This young lady was quite fascinated with window displays at a shop in Rüdesheim. She wasn't alone with her fascination either - lots of folks of all ages stopped by this particular window, as below the carousels were nifty mini-motorized scenes - skiers going up and down hills, for instance. Nifty store!
You've got tungsten light inside, dull, dark, gray daylight outside. No good way to reconcile the two in a single shot. Too busy (and this is a pretty good crop of an even busier scene to start with), not sharp enough, etc, etc. A snapshot by DPC standards. But a kinda cute one, to me anyway. :-)
[Dec. 24th, 2008 08:56:33 AM]
I've had two comments mention the focus on the girl - and yes, it be soft. A few thoughts - I don't think the camera does the focus bit through windows all that well - in hindsight, I should have tried manual focus (and should try that more often anyway.) Second, I do tend to think that images shot through glass will be just a tad softer than not. Finally, I was shooting at ISO800 and 1/20th of a second on a day with very little contrast. Seems to me that any time I shoot lowish light, lowish contrast, the camera has a hard time getting crisp focus. Is this a common phenomenon or is it just me?
In the end, I liked the look captured, and can live with the softness on this one. Very much appreciate the comments, as they made me consider alternatives such as attempting manual focus the next time.
[Dec. 28th, 2008 02:35:14 PM]
Oh, and yes, this is a candid - I don't know who she is but she had a good time checking out the stuff in the window!
Post challenge: Wow! This is a surprise!! Thank you kindly!
Here's the original:
And a couple of outtakes:
Ah, a quick story to add to this after all this time. This was a challenge running the same week as Shadows, and in that challenge was a shot called "Ode to Deb", which I loved. I remarked as such. I received a PM from the shooter that I was indeed the Deb it was ode'd to (it has pigeons, you see!) so I was very eager to see the outcome of that challenge. Rollover here is at 6 am, so I got up, waited, and was delighted to see Mark ribboned with the shot!! I was a bit bemused to see the red ink on the left of my home page, because I'd recently renewed my account and thought that little red message had gone away. Then I realized they wanted the original of my shot in the other challenge. I couldn't figure why - I never edit much. So I dutifully went off, found the original, noted my editing steps, and sent it in. It wasn't until after that, that I noticed the shot had taken third. I'm a little slow sometimes. :-)
And here's Mark's ribbon winner:
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Well, you don't really need another comment on this one, but I'm gonna do it anyway. This is just the kind of shot I love - a moment, a story, not over edited and just perfectly presented. That look on her face is priceless. Wonderfully seen and shot.
hey Deb, belated congratulations! My only nitpick (can't resist, can I? :))is that she is not looking at the carousel, but at something else outside of the frame. Beautiful shot nonetheless.
Wooooohoooo! I've been away for a week and I come back to find you not only ribboning in one open challenge but inspiring the winner in the other! Once again, you find magic in the mundane, beauty in the banal.
Congrats on the ribbon Deb! I read your comments earlier and every time I see the homepage I think about the lighting. You said that there was no way to reconcile the lighting outside and inside and yet I think that makes the shot. The glass is an almost invisible barrier between the girl and the gift she wishes for, and the different tones outside and inside provide even more distance.
To look from the other side of those blue eyes, and see as only a child can see, maybe, maybe, then I could be a photographer. Beautiful story well told.
A hardy congrats on the Yellow. I have been away for about 2 weeks on vacation in Vermont (and no I did not see HeiSch!) and am just now getting back in. A great shot and a well deserved ribbon for you
Congratulations Melethia!!!! What an absolutley BRILLIANT shot!
I love the way that you have explained quite softly that you were SHOOTING THROUGH GLASS! *smile* I can't find a way to say this as nicely as you have but, the mere fact that there seems to be some sort of fanaticism towards focus in some in here just completely blows my mind. They are missing out on some really wonderfully meaningful shots by being so hung up on technicals! I'm glad that more than not, others saw the true value in the shot and got past the "technicals, technicals, technicals". :)
Actually, I LOVE the outtake of this little girl with her head bent and the angle that you shot it on. It was such as meaningful, wonderful shot that truly captured her fascination with the carousel. It tells an entire story with her in-depth fascination!!! Absolutely stunning shot!!! But, I also understand, given the comments about "focus" why you didn't use that one in this site. You have a real knack for capturing people and I beg you not to compromise that because of those who are sticklers for technicals. To do that, we may as all just shoot the same thing and see whose technicals on it were best. :(
Keep up your brilliant work, Melethia because there are enough of us who truly see it's beauty!
Congrats on another ribbon, Deb! With candid street photography, I still go back and forth between manual and auto focus, but some of my best (or luckiest) shots were done with manual focus. Here, anticipating a window shopper, you could have set the focus and probably even the exposure in advance. For kicks, you could have preset everything and used time lapse, one shot per minute, and then seen what you ended up with. Technicals and could-a-been's aside, this is still great!
MANY CONGRATS, Deb. Well deserved. I just got back from a nice holiday and was very pleased to see your ribbon. You must have been a very good girl this holiday season!!
Oh my, CONGRATULATIONS. What a great way to end the year. I had no idea this was your shot, Deb, but it was one of my favorites. The expression on the child's face says all that can be said about 'window shopping'. She is precious.
In Norway (and no doubt Germany too) it is said that elves or pixies or some sort of magical little people dance in the shadows at the edge of the forest. A friend told me about how her daughter, on reaching the ripe old age of about seven or eight and breeching the walls of self-awareness, looked out of the car window while driving by the forest edge and said: "They're not there any more."
So thanks for taking us back to the magic.
Re: noise - you're an engineer (whatever that means, as there are several different ways to be an engineer, such that I even had it on my passport as occupation once because it was a usefully generic and imortant-sounding name) so you might be interested in this sort of thing. In the paragraph entitled 'causes of noise' you can see that most of the given causes there are likely to be exacerbated by holding a)the shutter open and b)current switched on in the sensor, for longer. I rest my case (without even having one).
Oh and thanks for your shadow commentary. Congrats on the ribbon.
Congrats Deb! Very nice shot. I like the original very much also. Even though it leaves her a bit too centered I like how the adults in the background give a sense of scale to her and the feeling of movement. It adds to the feeling of a captured moment in time during the hustle-bustle of holiday shopping.
Once again you pull it off. I sit at your feet hoping some of the crumbs of knowledge will float down and I'll be able to grab them and learn. Great way to end the year.
Woo Hoo! I'd say, "Nanny nanny boo-boo" to anyone who thought she might be a bit soft. I think a yearning little girl thru a window is supposed to be a little soft. It adds to the mood of the photo.
You're awesome, Deb! CONGRATULATIOS! And a Happy New Year to YOU! Way to say good-bye to the old year and Hellllooooo to the New one :)
Super sweeeeet, Deb!! This image is the girl equivalent of the boy in "A Christmas Story" - staring at the Red Ryder BB gun in the store window and you nailed it. Congrats!
hey deb .. CONGRATULATIONS on the yellow .. its such a beautiful image .. the little girl and her fascination are excellently captured .. BRILLIANT .. !!:)
Nice idea, colours and model's expression.
A better composition would make it stronger IMHO. (There is too much of the overpowering, blurry carousel when the appealing thing is the little girl's face). Good luck
A perfect shot, content-wise. Her expression is priceless. But technically, the inside reflection on the glass is too distracting, the child's face is a little over-exposed, as is the front horsie. I love the feeling of it though.
This is great... it looks very natural and less 'staged' than some of the other inside to outside entries. I wish that the girls eyes were more in focus though... 9
Carousel girl
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