Met Museum Series - I saw this young lady looking at Degas’ “Little Dancer” ballerina sculpture and tried to get a picture oh her with the ribbons in her hair. There were too many people in the way and I also did not want to interrupt her conversation with her family. I tried to get an angle and shot but it just couldn’t happen. “Oh well.” I said to myself and moved on. About 10 minutes later I saw her in one of the other galleries and again tried to photograph her but she was moving to fas. I was going to give up and let this one go until she turned around and we caught eye. I introduced myself and told her that I wanted to photograph her while she was looking at the ballerina sculpture but didn’t want to bother her. Then I asked if she wouldn’t mind posing for the picture I wanted to take. She smiled, looked at her mom and told her she’d be right back. Her name is Sari. I took several photogrphs of her. Made my day!!! Shooting in the museum is not ideal because of low light. For digital cameras it’s not a problem. I pushed my 400iso film to 800 to get an extra stop and held steady as I was shooting at 1/30 & 1/60 of a second at 2.8 - wide open lens. I couldn’t wait to develop the film and see the results. Then, as always, I pulled the roll of film out of the final rinse, still wet, I held it up to the light and was happy with what I captured. The joy of shooting film and actually having to wait a day or two or three or four to see the results. It never gets old…
I echo the comments of Victor about moving to the right to separate the girl from the painting on the wall. However, I disagree somewhat about the hands detracting. I guess the problem is that one really can't see the hands of the ballerina clasped behing her. If one could, you could make the girls hands echoing that of the sculture a more important feature of the photo. In that case, perhaps shooting more from a little to the left & below, as well as deeper focus might produce a stronger image.
Although I live in Wisconsin, I'm originally from NYC. My wife & I maintain our membership at the Met, so we're often there when we visit NY. I find it quite frustrating to shoot there unless one goes to galleries that are less well visited. Shooting digital allows me to use the Auto-ISO settings on the camera so that I can set both shutter & f-stop where I want them, even in fairly low light. Nowadays, noise-management software has gotten so good that one can get great pictures at rather high ISO settings. I suppose one could try higher ISO film. Presumable you'd get the grainy look that is an important feature of Robert's style.
I think the first image is the one! I love the ironic photo ops that museums and art galleries provide. When I see someone looking at art that matches them, it is one of the times that photography is at it's finest!!!
Great capture and great story!
The focus is very good in all three images. The main subject is sharp and the background is slightly out of focus adding a dreamy feeling to the image and makes one wonder if she is dreaming of herself as a ballerina. The tonal range adds to that feeling of a dream state.
In the first image, I like the angle from which the exposure was made. However, I feel the image would be stronger if the photographer had moved slightly more to the right. That would separate the painting from the subject, which currently is a distraction with it seemingly attached to the girl. Also, it would create a triangle between the three elements in the image. Two of them, the girl and the woman in the painting would both be seen facing the statue. The girls hands are also a distraction and I would ask her to keep them in front and out of view. This image is the best of the three.
The second and third images tend to lose the mystery and dreaminess of the first image. They have several distractions, such as the bright white signs next to the paintings, the white spot on the statue, and the hands in image number two.. Also, my eye is pulled towards the painting on the right and away from the two subjects. The images would be stronger if the statue and the subject were centered between the two paintings. This would provide symmetry, remove the distraction, and improve the overall feeling and location context.
Great lighting, despite the low museum light. The shadows on the wall help make it more dramatic and interesting. The grain comes through nicely as well. And it's nice how the model and the ballerina's figure match, and it seems like the ballerina also has a white bow in her hair.