A longish first post to say 'hi'

[bfujii]

HI everyone, just wanted to say hi and start sharing some of my photos. I am somewhat new to the site, and im hoping to improve my photography and post-processing skills.

This weekend I shot photos at the local Obon Festival here in Mountain View, CA. The Obon is a time where Japanese Buddhists spend time with family and friends in a festival atmosphere and can reflect upon and show gratitude for their ancestors; in particular, the ones who have passed away in the last year. A tradition of every Obon Festival is the bon-odori dance. Men, women, and children get dressed in colorful yukata or hopi coats (both are forms of kimonos, but much lighter) and dance in a large circle. The dance is said to bring comfort to the deceased.

Here is one adorable little girl, who near the end of the dancing, was more interested in the plastic castanets in her hands than anything else. More to follow as I finish my processing.



feedback is welcome and appreciated.

if you saw my post in the sports photography forum, you might start to see a trend, i like to provide a story or background with my photos.

[gmen]

I've enjoyed reading the additional background information very much. It can often be the case that a shot is made 'complete' by its caption or associated story.

However, I feel that your image could be improved. Judging by the 'background' of the picture there was better lighting to be had - and therefore more justice would have been done to those vibrant colours.

The image of the girl might be improved by a tighter crop - from head to hands perhaps?

I would like to see more of your images from this event. I am certain you have some colourful juxtapositions of those amazing yukata dresses. Again the 'background' of your image (and yep there's too much of it in this case) gives an indication of better things to come!

[Liz]

We're happy you joined Photography Review - and began posting some photos. You came to the right place for help to grow in your skills. BTW, you might want to post the images you want improved or "critiqued" in the Photo Critique forum for more specific advice.

Your stories behind the photos make the images very interesting and I really enjoyed reading this one. I'm not a sports photographer, so I haven't viewed your posts over there. But keep them coming!

Liz

[Sebastian]

I love the lighting on her face, frames it perfectly. I would burn in the background to eliminate some of the distractions though, as well as crop down a bit.

Right when I opened this shot the light on her face drew me immediately in. It emphasizes her concentration and makes me wonder what she's thinking while playing with that thing.

I wish the light covered her whole face, but that's just wishing. Things that could improve this shot further would be getting lower to her level. Using a faster lens to blur out the background more, or achieving the same thing with just waiting for her to be further away from the background.

[bfujii]

yeah, the lighting was fairly awful, sunset, sun streaming in behind me, and people moving around all over casting odd shadows in every which direction. wasn't expecting it, so I didnt bring a flash. I tried getting down to her level, I was already on my knees for the entire shoot... she is so tiny. I would have loved to get some of the kids up onto a stage or something and taking some planned out shots.

I love the lighting on her face, frames it perfectly. I would burn in the background to eliminate some of the distractions though, as well as crop down a bit.

Right when I opened this shot the light on her face drew me immediately in. It emphasizes her concentration and makes me wonder what she's thinking while playing with that thing.

I wish the light covered her whole face, but that's just wishing. Things that could improve this shot further would be getting lower to her level. Using a faster lens to blur out the background more, or achieving the same thing with just waiting for her to be further away from the background.

[another view]

Welcome! Great expression on her face. Maybe if you were even a bit lower like you say, and less depth of field to blur the background. Some burning and dodging would help too. You've got the most important part here, and a little tweaking in Photoshop would help you. If you've got Photoshop CS, there's a filter that blurs the background. I haven't tried that one yet but this would be a good image to try it on.

It's interesting to read the story behind the picture. At a workshop I went to recently, the instructor said that everyone does postcards for self promotion. A unique (therefore maybe better) way to do it would be to pick a special image and tell the story behind it, same idea here.

[Photo-John]

Nice intro post and photo, "slacker". I'm gonna have to tell your boss that you're spending too much time on the Internet, though :-)

I agree that there's a bit too much going on in the background of this photo. I love the spot of light on the girl's face, though. That's magic! Maybe a tighter crop would tighten the whole thing up.

Looking forward to seeing more of your photos and watching you learn and grow!