Study Group 31 Diane Bovenkamp

Study Group 31
Diane Bovenkamp

Mike Brouphy

Richard Lotman Brown

John Gilkerson

Diane Bovenkamp

Anu Nadimpalli

Paul Roth

Carl Soerens

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Title - Mother And Child

How I did it -

This was taken in Kyoto, Japan, at the top of a mountain that was part of a monkey shrine (Japanese Snow Monkeys). This shrine is situated west of the city, not far from the Tenryu-ji Temple (a World UNESCO site). There were dozens of monkeys running around a hut poised at the top, and I zoomed-in on one of the three mother/child pairs. Very difficult to take photos of these small monkeys, since they move very quickly and unpredictably, and the mid-day sunlight was bright and had a lot of contrast (sometimes you can’t get to these locations when the quality of light is at its peak). I was going for the emotion of the interaction – hopefully, I was successful. I only adjusted levels, sharpened and converted to B&W in Adobe Elements v6. I think that I might need to get a fixed monitor one of these years, since having a laptop has definitely made it difficult for me to judge the appropriate darkness/contrast in my photos. Hopefully, I’ve rolled the dice in my favor this time.

COMMENTS:

Mike Brouphy	Nice image on the emotion of the moment. The touch and the look of the mother is obvious in the contented look of the baby. And, your tones are super.
Richard Lotman Brown	I like the close-up that creates a warm intimate shot, not usually seen.
John Gilkerson	You have done very well in getting this image from such a situation. The interaction between mother and baby is very good. I also like the composition.
Diane Bovencamp
Anu Nadimpalli	Considering how difficult it was in taking this picture, I feel that you were able to capture the tenderness of the moment very well. The hands holding the baby look appealing. However, I feel the picture is too dark and the bottom part below the fingers could be cropped out to accentuate the main subject. Also, I increased the Exposure slightly to +.25. Please see my enclosed edit. Hope you like it.x
Paul Roth	A very tender scene. Its diffciult to capture such moments. I altered the levels from 255 to 240 it seemed to add a little to the image.
Carl Soerens	This image tells a wonderful story and you captured it well. I like the tight crop you used to zero in on the faces and hands. The B/W conversion worked well and is about right as far as dark/light on my monitor. I suggest increasing the contrast some and a little more sharpening.

Diane Bovenkamp Bio

Diane Bovenkampr - Biography

Since obtaining my first camera when I was seven years old, I have been fascinated with photography. Presently, I’m on the Board of Directors of the Baltimore Camera Club, a club member of PSA, and enjoy participating in the print, digital and slide competitions, program nights, and seminars from visiting professionals. I joined PSA as an individual in 2008 to further develop my technique and personal style and to network with international photographers. The 2009 PSA International Exhibition is my first foray into PSA competitions. I look forward to learning more about the vision and techniques of monochrome photography from the other photographers in this group.

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