The Princess, a photo from Louangphabang, North

Photographer's Note

At the night market in Luang Prabang, I saw this very pretty girl helping her mom sell umbrellas made of paper (?). I asked her mom if she could pose for me. She said yes. I coaxed her to smile. But she had a tight upper lip...reminded me of a gesture fit for the royalty. I really don't mind if she didn't smile for me. It made her look even more of a princess... of the night market.

dth, ChrisJ, cmartos, cgrindahl, elihesamian, elroyie, carper, pridel, ma-tibou, jhonny_blue, zto, nwoehnl, Galeota, avigur_11, RAP, taivo, Jeppe, rabani, CoolDan, carmem_busko, yohaneseko, santhosh_ermal, magham has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

benny (631) 2004-07-18 1:36

Beau portrait, beau modele, belles couleurs!

dth (34) 2004-07-18 1:43

Amazing color and composition, and that's to say nothing of the expression. Amazing. Haven't seen a smile as complex and full of feeling since the Mona Lisa ;-)

[2]

pourre (543) 2004-07-18 1:58

Beautifull colors and composition for a nice girl, well done !

sengir (4956) 2004-07-18 2:03

cannot say anything new, very good as always. Your pictures stand out in TE

maciekda (19895) 2004-07-18 2:14

wow, what a nice portrait! very nice composition. i relly like this grain here. i wish we could see the whole hand of the girl, but it is the only small flaw i can find here, very good picture

cmartos (242) 2004-07-18 2:47

Her look iss very mature for a young girl. Very nice catch, this princess is beautiful, and beautifuly cought. I like the tight crop and soft tones. The almost orange monotone is very good too, with just a touch of blue. very well seen and done Manuel, very nice.

cgrindahl (6113) 2004-07-18 2:49

The umbrella really makes this one sparkle Manny. This girl definitely appears a bit more mature and self-contained, making your view of her as a princess appropriate. NIce soft colors and details. Excellent image, nicely framed.

bncooper (208) 2004-07-18 2:49

Wow! Straight out of the National Geographic.

elihesamian (26149) 2004-07-18 2:59

For me ,yes,she is a princess,with an inocence smile & face.
Excellent crooping you did,the colors are real & very attractive,it like a sepia,well done,Manuel!
I like it,Great composition with a fine POV you creat.Excellent.

elroyie (2750) 2004-07-18 3:25

Wow, great face with excellent expression, it looks very innocent look on the girls' face, the background is great, I think that it is better that she didn't smile to you, she had a 'royal' look!

carper (96) 2004-07-18 4:03

Yes Manuel, this is very good.
Great photo, what can I say more everthing is good in it, very great job.

ChrisJ (171194) 2004-07-18 5:03

The matching color tones work well here

jrj (34843) 2004-07-18 5:58

Strong portrait of this princess, very serious expression under the umbrella. Attractive well balanced colour and light. Maybe the corner down in the right is a little 'out of place'- but not so easy to avoid I guess

pridel (233) 2004-07-18 6:04

C'est une véritable princesse que tu as photographiée Manuel. Elle a une certaine retenue et le port de tête est bien là. La composition avec l'ombrelle est géniale. J'adore ce portrait, bravo

ephemere33 (9743) 2004-07-18 6:19

kikou manny,suis en admiration devant cette jolie princesse qui pose avec fierete et sensibilité, bien vu l'ombrelle qui donne du charme en plus a ce cliché...toutes mes félicitations encore une fois pour cette composition...amicalement BI

ma-tibou (4568) 2004-07-18 6:57

Comme elle est belle , portrait magnifique, couleurs somptueuses. Trés trés belle photo Manuel.

jhonny_blue (4956) 2004-07-18 7:11

Wonderful portrait Manny ! She´s realy a beautiful princess.
Very well done !

zto (268) 2004-07-18 8:04

What a beautifull girl Manny, and with her litle umbrella. So sweet. The colour tones are wonderfull. Thsi is jut so pretty.

nwoehnl (122) 2004-07-18 8:39

You're right, I think the way she looks at you makes this portrait far more intriguing than had she given you a "model" kind of smile. The umbrella makes a beautiful background that is eye-catching and non-distracting at the same time. Very pleasant tonal range in one more wonderful shot to come from you.

rdans59 (263) 2004-07-18 9:27

Beautiful portrait. The framing is just perfect and the colors very well balanced.
Good work!

Galeota (10352) 2004-07-18 16:01

The umbrella makes the photograph. Very nice...background.

avigur_11 (22535) 2004-07-18 16:25

Yes, princess she is. Excelent portrait and a very well chosen background. You're so good with this. My compliments, Manny, great job.

mikhalych (1319) 2004-07-19 2:51

What I like most (after girl's face expression) - are matching colors of her skin and umbrella, natural sepia coloring.

There are some doubts about blue dress straps. Though they add some color to almost monochrome picture, but I'm not sure it necessary here. And of course it's a pity that we can's see her whole hand.
Well, those are minor issues. Never mind :)

hanza (132) 2004-07-19 5:34 [Comment]

Show Comment

joseelias (0) 2004-07-19 8:47

Beautiful photo of a beautiful girl. The warm colors are excelent. They've got the feeling of sepia but much richer.

About the composition adn DOF, excelent.

Darren (6823) 2004-07-19 8:53

Really nice portrait Manny. Classic composition and a very good exposure. The umbrella is great in so many ways; it makes for an attractive background, it is probably helping give softer light and it adds context as well. My only criticism for this shot is really just a personal opinion. I can tell you have used Luko's sharpening method here and for me, the effect is slightly overdone. It has brought out a little more grain and texture to this shot than I would prefer. again, it is really just personal opinion, but I would guess I would like the results better had you used the final image as a layer over what you had previously processed before applying Luko's method and reducing the opacity to maybe 80%. This would have softened things just slightly. Anyways, good shot.

katsuhiro (479) 2004-07-19 9:54

Great potrait. She really has a beautiful face with pearcing eyes. Excellent choice of DoF and great details.

ishai (4097) 2004-07-19 16:11

Manuel
Great one
Love the umbrella shades with the girl skin color
The way she looks at the camera
Good composition and good framing

RAP (1053) 2004-07-21 6:15

Bellisimo retrato Manuel.
La expresion de la niña, esa sonrisa casi robada, las composicion y coloridos tan acordes, conforman una excelente captura.

Gorgeous picture Manuel.
The expression of the girl, that almost robbed smile, the composition and colorful so agreed, conform an excellent capture.

taivo (1843) 2004-07-21 12:11

I had my eye on this shot for some time, but I just did not have the time to write a comment. The composition is amazing, just spot on. She looked relaxed and proud. The umbrella serves as a brillant background.

Jeppe (18654) 2004-07-22 4:03

Truly a wonderful portrait - and a very beautiful princess - I like it, even without the smile - thanks Manuel.

Thanks I finally got some portraits myself - but theres still a lot to learn :-)

harold (2377) 2004-07-22 8:08

Merveilleuse photo pour une merveilleuse petite princesse. toujours de très jolis portraits Bravo Mannuel.

cdewet (0) 2004-07-24 1:09

Subtle, and Very nice! There is a ghost of a smile lingering there . . .

waysai (611) 2004-08-12 12:58

She was giving a look that crossing her mind why? at the same time posting to you. The look really has a question mark! You have captured it well instead of her natural expression.

ritinha (139) 2004-08-17 6:37

Manuel,i just can say....beutyful.

flydragon (0) 2004-08-18 3:15

hello Manuel
i try to take time to watch your picture ,o)
so many manny
and also good one
i love this one
the composition the color
and this girl look so pretty
verry nice picture
thx to share with us

rabani (9645) 2004-08-20 2:34

Tell you a secret Manny. Photos of yours like this, is pretty inspiring for me to take real life potrait as well. Thank you for paving the way through your experiment Manny.

CoolDan (2516) 2004-09-07 21:33

Elle est magnifique votre princesse Manuel. Vous avez bien saisi le moment, votre composition est excellente. Bravo.

kinginexile (2598) 2004-09-19 19:50

She is beautiful, plenty of nice tones, but there is a slight hardness of light and contour the subject did not deserve.

wideangle (72) 2004-10-22 5:46

great details, and wonderful colors. sometimes we cant ask for too much, i think this is a veyr natural expression from her..

TakiKO (115) 2004-10-26 12:43

Congrats for a very good composition of this photo. Natural light and colours make the picture very friendly and well done.

michel_r (1118) 2004-10-26 16:36

Bravo. Very elegant picture fitting well the princess. I like very much the circle in both corner and the blue of the dress against the few colors of the child and her umbrella. Have you tried cropping the bottom to take out the fingers off the picture?

alimo3 (6854) 2004-10-28 19:15

hi many,
this is one of my favorite picture from this site.
your composition and colors are just great.
and you are right ,she is a princess.

Tom

carmem_busko (3718) 2004-12-14 11:56

A breathtaking portrait... Dof, lighting, tones and composition are perfect... and her expression... wow!!!
Added to favorites.
Thank you for sharing.
Carmem

yohaneseko (109) 2005-01-22 5:21

very beautifully taken..the color saturation, sharpeness and contrast are good...well done

maurazos (0) 2005-02-28 4:33

Delicious image, because of the smile of the girl and the detail of the umbrella, really well positioned. Regards.

santhosh_ermal (122) 2005-09-26 14:55

well done sir..

absolutley perfect photography...super combination of colour..she looks like a queen..

yes she is......

regards
santhosh

lollie (0) 2005-10-10 23:34

fantastique prtrait bravo.

jbweasle (9393) 2006-05-22 16:26

Hello Manuel, this sweet face is perfectly framed by the parasol. It's a superb composition. The skin tones are brought out well by the flat light.

schobi (187) 2006-05-22 16:29 [Comment]

Show Comment

smash2707 (3320) 2006-11-02 11:09

Amazing picture. Beautiful girl with expressive eyes. The umbrella just matches with her. Regards, Yvonne

magham (28) 2007-09-16 9:51

Excellent snap. The colour, the girl's slight bend of her neck.....

the umbrella makes a soothing background for the snap.

I throughly enjoy watching it.

Suresh

diegolpz9 (8) 2013-01-25 11:31

Hello Manuel!
This is impressive. Pretty much every aspect of this looks great to me, the color, the clarity, the background. Incredibly job.
Diego

nifervon (115) 2013-03-03 18:08

Beautiful photo! Nice color and composition. Well done.

Jen