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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Fifteen: Making travel portraits that define personality and character. > Tai Chi Master, Xian, China, 2004
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20-JUN-2004

Tai Chi Master, Xian, China, 2004

In this portrait of a Xian Tai Chi instructor, I've tried to capture a sense of confidence and serenity that comes along with such skills. She had just given a very basic Tai Chi lesson to our tour group on the patio of our hotel, and was quietly standing back in the shadows watching her new students practicing the moves she had just taught them. She was so intent on watching them that I doubt if she ever saw me make this picture. I exposed for her pink costume, making the reflected students and rocks in the bronzed window vanish into darkness. I placed her in the center of frame because it put the picture into balance and harmony, so important to an understanding of the art of Tai Chi. I saw in her expression and body language a cool and somewhat good-natured sense of appraisal -- very much the point I was trying to make with this portrait.

Leica Digilux 2
1/200s f/4.8 at 22.5mm iso100 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Phil Douglis04-Dec-2005 23:42
You do a good job of summarizing the qualities that define this woman's character and personality, A.J. Admiration and curiosity are both human values, and she expresses them well.
Guest 04-Dec-2005 21:14
this shot shows such calm and balance ... the 2 dark areas around the central light figure, who herself seems to be at a perfect equilibrium ... and yet not without interest: her expression conveys a sense of admiration and curiosity
Guest 25-Jun-2005 06:49
Another great shot, Very nice~! Its centered to..Nice~!
Phil Douglis30-Nov-2004 20:55
No, Filip, I did not do anything special to the background. It was just the dark tinted glass windows of our hotel, which were made even darker by shadowing. And yes, I always use a spotmeter. It allows me to "paint" with light by exposing on the key spot in the picture -- in this case her face -- and letting everything get darker. If I had used "normal" evaluative or "matrix" metering on this picture, the camera would have tried to "even out" the light by making the background lighter, and thereby overexposing the pink clothing and her skin. I might have been able to correct it later in Photoshop, but I always prefer to get the most meaningful exposure I can directly out the camera itself.
Guest 22-Nov-2004 08:57
Excellent shot! The cental framing works perfectly here and her body language and expression make the shot happen. Nothing really to nit pick here, just wanted to say how much I like it. BTW: did you do something to the background or was it originally this dark? I'm thinking that you've spot metered on the clothes to try to get the background such as way as seen here. Anyway, whatever you did the end result is captivating. Well done.
Phil Douglis02-Nov-2004 05:38
And every time I think of this picture, I will think of how you helped me make it even better by catching a cropping error that had made itself invisible to me, but not to you. Thank you, my friend, for your kindness.
Guest 02-Nov-2004 04:06
PERFECT, PERFECT, PERFECT!!!!!!!! Every time I look at this photo, I love it more.
Phil Douglis31-Oct-2004 20:22
Maureen, you are wonderful! Not only do you eloquently define the reasons why this image captures this woman's personality and function, but you picked up piece of sloppy edge work on my part. I keep telling my own students to watch their edges all the time, but sometimes we get so involved with what the image is saying that can lose sight of the details. That blue crap in the lower right hand corner has nothing at all to do with my picture, but if not for you it might just sit there doing its mischief for years to come. Tim and Anna, two of my favorite commentators, both missed it. But, Eagle-eyed Maureen, picked it up for me, and underscored the importance of always watching our edges. We get a second chance at repairing such sloppy oversights when we post process our images in Photoshop, but I did not notice it in the camera nor did I see it when I edited it. i was looking too hard at the woman to see the distraction you see. In a matter of moment from now, it shall be gone. Because now that I know its there, it sticks out like a sore thumb. My eye goes right to the blue blob.

Of course most of those who read this comment will wonder what all the fuss is about, since they won't even see the blue blob. That because I will simply clone it out in Photoshop. But this lesson you give us in edge-scanning is so important that whether the blue blob is there or not any more does not really matters. What matters is that we learn this lesson.

Will you promise to keep on picking on such pictures, Maureen? You are truly a perfectionist, and to know that you will be ever-probing my images for sloppy mistakes, like a hungry hawk, is a blessing. A visual proof-reader at last!
Thanks, my friend, for your help.

Guest 31-Oct-2004 18:27
Wow. Wow, wow, wow. What a perfect photograph. Muted shades, soft lighting and shadows in the background with a strong pillar in the foreground. In front of the strong pillar stands a woman in the softest color possible - pink. She's positioned herself dead center in front of the pillar and seems to have a self-assured look on her face, with a slight upturn of the mouth suggesting a smile, and her hands are gracefully placed cradling one another. She's going to take care of everything, I sense, and teach others how to do the same. It really does speak to the fact that one doesn't have to be big or dark or foreboding to hold power or convey strength.

The one problem I have with the photo is the distracting blue to the right on the bottom. I would have cloned that out, as it takes my eye off the subject for no reason. It was the second thing I looked at here, and I'm not sure you wanted to control the viewers eye that way, since it doesn't seem to have any purpose.
Phil Douglis23-Jul-2004 19:37
You are right again, Anna. As I said in the caption, gesture (body language) is critical here. And the position of her hands is the key to her gesture and body language. I have been telling my students for years to watch the eyes and watch the hands, and shoot when you see meaning expressed by either or both.
Anna Yu23-Jul-2004 19:28
I think the expression from her face is repeated in her hands. Those hands are expressing harmony and grace and make this picture, for me. It would be a completely different picture if they were behind her back, or out of sight. The pink is the eyecatcher, capturing the initial attention of the viewer, which then shifts to the hands.....
Phil Douglis16-Jul-2004 19:10
Right again. I am constantly debating which gallery to choose as a home for my favorite images such as this one. This could just as well be displayed in my composition gallery because of the centering. Normally centering the subject in the frame is a no no, because it makes for a static image. But in this case, her static, centered qualities are enhanced by her centered position within the frame. I use this photograph here in my new portraiture gallery because a portrait must tell a story about the person it portrays, and I thought the centering, the glow of her pink dress, and the cool serenity of her expression and gesture, told the story of a Ta Chi master well.
Tim May16-Jul-2004 18:36
I feel as if this image could also be in your composition gallery because the centering speaks so strongly to the feeling and message of the picture. It is from being centered, both compositionally and in a tai chi sense, that the warm pink light emanates.
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