I know I am) = hard to see the eyes/face. Could also be some problems with shadow covering?
 

Krs_2007

Senior Member
Kevin, I tried your grey but maybe I cant find the right color of grey, I didn't really got it to work. If you and your wife ever come to DK, you can be in the series :-D

Woody, haha they are.


Looking again, I am really liking the woman in the 2. posted image. I will see if I can bleed up the black on the bottom in the mans picture, maybe those two will work together then (I made her a little bigger).
I think I'll stick to separated images, like, if they were printed, it would be 2 images. An image about the woman and an image about the man. But placed near to each other.


Either this, or I should invent something so I could get even higher above them, and make a true 'this is how we sleep' image. Because the man told me, he always have a hand on her when he sleeps. But he cannot lie on that side at the time, as he recently broke his shoulder. Poor guy ;) And also, many will naturally be on their side (I know I am) = hard to see the eyes/face. Could also be some problems with shadow covering?


Hope you dont Mai, I changed it to what I was talking about. Not sure it works, but thought I would post. If you dont like it then I can remove it. Its not as stark as white, but it also doesn't blend in like black. I just dont know. Its your vision and I may be blinded what I think you are trying to achieve.

love50-4761-web.jpg
 

wud

Senior Member
I dont mind at all - I see it, it looks better :) I'll figure out if I want a "frame" or not, if I do, it should be this grey I think.
 

Krs_2007

Senior Member
I never thought about gray till I had one of my favorite BW's framed and the lady suggested we try it. It really sets it off in print, so thought it might fit here.

I will be following this, because I really like the idea and the pictures and really curious how you tie it all together.
 

Browncoat

Senior Member
The first in an upcoming series, thinking of calling it Lovers 50+ -- its just portaits like this of couples who have been together for 20/25 years, and they have to be over 50 years. Maybe a little text should follow each image - something I can quote them for, but not sure of the questions yet..

What is the goal of this project? What is the message you are trying to convey?

This isn't a shot at you, @wud, so don't take it that way. I'm just highly critical of project-type work. What I see is a couple who looks pissed off at having their picture taken. The message I see here is, "we've been married for x years and we sleep in the same bed, but don't like each other very much." Recently, I saw a photo of a very elderly couple in separate hospital beds. They were both hooked up to breathing machines, yet their arms were stretched out between the two beds, and holding hands. That's a powerful image.

I'm not seeing a clear direction with this series. Having them pose full nude, but covering up the bits and jubblies? That makes a statement.
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
I'm wondering how in the world you managed to get above them to take these shots?!! I'd be afraid of losing my balance and falling right on top of them! Lol! Interesting subject--looking forward to seeing more! :) (Well, not too much more if you know what I mean!) ;)
 

wud

Senior Member
What is the goal of this project? What is the message you are trying to convey?

This isn't a shot at you, @wud, so don't take it that way. I'm just highly critical of project-type work. What I see is a couple who looks pissed off at having their picture taken. The message I see here is, "we've been married for x years and we sleep in the same bed, but don't like each other very much." Recently, I saw a photo of a very elderly couple in separate hospital beds. They were both hooked up to breathing machines, yet their arms were stretched out between the two beds, and holding hands. That's a powerful image.

I'm not seeing a clear direction with this series. Having them pose full nude, but covering up the bits and jubblies? That makes a statement.

Easy now :) I just started, so there are no clear direction. And that is completely okay (for me). I have recently been down the road where I thought everything in a project needed to be all sorted out before even started (which meant I did not start anything) - then I payed for an hour talk with a photo teacher, she explained how many work with projects - they try, figure out along the way what works and what don't, try again, end up with the concept when printing out all the images in the end (not saying everybody does it this way).

I am not trying to make a statement, just doing portraits of people. In their bed. Because that you don't see that so often. I don't really want to show their love for each other. I don't want smiling or laughing either, I'll rather have people look at the image and think for themselves - and as I wrote earlier, its more to be seen as 2 portraits, not 1. Maybe I'll find people who started to look like each other, maybe not. Maybe someone finds it natural to pose nude, maybe not (btw, I live in DK, we see naked elderly people ALL the time lol - its kind of what everybody does). But no matter what, I have to take a lot of images before I know.

Its okay you get the idea these people don't like each other, thats the beauty of an image, we see it differently - but for the record, we had fun and they didn't mind at all.
 

Eyelight

Senior Member
My first response was it looks cold and they don’t look much like lovers, and there is a darkness between them and nothing common except their eyes are looking toward us.

I wandered off and back once or twice and now see something else. They look comfortable, though different, which is how people end up together for 20+ years.

The one thing that is not natural about the shot is his eyes are not looking straight ahead. She could be staring at the ceiling, but his chin is turned away and his eyes are turned toward us as if he were aware of us.
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
I'm going to offer constructive criticism...please don't take it personally. I am uncomfortable looking at these images. In your initial post, you mentioned possibly calling it Lovers 50+ which then sets an expectation in my mind. I expected to see two people who are genuinely in love after decades of being together. Sadly I can't perceive any chemistry between them, Mai. They don't appear to be lovers--and if I didn't know, I would assume they are complete strangers. These are photos of people who are over 50...that's all I see. Even if they aren't in bed at the same time, can you ask them to feel a loving thought about the other when you push the shutter so their love for one another comes through?
 

kevy73

Senior Member
That was my sentiments exactly too Hark. I got a sense of sadness when I first saw the image, not one of wow, still loving each other after 25 years of marriage. Maybe it is the processing, but I think it is more her facial expression mainly coupled with the distance between them. As Hark said, you could be forgiven for thinking they aren't even in the same bed.

I love your idea, and I love your creativity, but I personally would be striving to capture the love and emotion between the couple.

Edit - just read more of the thread, rather than just posting before reading every entry so ignore my comments at will. :)
 
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Browncoat

Senior Member
Easy now :) I just started, so there are no clear direction. And that is completely okay (for me). I have recently been down the road where I thought everything in a project needed to be all sorted out before even started (which meant I did not start anything) - then I payed for an hour talk with a photo teacher, she explained how many work with projects - they try, figure out along the way what works and what don't, try again, end up with the concept when printing out all the images in the end (not saying everybody does it this way)...

...Its okay you get the idea these people don't like each other, thats the beauty of an image, we see it differently - but for the record, we had fun and they didn't mind at all.

I hope you didn't pay too much for that hour talk, because that's pretty poor advice and goes against the very definition of what a project is. No, you don't need a 20-page thesis and an outline, but you still haven't answered the question: why? What is this project about? "Oh, I'll just take pics of some people and hope it all falls into place later" isn't a very good approach. Everyone is going to have their own interpretation and feeling about any image, but with a project, there has to be some common theme. Some underlying tone that unites the images and gives the project purpose.

Photo projects are tough, and some can take years to complete. Others can be quirky, like Of Beards and Men (one of my favorites). I'm not saying that you need to know exactly how to get where you're going with this before you begin, but you need to at least know the destination. The map is something you can develop.

You shouldn't have to explain that your subjects had fun behind the scenes, it should show through in the images.
 

wud

Senior Member
No I won't tell people what they should express in the picture. That will just make it all fake.

Maybe they are not in love? Does everybody really have to be that, after 25-40 years?


Browncoat, I paid a recent amount and she gave great advice. What you apparently want, is a project about mine or yours expectations about marriage 20+ years. But it's not about how I want people to be, act or feel, it's about them - I hope this makes sense, because that's pretty essential.

And that's why I won't write it all down, because then I won't be open to those I meet.

I am not settled on the title, I can't be that yet as I don't know how it will evolve, maybe it will fit after a while, maybe not. I have no idea :)

And actually I am very pleased that you cannot see when we laughed because then you would have seen my presence in the image.



Hark, I did think lovers sounded like well, lovers and not a couple, but I thought marriage would exclude some - but maybe everybody 50+ with the same partner for so many years, will always be married.

I hope I don't make you even more uncomfortable but it did come to my mind, if one image should be of one side of the bed being empty. I hope this doesn't sound cold!!! because that's not my intention, but when thinking about elderly people, I also thought about how some lost their wife or husband. It's natural in this life but it makes us all sad to think about. I am no where near sure if this should be a part of the project, afraid it would make it be about the end I life, if you understand.


Eyelight, glad to hear your thoughts about composition. I have a clear thought about I need people to lie as they would normally, so it won't just be 20 images looking a lot like each other, different faces. It's very difficult to place 2 images next to each other. As I wrote, I am maybe changing the 2 images, and I'll look through them all again, maybe another version are better.
 
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