Young Chinese Sisters Photo

Photographer’s Note

It has been awhile since I have have attended the City of Boulder, Colorado Annual Asian Festival. The double portrait of these these two Chinese sisters has always been one of my favorite photographs that I have taken. I like the fearless and confident look of the younger girl on the right and the gentle but protective look of her older sibling. Even with this quick portrait their two very distinct personalities came out. I love their beautiful and boldly colored silk outfits. They were more than happy to pose for me.

Chinese New Year is coming up this week and Asians consider red to be a color of good luck and prosperity so I find this double portrait an appropriate one to post to celebrate this event. Kodakchrome 64 was a great film for its day but I enhanced this photo a bit to make it more closely resemble my favorite portrait slide film, Fujichrome Provia 100F. I didn't use fill-flash back in 1995 but I didn't really need it in this soft and diffused outdoor lighting anyway.

isabela_sor, avene, zmey, japiey, Wanda1, Ramy, fulvio52, Didi, maglex, Floydian, AROBN54, jwmunro, JorgeCK, Photo65Net, emjleclercq, jaywalker, jean11-3, dareco has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

lomumo22 (323) 2008-02-02 16:40

Hi Stan!

Very good portrait with much colorful. Congratulations.

Lourdes.

plimrn (19596) 2008-02-02 16:50

Hi Stan,
What a lovely pair!! The detail and color is perfect, you have really captured that skin texture that is only found in young children. DOF is also just right, softly blurring the BG to noninterference. Interesting note as well.
HLJ, Pat

maglex (1544) 2008-02-02 17:50

Hi Stan,
I like this double portrait. reat color and DoF.

Thanks for sharing...

Alex M.

zmey (7244) 2008-02-02 18:26

hello stan

yes, once can clearly see the difference in the girls' characters in your photo. an excellent catch, in my opinion. by the way, from their expressions my first impression would be that the eldest one is the one on the right... beautiful color work and nice compositional balance as usual in your work. maybe slightly out of focus on the face, but i am not absolutely sure due to the screen i have here. maybe it's a result of the scan though. other than that nagging note: a great photo, friend!

my compliments and TFS
kristaps

happy chinese new year!

grantlp (2104) 2008-02-02 19:45

Hi Stan,
Yes I too like this double portrait, which is very natural and depicts the characters of these two young girls. The image is that much stronger due to the fact that both girls are looking at you, and the dominant colour of red is eye-catching. Well done.
Cheers Grant

avene (10938) 2008-02-02 20:56

I find red to be one of the most difficult, but also one of the most expressive colours, it can be elegant and vulgar, warm with a hint of orange and cool with the hint of blue. any women will tell you, finding the right red shade for the lipstic can be quite a challenge :))
love the tone here, it's rich and festive, and definitely lucky - the girls look fabulous :) nicely blurred background perfectly focuses the viewer's attention on the two beauties. but what I particularly like is the metallic shine to their raven black hair. gorgeous!
have a great Sunday,
Kristine

japiey (9491) 2008-02-02 21:28

Dear Stan,

Lovely kids.
I like the way you framed them, that shows a real moment in their life.. their smiles, innocence, and care for each. The lights falling creates a dimension too, to the shot. Yes, RED is believed to be a colour of good luck and prosperity. Thank you for this touching share . Wishes for a lovely day.

jean paul

Wanda1 (10923) 2008-02-02 21:37

Hi Stan,
The red colour makes for a strong image, and I love their different expressions. A lovely double portrait of these sweet girls. A nice dedication for Chinese New Year.
Regards
Wanda

Francisca (348) 2008-02-03 0:20

Hi Stan,
Great portrait! Beautiful colours!
Regards Fran

Ramy (771) 2008-02-03 0:49

Hello Stan,
The managing of the colors is well done with a unique taste to the picture. Well framed and a great unique capture.
Regards from Iraq.

fulvio52 (8314) 2008-02-03 1:22

Hi Stan,
1995... pretty amazing the kind of quality you managed to achieve in this one. There again, I've been nosing around in your gallery before and I know this is nothing unusual, it applies to all the analog shots of yours I've seen so far. I mean, they could all be digital. My compliments.
This is such a fine portrait! Wonderful reds, wonderful kids, simply lovely.
Have a great sunday, see ya soon.
Ciao,
Fulvio.

mirarer (4310) 2008-02-03 3:27

Hi Stan,
Very nice and colorful portrait.
Regards,
Mirari

Didi (35928) 2008-02-03 3:29

Hi Stan
In 1995 I was younger and smart :)
Nice picture with lovely colours.
I think you should add your material in your profile.
Cheers.

Floydian (30970) 2008-02-03 6:23

Hi Stan,
What a lovely double portrait, you really found two beautiful girls to pose for you. The red colours are shining all the way, howe i like that...perfect.
Regards, Henk

AROBN54 (10721) 2008-02-03 9:02

Hey, Stan,
I look at your film shots and am very tempted to buy another film camera. (I am nuts - I just gave one away). But the color in these is just awesome. This is a great portrait with the girls being different heights and gazing so directly at you. The lighting and bokeh are wonderful and I love the totally different expressions the girls have. This is outstanding! Thanks and have a great week,
Shelly

jwmunro (6571) 2008-02-03 12:56

Hello Stan -

I think I have seen these two cuties before when you showed them at work or at the Performing Art's Center. The one on the right is so serious and the one on the left is a bit mischievous and out to have a bit of fun. Skin tones look to spot on so I am not sure if it is the monitor or not. Well done!

Thank you for sharing.

John

JorgeCK (2594) 2008-02-04 7:53

Hi Stan,
Beautiful portrait of these cute girls.
The colors are perfect and sharp.
I'm planning to visit Chinatown this Sunday to see the celebration of the year of the Rat. I hope I can take some shots worth posting.
Regards
joRge

Photo65Net (43084) 2008-02-04 9:11

Stan,
How was your Superbowl ? Congrats fot the Giants 3 points victory, you wrote that :o) ! A tough defensive game, and a great 3 or 4 points one.
This image is very attractive, with great colors, and very nice children attitude.
Regards,
JB.

gunbud (27755) 2008-02-04 12:10

Hi Stan,
Gorgeous portrait of these two lovely young ladies in their colorful traditional garb. Wonderful clear colors and beautiful details to their dresses. Very effective framing to this lovely portrait.
Regards, Tom

baba_flies (7951) 2008-02-05 4:33

Hello Stan! I am really impressed with your scanning talents. I almost forgot Kodakchrome 64 ... but you bring them back to life with this strong photo. The colors are amazing and it is hard to describe them (would be easier in German ...) but your colors have something that remind me of "theater makeup", strong and - in the most positive sense - "overdone", the way I like it. Excellent, and the girls are lovely ... I wish they could see this photo. Barbara.

emjleclercq (14207) 2008-02-05 14:13

A nice and colorfull portrait, plus an interesting contrast in attitudes, between the smiling sister on the left and the more shy one of the right. Very nice dresses and excellent sharpness.

All the best,

Emmanuel

jaywalker (12190) 2008-02-06 10:28

Hi Stan, What a very beautiful portrait of these two gorgeous china dolls, the focus & colours are both superbly sharp, a really well composed photo, TFS, kind regards Wilson.

jean11-3 (2799) 2008-02-07 3:24

A delightful portrait Stan,of these two pretty girls.
Looking at the date of the shot,you realise that they will now be grown up!
The colours and lighting are outstanding; and you say that this was a 'quick' portrait?I like the girls raised arm joining the two together in the composition.Their expressions are wonderful,especially the girl on the right; I would love to know what she was thinking.
I like the slight blur to the bg too.
Good interesting notes.
Tfs, regards Jean.

ayansadhu (1497) 2008-02-07 6:45

Very original childhood portrayal in your shot with excellent details as ever, nice learning from you Stan...

isabela_sor (42020) 2008-02-09 14:10 [Comment]

Show Comment +

scalerman (25711) 2008-02-10 11:20

Stan: I'd be interested to see the RAW or unaltered version of this image. Would you be willing to post one in the workshop. There something a little over-done with the blacks - just a thought. regards, c

dareco (17104) 2008-04-07 4:46

You really do manage to attend the most amazing events...lucky you!! As always your pictures bring out the colors and detail of the costumes so well. Very beautiful little girls. TFS

Evolution (211) 2008-04-21 5:02

Cheers Stan,
Im not sure when you put it up, but Im just now coming across your "Great underrated Photos" theme with one of my pics in it. Thank. Appreciate the sentiment.

I posted this note on this foto cause It's a successful portrait of 2 lovely subjects ! Well done.
Brian

Photo Information

Copyright: Stan Obert (scobert) (5333)
Genre: People
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 1995-09-00
Categories: Festivals
Exposure: f/4.5, 1/250 seconds
Photo Version: Original Version
Theme(s): Kids from the World Part VII, Traditional Clothing, Adorable Kids [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2008-02-02 15:55