Before & After: Banks

Mike Serpa

Major
Joined
Jan 24, 2013
Nathaniel P. Banks - LOC photo
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His hair gave me the biggest problem. I probably cropped too much of the bottom of this photo.
 
Nathaniel P. Banks - LOC photo
View attachment 195045
View attachment 195047
His hair gave me the biggest problem. I probably cropped too much of the bottom of this photo.
Mike, I think you did a great job overall. As an old art director, I will agree that you cropped a little too much off the bottom. It will be less distracting if you leave the hands completely in, or take them completely out. Of course, the hands are very much a part of the energy and personality he conveys in this pose, so I don't think you should lose them. If you made an intermediate copy, prior to cropping, I recommend you go back and crop just below his lowest hand. Then crop some of the top off--maybe about halfway between the current margin and the top of his head. Try that and see how you like it. Good luck with it!

Patrick
 
Mike, I think you did a great job overall. As an old art director, I will agree that you cropped a little too much off the bottom. It will be less distracting if you leave the hands completely in, or take them completely out. Of course, the hands are very much a part of the energy and personality he conveys in this pose, so I don't think you should lose them. If you made an intermediate copy, prior to cropping, I recommend you go back and crop just below his lowest hand. Then crop some of the top off--maybe about halfway between the current margin and the top of his head. Try that and see how you like it. Good luck with it!

Patrick
No, I didn't save anything. Only the final. I didn't want to spend the time to clean up the horizontal line going across the bottom. Getting lazy.

Goodness his photo has been torn apart. Well not much considering Nathaniel P Banks awful military track record.
It's a broken glass slide. It's not unusual to see these with big pieces missing or a crack or two running completely across the photo.
 
No, I didn't save anything. Only the final. I didn't want to spend the time to clean up the horizontal line going across the bottom. Getting lazy.


It's a broken glass slide. It's not unusual to see these with big pieces missing or a crack or two running completely across the photo.
Thanks for the info, I know that Banks was a terrible general (he was a political general) as shown by his failure at stopping Jackson at Shenandoah or plotting a sucessful naval invasion along the Red River.
 
It's one of the better photos of Banks, IMO, seems to be more ' real ' than so many of his others. It's so worth saving, thank you, Mike- agree with our art director although am happy to see the image looking so good.

Have softened a lot on our men like Banks. They all got on horses, left families, risked death for something they believed in and ( with some exceptions ) did their best, as they knew it. Couldn't all have been for ego, even the ever oleaginous Sickles. This portrait seems to capture a sincere Banks, who saw way too much.
 
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