Charles Shepherd
July 2025 - The Railway Man
Original
About the Image(s)
Camera - Olympus EM1 mk3 with 12-100mm f4 lens at 75mm (f5 1/40th ISO200)
This was taken at a re-enactment at a railway museum in the UK. The image was taken in a very small railway guards van. The studio flash wasn't working but there was a continuous light available.
I like the direct engagement with the sitter and cropped to emphasize this. I also increased vibrance and saturation & lessened the highlight above his shoulder. He is holding a pipe but unfortunately this was lost in the shadow.
5 comments posted
Your subject has a lot of character in his face, which makes for an engaging portrait. He's well lit, and I like his pose. You did lighten the background some, but it still feels a little busy to me. Posted: 07/21/2025 00:14:06
Charles, you have really captured this gentleman! The eyes, wrinkles, dirt and soot tell us all. Your crop is spot on. I do like that you included the background. It gives us a sense or place. My only suggestion would be to darken the bright white area in the background a bit more and to lighten the left side of his jacket a bit more. I allows us to see both the wonderful texture of the fabric and the object in his hand. Great image! Posted: 07/21/2025 23:37:37
Very nice portrait. I liked the expression of the person. The post processing of the background is good. I think, you can do a selective brightening of the subject to bring in more details of the pipe and fabric. Nice shot. Posted: 07/25/2025 07:58:33
Amazing portrait of an older gentleman with a face that shows his years. The lighting on his face and arm is perfect. I would prefer to have the white area behind his right shoulder darkened to blend with the rest of the gray background. Also, I woujld prefer to have the entire gray part of the background darkened so there is less of a contrast with the dark burgundy and black areas on the right, which could be lightened a bit to bring out the details. Posted: 07/26/2025 01:01:38
Thanks to you all - I'll give this one another try with the processing suggestions. Posted: 07/27/2025 13:15:46