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Traditional elegance
3rd PlaceTraditional elegance
LandzEnca


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Female Portrait II (Expert Editing)
Camera: Sony DSLR-A550
Lens: Sony SAL-16105 DT 16-105mm
Location: Singapore
Date: Aug 30, 2011
Aperture: 11
ISO: 200
Shutter: 160
Galleries: Portraiture, Digital Art
Date Uploaded: Aug 30, 2011

 After one year living here in Singapore, my wife had always wondered how it would feel to be wearing a traditional Malay or Indonesian costume. She would always be delighted to see young girls and ladies parade on the streets with their colorful traditional dresses.

The end of Ramadan approaching, she was looking forward to see local Muslim families celebrate the Hari Raya festival with brand new dresses, among others. On the eve of the end of Ramadan, I decided to take her this Malay village and shopped for this dress. The saleslady initially did not want to sell her the head scarf, for some reasons related to tradition, probably religion, but eventually, we were able to get a complete get up for her.

I do not have a studio and she wasn't comfortable shooting outdoor with her new dress, so I took advantage of the Expert Editing rules. I took this shot knowing in advance that I would be changing the background in photoshop.

The rock/clay wall was a texture downloaded from the Internet, as well as the Abaca frame.

I originally used downloaded graphics from the internet for the wall and frame textures. But i feared a DQ. I sent a note to SC, but they haven't got back to me so I decided to re-edit using photos taken from my android phone. I replaced the abaca frame and clay wall with those I could find and shoot at the office.

The marble wall was the same wall i shot in my office hallway for the Home challenge. The wooden frame is a shot of my office desk. The white matting is a shot of another wall at the office.

The painting in the background is a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle. I had a hard time photographing it without the reflection, so I decided to shoot it sideways, and fix the distortion later in pp. A lot of adjustment layers were used, for color matching and blending, as well as fake shadows.

One main flash diffused with a lumiquest mini softbox in front and above her to the left. One canon SB200 with umbrella front right as fill. One sunblitz slave pointed at the wall, for easier separation of bg later.

Im pretty happy with the result, although not so sure about the voter's acceptance.

Here is my initial edit which I pulled out due to fear of DQ:



[Sep. 2nd, 2011 09:03:18 PM]

Hey great score! And a fave! And those comment... Hey i used expert editing... Extensively. If you cant see it, that means i succeeded. Or did i? Coz now it makes me wonder, if you dont think i used expert editing, is that good or bad? Am i losing points because of that?

Post challenge:

Thanks everyone. This is my first ribbon so i will treasure it.

Here is a version without the white zipper on my 500px.

Statistics
Place: 3 out of 49
Avg (all users): 6.9777
Avg (commenters): 8.1429
Avg (participants): 6.0769
Avg (non-participants): 7.1307
Views since voting: 4449
Views during voting: 423
Votes: 179
Comments: 33
Favorites: 5 (view)

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AuthorThread
 09/14/2011 10:11:50 AM
This is a great example of taking what you have to work with and really making something of it. The picture has emotional impact. And I like that you used a puzzle for the painting. Very cool.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/12/2011 06:56:04 AM
A little late but congratulations on your first ribbon! So well deserved, it's a very rich and fantastic image. You definitely succeeded.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/11/2011 10:07:51 PM
You WIN with your unnoticed expert editing!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/11/2011 07:11:12 PM
Great color, tones and clarity. Congrats.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/10/2011 10:58:02 PM
Love the tones in this. Didn't realise the picture was a puzzle. Congrats on your first ribbon. YAY. :)

Message edited by author 2011-09-10 22:58:47.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/10/2011 11:35:44 AM
Masterful piece of artistry here.
Congratulations.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/10/2011 07:23:28 AM
This is quite spectacular, love the tones, congrats on the finish.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/10/2011 06:33:02 AM
Congrats on your first ribbon...beautiful picture!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/09/2011 11:37:29 PM
this is sooo cute! :D
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/09/2011 08:01:50 PM
Congrats!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/09/2011 09:12:20 AM
Lovely image. Lovely lady and costume. Fantastic editing. BTW, I like this much better than the outtake.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/09/2011 06:36:34 AM
Congratulations .
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/09/2011 03:21:59 AM
Originally posted by Beni Rodriguez:
Congrats on yellow ribbon! :)

There you go!, hehe... I still think the same as I commented before. And as I commented to nr.2, is that this image fits better the "Advanced Editing" instead, while the "Expert editing is something more" (at least, as I see it.. though I can be wrong)

"take a look at the Male Portrait competition (Expert Editing aswell), and see those winners!.. in fact I gave 10's to nr.1 and nr.2, while a 9 to nr. 3!", in the female portrait challenge I gave 10's to nr. 8 and nr. 18, as they fitted better the "expert editing")

pd. I like much more the other one you posted on the comments!


Beni thanks again for the comment. I agree with what you are saying. This is expert editing so expert editing must be used. This should be more than advanced edit.

And that's exactly what i did.

You just didn't see it. In fact many didn't see it. And that was my goal. That's what i wanted.
09/09/2011 01:52:03 AM
Congratulations on the ribbon for this very lovely portrait. You certainly did an expert job of the expert editing. I would never have guessed that this wasn't a straight shot of what it appears to be. I'm glad you played it safe regarding possible DQ and you didn't lose a thing in the final quality of the image - I actually like this version better.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/09/2011 01:22:17 AM
Originally posted by tanguera:
I don't think the idea of "expert" editing is to see that it IS editing.

+1

While I love the outrageous entries in both challenges, I equally love entries like this competing with them and winning. Congrats and very well done. You put the "expert" in expert editing.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/09/2011 12:44:11 AM
Either one would have scored the same from me. Both edits are really well done.

Congrats to YOU!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/09/2011 12:26:49 AM
Congrats on yellow ribbon! :)

There you go!, hehe... I still think the same as I commented before. And as I commented to nr.2, is that this image fits better the "Advanced Editing" instead, while the "Expert editing is something more" (at least, as I see it.. though I can be wrong)

"take a look at the Male Portrait competition (Expert Editing aswell), and see those winners!.. in fact I gave 10's to nr.1 and nr.2, while a 9 to nr. 3!", in the female portrait challenge I gave 10's to nr. 8 and nr. 18, as they fitted better the "expert editing")

pd. I like much more the other one you posted on the comments!

Message edited by author 2011-09-09 01:13:58.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/09/2011 12:26:08 AM
I don't think the idea of "expert" editing is to see that it IS editing. You have created a masterful effect, and in fact, I prefer this version to the original one by a substantial margin. I love your notes and am grateful that you've shared them. Congrats on your well earned ribbon. I though it might finish at the top.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
09/08/2011 06:00:00 PM
Beautiful portrait.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/08/2011 02:38:10 PM
I love the lighting and colors on this.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/08/2011 01:51:47 AM
Very elegant, indeed, just wish she didn'nt look so unsure. 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/08/2011 12:40:28 AM
I think this is the only real portrait in the challenge. Some are good but mostly 'head' shots: like you would do in school. Most are just photos of females. Some have really good 'expert' editing. Most are 'snaphots': but nothing against 'snapshots'! This, this is a portrait and should be the winner...in my opinion.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/07/2011 09:46:08 PM
Wonderful colors! The only thing distracting to my eyes, is the white of the chair, which breaks the warm feel.

Congratulations!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/06/2011 08:35:52 PM
10!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/04/2011 07:20:43 AM
Classsic type of shot,hope it goes well.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/03/2011 03:13:39 PM
Lovely
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/02/2011 10:06:05 PM
Beautifully done!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/02/2011 07:41:05 PM
Nice Portrait, background aswell. But they are things on the picture that I dont like quite that much... one of the beeing the massive stones/decoration on the clothing, bringing my eyes at her lower body instead to at her eyes, where the focus should be at. Then, there is that "Expert Editing", that I cant see anywhere on the pic. Though I see a bit exgerated plasticly effect on her face.

pd. The shot has potential on its own (beside the challenge), but the detail that kills me the most is the white zip line on the chair.. maybe some cloning, could have fixed it?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/02/2011 06:07:25 PM
Beautiful clarity! Well done :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/02/2011 01:52:48 PM
I cannot take my eyes from the elegance given by the visual intersection of the lines of the frame of the painting in the background with the line of the seat back! This would have been a splendid picture for "In the style of Librodo" and it sure is a splendid picture on its own. 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/02/2011 09:37:52 AM
This is excellent. One of my top picks. Hope this ribbons for you.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/02/2011 08:26:02 AM
Her outfit matches the painting. Honestly, though, it is a bit of distraction. I'd have liked to just see her against the wall. Still, well done.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/02/2011 12:57:20 AM
Magical image. Does not look like expert editing was used, but this should be on the front page. Spectacular lighting.
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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