Printing the Image - An and Kit Edition
As most of you know, Kit and An decided to pay us a visit here in Portugal (Brandon and Dev . . . we’re waiting). They did the smart thing and didn’t try to cram an overseas trip into a week, so we had them for plenty of time to both play tourist and to relax. We had a wonderful time!
On our trips out, Ann took advantage of using her new x100v and getting to know it under situations where she wasn’t expecting to make “photographs” (said in my best artsy-fartsy voice [no need to use air quotes because I could use real “quotes”]). Well, as is the case with Ann, she made some rather nice images of An and Kit while I of course was looking for artsy-fartsy photos.
After Ann downloaded her images and processed some of them (I haven’t even downloaded my images yet . . . and they’ve been gone almost a week now), we decided to have An pick some of her favorites and do some printing. Because, of course, it has been a while since we’ve given the printer a good workout!
The images we printed came from two of our early trips out. You’ll probably recognize where most of them were taken - Porto. We did a rather long loop around the city and had an enjoyable time of it. We got to visit the newly rebuilt Mercado do Bolhão, the open market area that has pretty much everything you could want, from fresh breads, fish, meat, and vegetables, to coffee, fabrics and other hand-made goods. We then made it down to the São Bento train station where Ann really got into her groove.
I think it helped that An is not only photogenic, she enjoys being photographed. Ann, of course, prefers being behind the camera instead of in front of it.
We made our way down the hill and across the bridge to Vila Nova da Gaia, stopping on the bridge to catch a view of the Douro River. Ann was getting used to the range-finder experience and catching the moment with the wonderfully nimble x100v.
Most of the time when I looked at Ann’s rear screen, the image was in black and white. I’m not sure if she was looking at everything that way (though through the viewfinder it’s all in color), but the B&W really worked well on that bright day.
And the image below is simply a lovely “photograph” (said in my best artsy-fartsy voice). The composition of the image, the tonal values and the various juxtapositions of tones is striking. The print of this image is three dimensional - it’s stunning. We wound up printing this image small, medium and large!
And it held that 3-dimensional character at all 3 sizes.
Ann really has a way of recognizing a moment and photographing it. I first realized that with Ann’s photographs of Carlos and Korenza’s wedding. Ann has a real eye, not just with landscapes, but with people as well.
Too bad she’s not more of a people person - she could be a fashion photographer. Or at least a portrait photographer.
The last image we printed was from our trip down to Barcelos. Ann had An pose on a wall overlooking the Cávado River and, among the smiled poses, Ann caught a moment with An’s reflecting.
That was it for the print session. What a great present to send them back home with.
Ann, of course had other images from the trip that she’s shared with An and Kit (and who knows what images I have of them from the trip, guess I do need to download those images).
I decided to include one of those extra images, from our trip to Sintra, because . . . well, because it makes me happy that they have such a great relationship.
I really do need to thank Ann for taking over my role as the trip photographer. She does a much better job of it than I do.