Carnaval Trapalhão I (#1) Photo

Photographer’s Note

I miss much the times when Photography for me meant photographing people in every kind of situations. Last Carnival Tuesday I gave it a try when I visited the little town of Castelo de Vide. The title is the name they give to the party, something that translates like "clumsy Carnival". As far as I know, the parade is open to anyone who wants to participate, not existing a true organization, which makes it quite genuine.

The smooth light of the cloudy weather was almost ideal to this kind of photo, except that it forced the use of wide f.'s and/or low shutter speeds. There isn't much PP here, except applying gaussian blur to the BG to make the girl stand out.

Other views on the WS's: #2, #3.

Do you want a guided tour on the series? Click this link!

PS: The time in the Exif data is 1 hour ahead. Only now I noticed that the camera clock is wrongly set.

Location (latitude, longitude): 39.4156,-7.4552

siolaw, ruisc_pt, parbo, Docarmo, lucasgalodoido, AiresSantos, riclopes, jlbrthnn, COSTANTINO, paura, danos, cunejo200, Emile, sarahnatalie has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

parbo (10968) 2008-02-07 18:38

Olá Jose,

Your photo's DOF already created a 3D frame. Good timing while lady in deep thought and also colorful players.

Abraço,

Ertugrul

Docarmo (8820) 2008-02-07 20:14

Olá José,
Adorei estas três fotos do Carnaval Trapalhão. As imagens transmitem bem como as pessoas estão se divertindo com o evento - tanto as que estão em plena ação quanto as que observam, até mesmo das sacadas dos prédios ;-) As cores estão vivas e alegres. Gosto de ver, também, a arquitetura ao fundo, lembra muito as cidades históricas de Minas Gerais.
Obrigada por partilhar,
MC

lucasgalodoido (16583) 2008-02-07 20:59

Olá José,
a alegria dessa imagem é contagiante e acredito que além das crianças a cores fortes aumenta essa sensação. Gostei da profundidade de campo reduzida também!
Parabéns e Abraço!

Graal (57729) 2008-02-08 1:33

Hi Jose,
fine reportage, good shot. Nice costumes and interesting complementary photos in WS. Good work.
Gr., Aleksander

AiresSantos (41970) 2008-02-08 1:42

Ola Jose
Uma excelente reportagem do Carnaval Trapalhao de Castelo de Vide. Gosto muito da baixa profundidade de campo e da focagem nesta cara bonita.
Um abraço e bom fim de semana
Aires

riclopes (32971) 2008-02-08 2:51

Bom dia José, é bom ver-te a regressar às origens :) Gosto bastante do WS2 pela combinação de cores e pela arquitectura como pano de fundo que inclui pessoas à janela e varanda. O WS1 também está engraçado, mas noto um grão estranho em ambos. Esta é sem dúvida a mais interessante para principal, pela proximidade e destaque da sua pose, mas gostaria de a ver ainda mais perto. Um f mais curto com uma velocidade maior até me parece mais indicado para situações de rua para não teres de aplicar o 'blur' no fundo. Os 8º por cima do chapéu dela quase que parecem fazer parte da máscara :) Parece-me demasiado frio para estas vestimentas...
Um abraço,
ricardo

jlbrthnn (37749) 2008-02-08 2:56

Bom-dia Jose,
Este carnaval não verdadeiramente organizado, quase improvisado, mim agrada bem. Qualquer é espontâneo: o jogo dos figurantes e a atitude dos tensores. Excelentes imagens de vida com os ws. Bonito trabalho.
Passa um bom dia
cordialmente
Joël

ElAprendiz (7370) 2008-02-08 6:28

Hola Jose:

Una escena muy llamativa por los colores, y los protagonistas ejercen un gran dinamismo.

Si bien, hay zonas en que los niños no tienen nitidez, la chica de la izquierda está muy bien captada, y es que la presenta mayoritariamente, nuestro centro de atención. Buen encuadre.

Felicidades, John

RADEEH (2762) 2008-02-08 8:40

Hi Jose
Interesting shot of this carnival.
The colours are brilliantly captured.
The image have good DoF. An excellent composition . Thanks for sharing !
Regards
Radeeh

UnTrained (0) 2008-02-08 8:56

Olá José,
that is one of these I like a lot because of the well captured fun. Good usage of reduced DOF (or blur afterwards) and a funny group arrangement around the girl. You had the same nice light as me on my carnival shooting this year.
Lieben Gruss, Ulf

COSTANTINO (22601) 2008-02-08 10:06

Ciao Jose,
bellissima scena dal carnevale,
belli colori,luce,e movimento,
Complimenti,
Abraco,
Costantino

paura (38278) 2008-02-08 11:38

José,
Incrível é que parece uma fotografria tirada do carnaval aqui do Brasil, mais especialmente de Ouro Preto, pelos prédios no BG. Uma linda foto do pessoal se divertindo.

Abraço

Paulo

char_mifsud (540) 2008-02-08 23:28

Hello Jose,
Interesting shot of this carnival. The colors are brilliantly captured. The image have good DOF. A very excellent composition. Well done.
Regards,
Charles
Malta

danos (32264) 2008-02-09 5:18

Ola Jose,
nice snapshot of the Carnival of Castelo de Vide.The serious girl with the playing children make the scene funny.Indeed the blur background brings out the details of the faces of the Carnivals. I like the light and the colours.Informative your note too.

have a nice weekend,Danos

cunejo200 (7157) 2008-02-09 7:28

Hello Jose,
The attractive costumes and the movement connote fun and enjoyment. Well framed, it is a delight to view this scene for those like me who haven't been in Portalegre. Best regards, Danilo

vincz (19039) 2008-02-09 9:32

Jolie image de carnaval, tres coloree. J'adore l'attitdue de la jeune fille a la moustache. Tres bonne prise, tres vivante.

ruisc_pt (6206) 2008-02-09 12:02

Belo "instantâneo" bem apanhado.
O jogo de cores dá continuidade ao movimento que a imagem deixa advinhar.
Muito bem visto
Gostei
R

batalay (20858) 2008-02-09 17:10

Hello José,

I too like action shots, and when color, tradition, and a holiday defines the occasion it is all the more exotic, more interesting. This is precisely the sort of occasion I mean. The subdued light has caused you to expose the image with a slow shutter speed, but the little blur does not bother me. A fill flash may have helped in this instance.

Thanks for the note on the logarithmic spiral, the staircase in the Vatican Museum. The green marble walls, the gray/black wrought iron floral pattern on the spiraling bannister, and the man in the red would be missing in the b&w format. For a red-green color blind person (7% of males, much smaller fraction of women) would have seen the image just as the b&w version. (A friend at Oxford, a prominent theoretical physicist, found out that he suffered from the malady, when, during a strawberry picking incident, they found that he was going for shapes and not colors.)

In the early 90s I shot the same view with a Nikon N90, using a 16-mm almost fish-eye lens and I could get most of the spiral. I would have preferred doing that. The new book, that NGS is publishing, has actually integrated such a photo (not mine) in the last chapter, when Leonardo visits Rome.

Have a good Sunday.

Bulent

siolaw (25726) 2008-02-09 22:09

Salut Jose!
A funny scene you caught well in a candid way as nobody seems to notice you. This people seems to have good fun here! Colorful and lively it gives the atmosphere of this carnaval... This girl has some moustache.. is it a real one or just painted!!??
Laurent

Bluejeans (32083) 2008-02-10 13:12

Oi Jose ,
Tens aqui umas belas fotos de carnaval bem alegres o meu foi em casa a tomar conta da filha , o fundo desfocado ficou muito bom para o nosso olhar se concentrar no primeiro plano , parabéns !!!
Um abraço Gonçalo

mikeo (12113) 2008-02-11 0:52

Hello Jose,

Very nice carnival shot:)
Seems people had lots of fun there...Seems you really had a great weather and in result you achieved very nice colours. Great DOF and compo.

Greez
Mikeo

guillaumejm (9052) 2008-02-12 3:14

Bonsoir josé,
drole de petit scène de carnaval!.
Cordialement
JMarc

Emile (19913) 2008-02-27 12:27

Hola Jose.
Muy buena foto del carnaval, me gusta tu punto de vista y la presencia de todos sus componentes fuera de foco excepto la figura principal que es la joven, los colores estan fantasticos y tu POV es bueno. El WS #2 lo encuentro estupendo.
Felicitaciones.
Abrazos.

sarahnatalie (693) 2008-03-22 18:28

Hi Jose,
I am sorry for the slightly negative critique here. I like the photo in general- the subject is fantastic. But I keep coming back to it and having to ask myself exactly what I am looking at. It is difficult to explain but while the woman in the hat is clearly the sharpest subject, my eyes are drawn immediately to the centre boy in glasses who is slightly out of focus and then the clown's head. Now I can't decide which is the main focal point. I don't know if I am explaining myself well here or not. Maybe a tighter crop would resolve the problem or maybe it's just my eyes!
Sarah