Getting ready for the ballet

[RBSinTo]

This was taken about 34 years ago while my wife was getting our daughter ready for her first ballet recital. Joanna is standing on the toilet seat while my wife Barbara applies her make-up.
Joanna's pose always reminded me of the famous Egyptian sculpture, "the Bust of Nefertiti."
motorized Nikon FE
Nikkor 180 2.8 ED AIS manual focus (rented for the evening and my first experience with this wonderful lens which I eventually purchased)
Kodacolour 400 ISO colour print
scanned from the negative

[elsa hoffmann]

and what does the daughter now say about her pic its a lovely memory

[Ron Scubadiver]

Color composition and content are very good, but the shot is plagued by grain to the point that it is blurry.  Perhaps back then B&W would have given a better result, but film is no match for today's digital sensors in low light, especially in color.

[Tristin]

Lovely image, I assume you have it framed?  You do, don't you? 

...but the shot is plagued by grain to the point that it is blurry.

I disagree that the grain makes the image look blurry.  Sure, a modern sensor would have taken a cleaner and more detailed image, but it wouldn't have captured anything more that truly matters for this image.

[RBSinTo]

Thanks all for the comments.
Elsa,
She likes the photo, but I love it.
Ron,
Grainy, yes. Blurry, no.
Normally I wouldn't have bothered with colour print film but this was in the days before scanning and the intent was to make prints of the recital pictures.
I visited the auditorium during the dress rehearsal to check the lighting and knew that 100 ISO film wouldn't give me fast enough shutter speeds, and flash photography was not allowed, so I went with 400 colour print, which, in those days wasn't as good as high-speed films that came later.
This shot was taken at home just before the show and after I'd loaded the high-speed stock, so the resulting shot is grainy.
However, even as I did then, I like the grain and unlike today's Digital shooters who distainfully call it noise, and revel in five and six digit noiseless ISOs, I feel that it adds something to many images, and don't consider it to be a detriment.
Tristan,
I agree completely with your comments.
Robert

[Ron Scubadiver]

The shot is definitely not OOF. Grain reduces the resolution a lot.

[RBSinTo]

The shot is definitely not OOF. Grain reduces the resolution a lot.

Not really sure what important elements of the shot suffer from poor resolution.
With the possible exception of the wispy hairs on the nape of Joanna's neck, all the important compositional elements resolve quite nicely.

[Almass]

Nice memento. Pleasantly surprised that your wife is using a make up brush.

This is how I would process your picture.......keeping the grain.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

This is a lovely alternative to the original.

As to "grain", as long as the picture is perceived as intended, who should care?

[Ron Scubadiver]

I like the alternative version more.

[RBSinTo]

Nice memento. Pleasantly surprised that your wife is using a make up brush.

This is how I would process your picture.......keeping the grain.

Thank you.
I appreciate the time and effort you put into your version of my shot.
However, I prefer the original.
Robert

[Tristin]

I prefer the original.  As it was taken at home, I am sure Robert remembers those walls, which reinforces the value of the image.  A boring backdrop to most viewers can be one of fond memories for the photographer and the subjects.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

An artist's preferences can only be challenged, not overruled.

[Ron Scubadiver]

An artist's preferences can only be challenged, not overruled.

I agree with the concept. 

[charlie]

An artist's preferences can only be challenged, not overruled.

I agree with the concept.

Me too, it's a good one.