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Colorful living memories of Japan : today's Geisha
3rd PlaceColorful living memories of Japan : today's Geisha
vincentM


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Anachronism (Advanced Editing V)
Camera: Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT
Lens: Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
Location: Kyoto, Japan
Date: Mar 31, 2007
Aperture: 5.6
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/30Sec.
Galleries: Traditional Art
Date Uploaded: Apr 1, 2007

 Thank you so much for my first ribbon and the very nice comments !

Here are more details about this picture.
When I went to this touristic area of Kyoto I had in mind taking pictures of fake Geisha (real Japanese tourists dressed like Geisha) walking among the rest of the crowd. There are several places making this kind of make-up business in Kyoto, and one is located on the way to Kiyomizu dera.
I was very surprised to see a real Maiko on my way to the temple, I made some pictures but it was too fast, then the 2 Maiko/Geisha (difficult to tell) came down, and I was ready to take better pictures. I tried some zoom effect, and panning, but I found that only this shot was good as the contrast was higher between the crowd and the Geisha.

After that I saw several fake Geisha, easy to recognize with the poor quality of the make-up and the much less interesting kimono (I even saw western ladies dressed like Geisha, and I have to say that western face do not really fit the make-up). I did not even try to take pictures as they could not compare with the original ones.

As you can understand I do not know the Geisha and did not ask them to walk in the middle of the crowd, I can't afford this (hiring one Maiko cost about 2000 USD for 1 or 2 hours...).

To process this picture, I first selectively desaturated slightly the purple coat and bag of the lady in front of the Geisha, then selectively saturated slightly the Geisha, and desaturated slightly the rest of the picture. I will post the original picture in my portfolio soon.

This is my second attempt to use photoshop, as I usually only use DPP. I am not so happy with the softness induced during the process to the faces of the Geisha, maybe it comes from the resizing process, and I should do some sharpening at this stage... I am sure DPC will help me to learn about this !

To answer a few questions :

the people in the crowd are looking at a very large cherry tree that hangs over the street at this location

the Geisha on the left do not have a cell phone on her hand but a camera ! This is a Canon IXY (IXUS or PowerShot, if you are in Europe or in the US). Every Japanese have a camera during Hanami (cherry blossom), even Geisha !

Thank you all so much again for your very nice comments and interest for this picture.

My first ribbon is dedicated to Irene (IreneM) how encouraged me to enter the DPChallenge world !

Best wishes !

Vincent.

...............

Geisha walking down in the middle of the crowd from Kiyomizu-dera, Kyoto.
Love the contrast between these women wearing clothes elaborated long time ago, and the anonymous crowd much less colorful.

Statistics
Place: 3 out of 92
Avg (all users): 7.3070
Avg (commenters): 8.5172
Avg (participants): 7.0833
Avg (non-participants): 7.3713
Views since voting: 15162
Views during voting: 485
Votes: 215
Comments: 54
Favorites: 23 (view)

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AuthorThread
 04/12/2007 03:05:45 AM
Congrats on your first ribbon! This is an awesome image. Great job :-)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/11/2007 08:56:47 PM
I new this one had to ribbon, great shot and congratulations!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/11/2007 08:32:49 AM
Simply fantastic catch. congratz !!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/10/2007 09:44:44 AM
Nicely done!! Congrats on the Yellow Ribbon!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/09/2007 05:32:27 PM
it's a great shot
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/09/2007 02:37:38 PM
The Geishas stand out so brilliantly against the sea of people. Very beautiful! Congratulations on winning the yellow ribbon!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/09/2007 02:03:39 PM
One of my favorites! In fact, it's going into my favorites right now!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/09/2007 11:48:30 AM
I really loved everything about this shot! I was one of your 10s during the vote. I think you were one of the folks who best "got" the challenge of an Anachronism! I thought you were the Blue for sure!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/09/2007 10:29:44 AM
love the old women with the turtle neck =]
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/09/2007 09:52:33 AM
I live in Tokyo and was thinking about taking this same picture but never got around to it. Really nice work!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/09/2007 09:51:14 AM
I gave this a ten, thought it would win.. You are defintely one to watch for the future.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/09/2007 09:49:57 AM
i love this! Nice work!!!!!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/09/2007 09:48:53 AM
This is REAALLY great!!! I'm so impressed with how it all looks kind of sepia -- but not quite because there is color all over the photo, but the geisha girls. . .Wow! Do they ever pop! Mega congratulations on your ribbon.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/09/2007 06:56:28 AM
wonderful image, beautiful and interesting. plus, i love the fact that the geisha on the left has a cell 'phone. anachronism on anachronism.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/09/2007 06:40:56 AM
Omedetou gozaimasu
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/09/2007 04:12:17 AM
Wow, what a perfect image for the challenge! Big congratulations on your first ribbon, Vincent. I'm so pleased for you.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/09/2007 03:47:59 AM
I am glad this shot did so well.
Congratulations! The ribbon is well deserved.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/09/2007 02:39:58 AM
Congrats on Ribbon. Great shot. Kyoto is such a wonderful city to photograph in. Do shoot more and add to your portfolio of great images from Kyoto. (will bring back great memories for me!)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/09/2007 02:29:31 AM
cute, congrats on the ribbon.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/09/2007 02:14:33 AM
I love these kinds of sites. When I am in Japan I see these ladies going through the crowds and no one seems to notice them.

Good job.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/09/2007 01:50:45 AM
Blue Red And yellow, went to the 3 best, congratulations on the ribbon...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/09/2007 12:16:31 AM
Congrats! Goes to my favs.
Edit: watched more and more. Great to see the mobile phone hanging on the left geisha hand. Great for the challenge.

Message edited by author 2007-04-09 00:18:03.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
04/08/2007 10:54:04 PM
Great street photo! This is head and shoulders above what is really a lackluster challenge. 10 and the Posthumous Blue Ribbon.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/08/2007 08:14:40 PM
Wow, really impressive, and absolutely fits the theme. You desaturated the crowd a bit. You did a good job (thank God you didn't go b&w).
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/07/2007 04:18:28 PM
BEAUTIFUL shot! Absolutely perfect representation of an Anachronism.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/07/2007 03:39:16 PM
Fantastic capture - the colours really "stick out" in a wonderful way
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/07/2007 10:58:07 AM
Best example of theme so far. Well done
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/06/2007 06:38:43 PM
Excellent, really like this one. Fantastic contrast in the colours.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/05/2007 04:32:12 PM
A very interesting shot - definitely meets the challenge. And I wonder what the folks in the back are looking at.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/05/2007 02:38:15 PM
I don't know if you partially desaturated the "other people" or if that's just how the scene photographed, but it's very effective at making your subjects stand out from the crowd.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/04/2007 11:08:09 PM
Very nicely done. Perfect composition to draw the eye instantly to the Geishas and then around to the modern crowd. Including what appears to be a NY Yankees cap!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/04/2007 07:19:06 PM
I tihnk I have found the winner here.. 10 all the way.. I have an inkling whose shot this could be... big fat TEN!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/04/2007 12:55:50 PM
I was in Japan when this challenge was announced and THIS is the pic I was looking for. Looks like you found it instead of me. Congrats, excellent image.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/03/2007 04:24:12 PM
Fab colour!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/03/2007 12:04:08 PM
Good photo. I love that the crowd mostly moves as a collective excepts these two women filled with collor and life.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/03/2007 10:50:00 AM
I love this shot. I would have liked it more if the subjects were a bit sharper. Them being a bit more in focus than the passing crowd would make them stand out even more. Still one of my favorites in the challenge, nice shot.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/03/2007 09:34:08 AM
I hope this wins badly. One of the few images that met the Challenge IMO. In fact...I'll bet this makes the Blue. Good Luck and super well done. 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/02/2007 07:56:09 PM
This is fantastic. I love the popped color of the kimonos. Was this a true candid shot or did you stage it? Ether way it's wonderful.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/02/2007 06:42:32 PM
This is a really awesome capture! One of the best in the challenge.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/02/2007 06:20:41 PM
Quite a striking thing here with the color. Just right. I love it. I'm curious how much you had to do - if any.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/02/2007 03:28:39 PM
Interesting image which fits nicely with the challenge.
The bright colours work very well in drawing the eye to your subjects.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/02/2007 02:40:39 PM
I'm sure this will win blue...well seen and shot
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/02/2007 02:21:58 PM
Stunning! 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/02/2007 11:37:12 AM
They do stand out don't they????
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/02/2007 11:34:09 AM
I absolutely adore this image...it fits the theme perfectly and is beautiful. The composition is excellent and the color is superb!! 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/02/2007 10:49:55 AM
love the shot! Fits the challenge really well too!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/02/2007 05:54:47 AM
This is good, for this challenge...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/02/2007 05:50:18 AM
It occurs to me that this image is somewhat "anachronistic", but not really an anachronism, since it is entirely possible that you would see this today. Nevertheless, it's a great concept, and well done.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/02/2007 02:39:50 AM
Just so perfect, and I love this shot.....A mixture of the old ways with the new.....Beautiful.....
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/02/2007 02:13:04 AM
Woah. Fantastic capture. Gives the impact of selective desaturation without the annoying "drawing attention to post processing" aspect of it. Great subject and very fitting for the challenge.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/02/2007 02:11:55 AM
wow! it's awwwsome, I'm crazy about the colours, and these crowds, and these geisha...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/02/2007 12:44:41 AM
I really like this pic.
the granny in the forground is a bit distracting though.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/02/2007 12:41:29 AM
a great opportunity and a great capture...8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/02/2007 12:12:04 AM
Nice street capture, like the way you composed it and the subtle desturation.
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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