Inspiring Photo: For the Soul #11896558

For the Soul

Uploaded: June 25, 2011

Description

Finalist
This was taken on a living history weekend at Fort Atkinson, Nebraska.
Resubmitted January 27, 2013
Category: People

Exif: F Number: 5.6, Exposure Bias Value: 0.00, ExposureTime: 8000/1000000 seconds, Flash: did not fire, compulsory flash mode, ISO: 320,320, FocalLength: 70.00 mm, Model: DSLR-A350

Comments

Marcie A. Fowler June 25, 2011 0

What a wonderfully done portrait Nikki. Excellent comp and pose. I really like the treatment of the image as well. #1388003

Monnie Ryan June 25, 2011 0

Fabulous portrait, Nikki - and as a big bluegrass fan, I do love a banjo! #9484688

Melinda F. Schneider June 25, 2011 0

I love this portrait; and I bet he will, too! #9484725

Datha Y. Thompson June 25, 2011 0

WOW!! Wonderful portrait work and I LOVE the treatment/title is perfect Nikki :) #9484989

Joy Rector June 25, 2011 0

beautiful shot #9485086

Katarina Mansson June 26, 2011 0

Excellent and beautiful portrait! #9485988

Michelle Alton June 26, 2011 0

Superb candid portraiture, Nikki. Love the lighting and muted color. #9486261

Karen Celella June 26, 2011 0

Fabulous portrait, Nikki. I'm sure he loved this one! #9486398

Mitch Spence June 26, 2011 0

Right in close, so we can listen to the banjo. The framing is dynamic and makes it all feel even more immediate. #9487019

Chris Budny June 26, 2011 0

Very nicely done! I like the editing choices you made, for color & edging. #9487724

Kathy Coombs June 27, 2011 0

That is awesome..how did you edit that? Really like it. #9488368

Ken Smith June 28, 2011 0

I like your crop on this, Nikki. You got some great shots from this reenactment. Excellent all around! #9491285

Heather Loewenhardt June 29, 2011 0

Fabulous angle and composition. The texture is amazing! #9493136

Martin Cregg June 29, 2011 0

Nikki - I love what you have done to this picture. Mind me asking what filter you used? Martin #9494211

Nikki McDonald June 29, 2011 0

Thank you, everyone, for liking both the image and the effects. I edited last fall and I don't take notes, so it's hard to remember. I did take the image on the angle like this so there's no cropping involved. The lighting was natural. I don't still have the RAW file but I do have two previous tiffs and the first one should be right after the conversion from RAW -- I do very little there. I am sure I ran it through a couple of filters in Topaz Adjust. My favorites (and what I probably used here) are Exposure correction and Photo Pop. I might have tuned back the Pop on his face -- I often do that as I don't like too strong a look there. The other possibility is Clarity instead of Pop but if I used that, I would for sure have removed most of the effect from the face. Or maybe I combined Pop and Clarity, using Pop on his face and Clarity on the rest. At any rate, I always just experiment to find the right balance for different parts of the image. To "erase" I always apply each effect on a separate layer so I can reduce the opacity of that layer and/or apply a layer mask and take the effect off partially or completely that way. It looks as if I also reduced the saturation a bit -- probably about 25 percent. And I applied a texture, again lightly and reducing it a lot on the face and arms but leaving it most in the corners and around the edges. Can't say what texture but it definitely warmed up the image. Hope this helps -- thanks for liking it well enough to ask specifically, Martin and Kathy. #9494573

Steve M. Harrington July 03, 2011 0

I like the nostalgic feel you created here, Nikki!
Steve #9503091

Lindley Johnson January 28, 2013 0

This is terrific, Nikki! Love the diagonal and tones. The information on the processing is so helpful - thanks! #10542905

Stefania Barbier February 25, 2013 0

great tilted capture Nikki... congratulations!!! #10582743

Pat Abbott February 25, 2013 0

Love the texture, nice portrait! Congrats on your finalist! #10583672

Julianne Bradford February 25, 2013 0

Wonderful work Nikki! Congrats on all your marvelous finalists! #10583887

Chris Budny February 25, 2013 0

Terrific month of great Finalists; congratulations once more, Nikki! #10584047

Martin Cregg February 25, 2013 0

I loved this the first time I saw it, Nikki. Still do :) Congratulations. #10584163

Nadia Paul February 26, 2013 0

Congratulations on another well deserved finalist Nikki! #10584720

Lucy Abrao February 26, 2013 0

Fabulous portrait, Nikki. I can almost hear that banjo. Congratulations on another finalist.
Lucy #10585382

Carol Quina February 26, 2013 0

Another terrific finalist! Congratulations! #10585520

Leslie McLain February 26, 2013 0

Congrats on a terrific finalist, Nikki. #10585868

Marilyn K. Lincecum February 26, 2013 0

Wonderful portrait...Congratulations on a well deserved finalist. #10586535

Rolando Rosito February 26, 2013 0

Congratulations Nikki, love the yellows and greens on this finalist! #10586622

Patrick Rouzes February 26, 2013 0

Incredible, Nikki! CONGRATS & good luck on ALL your finalists, my friend!
#10587008

JO ANN CLEVELAND February 26, 2013 0

Wowwww....Absolutely beautiful! Congratulations on you awesome finalist Nikk8i! YOU ARE ON A ROLL GIRL!

jo ann c.
#10587114

Larry A. Cameron February 27, 2013 0

You take great protraits. #10587398

Mary Beth Aiello February 27, 2013 0

This is a very cool portrait, Nikki. So well captured. Another huge congrats. You're on a roll. Keep it up. #10588703

Bill Johnson February 27, 2013 0

Nikki, Beautiful finalist. Very well done. Good luck. #10588760

Maria Coulson February 28, 2013 0

Nikki, excellent treatment, POV, light. Congratulations! #10589085

Lindley Johnson February 28, 2013 0

I absolutely love this image, Nikki, congratulations on your well-deserved finalist. #10589664

Terry A. Stoa February 28, 2013 0

Great image, Nikki. Congratulations on its selection as Finalist.

Shooting it at a diagonal worked out great - I was thinking you'd cropped it that way until I read your outline above. #10589981

Heather Loewenhardt February 28, 2013 0

Great angle Nikki. Congrats once again on your finalist award. #10590014

Merna L. Nobile March 22, 2013 0

What a great way to start a new year! Your award winning photographs go from Editor’s Pick to Finalist and hopefully to Gold.
CONGRATULATIONS for the month of January, 2013!
#10620026

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