Backstage Kokoro
A "behind-the-scenes" look at selected images in my Kokoro project —
Content, photographic notes, EXIF data, creative process, miscellaneous commentary, and original digital captures. And now with additional audio comments about selected images!
From Kokoro #038 - The Priest of Tozen-in
Originally photographed on film, I had fits with this image because of some unfortunate out-of-focus lights in the background behind the priest. Two of the lights happened to visually merge with the priest's bald head making ping-pong ball horns. A better photographer would have seen them at the moment of capture and resolved it immediately, but I didn't see them until I was home and had developed the film. An amateur mistake, for sure. Nonetheless, I still loved the portrait and spotted out those annoyances in gelatin silver prints and cursed my silly oversight.
Enter digital retouching. Once I had the ability to scan the original negative and work on it in Photoshop, I not only removed the lights on his head, but also some of the other distractions from the background. Whew!
Definitely one of the highlights of that first trip to Japan. Now that I can print the image as I saw it in my mind's eye, I enjoy it even more. Needless to say, I did learn a lesson that has stayed with me all these years and now I pay more attention to the backgrounds whenever I find myself making a portrait.
Scan of one of the negatives of the priest (downsized for the web)
, , , ,
Brooks Jensen
Originally photographed on film, I had fits with this image because of some unfortunate out-of-focus lights in the background behind the priest. Two of the lights happened to visually merge with the priest's bald head making ping-pong ball horns. A better photographer would have seen them at the moment of capture and resolved it immediately, but I didn't see them until I was home and had developed the film. An amateur mistake, for sure. Nonetheless, I still loved the portrait and spotted out those annoyances in gelatin silver prints and cursed my silly oversight.
Enter digital retouching. Once I had the ability to scan the original negative and work on it in Photoshop, I not only removed the lights on his head, but also some of the other distractions from the background. Whew!
Definitely one of the highlights of that first trip to Japan. Now that I can print the image as I saw it in my mind's eye, I enjoy it even more. Needless to say, I did learn a lesson that has stayed with me all these years and now I pay more attention to the backgrounds whenever I find myself making a portrait.
Scan of one of the negatives of the priest (downsized for the web)
, , , ,
Brooks Jensen