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Sweet Sadness
Sweet Sadness
eschelar


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Hidden Gem -- 1,000th Challenge! (Advanced Editing VII*)
Camera: Canon EOS-30D
Location: Lin Kou, Taipei County, Taiwan
Date: Apr 25, 2006
Aperture: f/2.5
ISO: 320
Shutter: 1/100
Galleries: Black and White, Children
Date Uploaded: Mar 7, 2009

 Taken on my very first day shooting with my DSLR.

Image number 148.

I did my best to re-edit this. I have a few versions of it kicking around and the low contrast, slightly soft B&W is the one that pierces me the most. It has been up on my wall for about 3 years and I like it more every day.

Intentionally low contrast and slightly underexposed. I hope people see that.

Re-edits to bring it up to speed with noise reduction and other editing techniques that have seen improvement in the past 3 years. It is substantially almost identical to the print in my room. Editing was done with a strong view to being subtle.

Taken with a 50mm f/1.8 II that I no longer own. In the original, you can see the backfocus that caused me to move to the f/1.4. I compensated by softening the in-focus areas in the final version.

I have no idea why they are so sad. It was just their pose for the camera.

Originally shot in JPG.

This really is a hidden gem for me because it sits in a folder that I never actually got around to archiving!!! and it's on an old spare HD that I was going to reformat if I needed a bit of extra space since I thought that I had already sorted everything. Also, I don't think I have ever posted this online in this crop, yet it's also the only one from that first day that I ever printed in a large size - AND the only one that really takes me back and captures my own emotion of melancholy for the feeling for my early times here in Taiwan and the people that I met that were so very special, but that I will likely never meet again. Reviewing these shots almost brought a tear to my eye for real.

Post Challenge:
I knew that the score would be low. I was hoping for a low 6. I expected a 5.6.

Reviewing the comments was a bit frustrating to me.

Things like 'it's a bit soft' and 'it's too dark' make me wonder if people have ever experienced a moment of sadness.

Oh well. It was fun for the challenge. At least it's in the top 50% :)

Statistics
Place: 622 out of 1129
Avg (all users): 5.4880
Avg (commenters): 6.2708
Avg (participants): 5.4917
Avg (non-participants): 5.4684
Views since voting: 861
Views during voting: 638
Votes: 500
Comments: 52
Favorites: 0

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AuthorThread
 03/18/2009 01:39:46 AM
I thought it was a gem, very under-rated.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
03/17/2009 10:01:36 PM
Such charming little faces and expressions...cute kids and portrait!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/17/2009 05:34:46 PM
Very emotive, and interesting commentary piece.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/17/2009 03:35:31 PM
Beautiful children, I feel like they're peering at me through a window and longing to come out.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/16/2009 06:17:39 PM
like the questioning expression on girl's face.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/16/2009 05:43:56 PM
cute kids... dont really convey a sense of sadness though.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/16/2009 04:04:54 AM
nice shot
 03/16/2009 03:38:28 AM
Well captured and presented.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/16/2009 01:52:26 AM
Wonderful portrait, very well composed.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/15/2009 08:52:44 PM
Cute portrait. I like the serious expresions.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/15/2009 06:44:59 PM
Nice image of two lovely children nice mono good work 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/15/2009 05:42:46 PM
Beautiful faces. Well captured and framed.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/15/2009 03:47:19 PM
Image feels a bit dark, but well composed and a good portrait.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/15/2009 03:16:08 PM
Beautiful, the tones are wonderful and I love their eyes,
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/15/2009 10:13:45 AM
A sweet photo of sweet faces, B&W works well.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/15/2009 09:42:36 AM
Beautiful image.

Not voting yet.
 03/15/2009 09:12:14 AM
great portrait - wish to se the eyes a bit sharper
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/15/2009 05:39:57 AM
not very sharp but I like it
6
brano
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/15/2009 01:04:39 AM
It's already in the title. Lovely, but a little sad looking faces.
 03/14/2009 08:48:38 PM
Ok. Good photo.
 03/14/2009 05:52:03 PM
If there was some light in the eyes this would have way more impact.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/14/2009 04:43:08 PM
Coming back to comment...

Lovely lighting, nice b&w conversion!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/14/2009 02:13:51 PM
excellent use of toning for the mood
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/14/2009 11:54:32 AM
excellent tones...just a "tad" dark...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/14/2009 09:32:18 AM
Lovely portrait
 03/14/2009 08:55:00 AM
Beautiful portrait with excellent lighting. Very poignant expressions that you captured here. 9
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/14/2009 06:11:34 AM
How cute is this!!! just a beautiful image.
 03/13/2009 08:25:07 PM
nice crop, excellent eye contact. 6
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/13/2009 07:51:28 PM
a pair of gorgeous children. great dof. lovely framing, etc.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/13/2009 05:44:59 PM
perfect title, it fits their emotions very well. great dof, i love how the boy seems a bit softer, and yet is just as clear as his sister(i am assuming). great crop and b&w too
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/13/2009 03:21:55 PM
cute
 03/13/2009 02:53:31 PM
Very good portrait of children
 03/13/2009 12:44:16 PM
cute kids!
 03/13/2009 12:38:41 PM
Beautiful capture
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/13/2009 10:47:03 AM
Cute Cute Cute. The both looks very serious.
 03/13/2009 06:27:17 AM
nice composition here, the b&w adds to this
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/13/2009 01:17:27 AM
beautiful.
 03/12/2009 09:50:37 PM
nice portraits
 03/12/2009 09:15:15 PM
they are adorable, why the sadness, this is a great portrait, nice black and white conversion 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/12/2009 04:37:49 PM
very cute
 03/12/2009 04:21:04 PM
Cool photo. Good use of black and white for us to focus on the subjects.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/12/2009 02:16:04 PM
Nice shot.
 03/12/2009 10:35:22 AM
Great capture! Nice title, too. :)
 03/12/2009 02:37:15 AM
I love it. The title fits the expressions nicely.
 03/12/2009 01:33:55 AM
Great expressions and processing.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/11/2009 10:09:12 PM
cute kids
 03/11/2009 10:00:10 PM
Beautiful children. Serious.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/11/2009 08:35:55 PM
nice portrait, maybe a little sharper?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/11/2009 07:55:10 PM
A nice capture. I like how his head is leaning toward her.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/11/2009 05:48:33 PM
Priceless expressions. Nice lighting and tones.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/11/2009 05:47:29 PM
Sweet portrait
 03/11/2009 10:44:56 AM
Good intimate portraiture, well processed.
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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