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.
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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.
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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!
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.
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!)
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
Colorful living memories of Japan : today's Geisha
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