#25 - The Curious Camel - Transition...
A strong, emotive image, allowing the viewer to share an intimate moment, lovely soft light and technically very strong.
THANK YOU everyone who chose "The Abyss" as one of their top 10 or even less in some cases. I am blown away at the response that it has received so far!
And Thank you Emily for your Glowing feedback!
This has been one of my favorite rounds so far.
Here is my wheel of picks... Round and round she goes where she stops no one knows!
Good Luck to the finalists!
wheel of favorites...haha
btw, again you have blown us away with your amazing images!!!!
im still boggled by the "hand collector" for its WOW factor, and this one is just like that in the Wow factor.
THANK YOU everyone who chose "The Abyss" as one of their top 10 or even less in some cases. I am blown away at the response that it has received so far!
Good Luck to the finalists!
Thanks for including my pic in your wheel of favorites.
Speaking of blown away, that's precisely what "The Abyss" did to me when I first laid eyes on it.
Thank you pemmet, dlplumer, richtersl, and WomanWithACamera for including mine your top picks (Is there a pun there? ). This was an incredibly difficult challenge and I amazed at the entries. I haven't had time to narrow down my list yet but hopefully I'll get to it this evening. Good luck to all!
Your pic has to be the creepiest one I think I've ever seen, but it's a "good" creepy and very well done.
Your pic has to be the creepiest one I think I've ever seen, but it's a "good" creepy and very well done.
Thank you again! This was my first attempt at a "creepy" photo and i found it kind of disturbing. Here is another that I liked better for the theme but you couldn't see the baby's head. As creepy as it is, you would have died laughing while watching me try to catch a wind-blown lightstand/umbrella, set the self-timer on the camera, and get in position while tripping over headstones because I couldn't see thru my mask in the dark. I hope no one was watching because they would have thought I was a lunatic.
I loved your ghost shot. The colors and the blur had an ethereal quality! Fantastic!!!!!!!
#5 - VelvtRide - Anguish
Good to see a contemporary take on the theme, made me think about dreams, aspirations, regrets and I liked the visual balance in this
composition.
Thank you so much for the feedback! It was fun photographing my dad - he was a ham!
39. Travis - A Mother's Nightmare: The Baby Collector
Supremely creepy, does what every good photograph should do, engages the viewer in an emotional manner, pulls you in and makes you think, very
strong stuff.
Thank you thebigsky! I really appreciate the comments. Hope the family is feeling better.
thank you Charlie Bigsky for the wonderful words! it is very encouraging to me!! this image was from a four hour session (plus 6hrs round trip on the road) and it was a fairly difficult session for me.
i got two keepers from this outing and this was one. the only way i could figure out how to express myself with this theme was to use time lapse/ long expo....the moonlight was such a bonus.(hard to set my expo, but i finally got it!)
Thanks Emily for selecting my image as a finalist.
I have been on a road trip for the majority of the time the challenge was happening. Being in the Montana and yellowstone area didn't seem to offer an opurtunity for an image until I downloaded these from a cold morning shoot along the Bitterroot River. I was struck immediately with the dream like quality of several images.
There are so many great images in this challenge, it is an honor to be here among them.
Thank you again! This was my first attempt at a "creepy" photo and i found it kind of disturbing. Here is another that I liked better for the theme but you couldn't see the baby's head. As creepy as it is, you would have died laughing while watching me try to catch a wind-blown lightstand/umbrella, set the self-timer on the camera, and get in position while tripping over headstones because I couldn't see thru my mask in the dark. I hope no one was watching because they would have thought I was a lunatic.
Slight tangent (although I don't think too irrelevant): all kidding aside, the urgency involved in you trying to GET the picture probably contributes to the sense of creepiness and urgency IN the picture; I think the camera really does pick up "truth" of emotion and intention. I'm no method actress (British-trained, so totally different approach to acting and stagecraft), but I think this is the reason that the whole method thing produced so many successful *film* actors and performances. The camera sees and senses real emotion differently. And you had that in spades!! Congrats to you.
Add me to the chorus of folks saying, "gaWOW":jawdrop to that amazing image. Simultaneously disturbing and beautiful, and I find myself going back and looking at it again and again. Care to share a behind-the-scenes at some point?
Aaron Nelson - yours was one of the images that I LOVED, but I just couldn't get it close enough to my understanding of the poem. But I really, really love it! The stars are quite breathtaking. Congratulations!!
And, again, congrats to all the finalists... for that matter, to everybody who entered. Some truly amazing images which are for sure making this n00b think hard, and even more keen to learn how to do some of this stuff! Watching these images develop (as it were) and hearing everybody else's responses to them is just SO darned cool. I love this place!
Slight tangent (although I don't think too irrelevant): all kidding aside, the urgency involved in you trying to GET the picture probably contributes to the sense of creepiness and urgency IN the picture; I think the camera really does pick up "truth" of emotion and intention. I'm no method actress (British-trained, so totally different approach to acting and stagecraft), but I think this is the reason that the whole method thing produced so many successful *film* actors and performances. The camera sees and senses real emotion differently. And you had that in spades!! Congrats to you.
And I am so NOT the actor Thank you for your take on it. I'm glad that it actually did capture the emotion of the moment. It means a lot to hear you say that.
Aaron Nelson - yours was one of the images that I LOVED, but I just couldn't get it close enough to my understanding of the poem. But I really, really love it! The stars are quite breathtaking. Congratulations!!
ive been trying to think of how to reply properly ...
first ofcourse thank you for the praise...!
as for not understanding my interpretation of the poam and my photography towards it?... i dont know if it would be the same for every person, i just put it out there for people to see themselves....
my personal interpretaion goes kinda like this:
bryce canyon amazes me.
its been there before my time and will be there after my time.
the poem strongly suggested saying goodbye to me.
bryce canyon is so unique i feel like its alive and once you meet it becomes apart of us somehow.
while i dream each night they are there standing.
so night photography, long expo for effect, and surprisingly perfect moon light is what came out of it....
if you dont connect with someones interpretation dont hesitate to ask, im sure we all like to talk about our entry.
You're lucky to have that in your "back yard". There's nothing like that on the east coast.
It took a while for it to dawn on me that the light came from the moon. What a cool effect! I think your exif said the exposure was like 460 some-odd seconds. Right? I just remember being amazed at the number. How do you determine the correct exposure length? Trial and error?
Sherstone:
... Care to share a behind-the-scenes at some point?
First of all Thank you!
In reply to your question about sharing a behind the scenes. Yes I would be glad too, but I will wait until after the voting is done so as not to distract from that.
i know, dont hold it against me (but 6hrs round trip does not feel like its in my back yard)
im sure there is a corrct way to do long expo...i just dont know what it is.
in my case yes trial and error. first couple underexposed, next was over...so i just did the math....this one needed just a hint of expo slider and bump it up a little in ACR...
the main problem with all this is you take the exposure for say 7 minutes, you then need to wait 7 minutes for the camera to do "Noise Reduction"
so you can see that using my method can take hours....
im still learning
i know, dont hold it against me (but 6hrs round trip does not feel like its in my back yard)
im sure there is a corrct way to do long expo...i just dont know what it is.
in my case yes trial and error. first couple underexposed, next was over...so i just did the math....this one needed just a hint of expo slider and bump it up a little in ACR...
the main problem with all this is you take the exposure for say 7 minutes, you then need to wait 7 minutes for the camera to do "Noise Reduction"
so you can see that using my method can take hours....
im still learning
Yeah, I can see where that could get REALLY time-consuming.
Bryce Canyon is a 6 hour round trip for you? And then you had to sit there in the dark waiting for your camera to finish doing its thing? Holy cow! :eek1
Behind the scenes of "The Abyss"
I have had several requests to do a behind the scenes of "The Abyss"
so here it goes.
My initial thoughts on the poem were of great loss and despair and an overwhelming feeling of no control over the inevitable fall into death or an abyss of no return. Pretty much in the first few times of reading the poem an image of a hand grasping onto life, holding it above an abyss of water came to me. I developed the image further in my mind imagining other "loved ones" grasping onto the hands fingers holding on for dear life before being engulfed by the gaping maw, this idea proved to be a little to busy and goofy looking so I ended up staying with simple and concise.
Photographing the hand and "life" the fetal position were both the easy part they were done in studio the fetal position was shot from atop a ladder while the model was laying on the floor, lit with one strobe and a 3'x4' soft box. The hand was shot with one strobe and a 42" shoot through umbrella hung from above.
The harder part was to use photographs to represent a gaping abyss of water, for this I used a technique that is similar to what was used in earlier challenges by pyroPrints.com in LPS Semi Final #4. http://www.digitalgrin.com/showpost.php?p=736479&postcount=7
I have been aware of the Polar coordinate filter and what it can do for many years but have never had the opportunity to use it to create an image other than a planet before.
The technique is quite simple you start out with a wide aspect ratio image like this:
Then to make it even longer you mirror it and place it beside itself and finally you make the image square by making the height the same as the width. In this case I ended up with a 7700x7700 pixel image like this:
You then apply a Filter/Distort/Polar Coordinates, filter to the image to come up with this:
This and several other breaking waves were used in building the basis of a water abyss, successive smaller sizes and layers of opacity were used to simulated a never ending tunnel of ocean. This combined with other elements like kelp and rocks created this intermediate version:
At this point I was 80% happy with the look of the abyss but something was missing it did not have a 3D enough look for me to be 100% satisfied with it. So I decided to go out and buy a block of ice and run hot water through the block to create a tunnel that has irregular edges.
This is the result of the Ice tunnel and combining it with the water tunnel:
The effect is subtle but it added enough realism to it to make me happy.
The next step was to add even more depth and symbolism to the image by having even more water and rocks that come rushing out of the abyss towards the viewer. I used a tidal crevice to represent this:
Lastly I felt that the tunnel of water resembled a mouth trying to swallow up anything near it. To add to the symbolism and imagery I then added some of the same washed up and tangled kelp use in the base image to give the impression of evil eyes at the top of the frame:
The final image had come together and it has reached my minds eye about 80%, The other elements that I imagined like a full moon and the hanging people were cool in my head but looked cartoonish and goofy in application. The imaginary evolution had solidified into a reality.
You can see all the pictures used in the creation here
questions are welcome.
Thank you once again everyone for your interest and support.
I love participating in these challenges, it pushes me to create and learn new things and its also a heck of a lot of fun!
Thank you once again everyone for your interest and support.
I love participating in these challenges, it pushes me to create and learn new things and its also a heck of a lot of fun!
sherstone, I have had several requests to do a behind the scenes of "The Abyss"
so here it goes.
Sean, I think I am about 13 years older than you. Having said that I'd love to have your imagination, skill, and patience you have when I grow up. You Rock!!!
Comments
Thank you so much.
gail
btw, again you have blown us away with your amazing images!!!!
im still boggled by the "hand collector" for its WOW factor, and this one is just like that in the Wow factor.
Thanks for including my pic in your wheel of favorites.
Speaking of blown away, that's precisely what "The Abyss" did to me when I first laid eyes on it.
http://lrichters.smugmug.com
Your pic has to be the creepiest one I think I've ever seen, but it's a "good" creepy and very well done.
http://lrichters.smugmug.com
Thank you again! This was my first attempt at a "creepy" photo and i found it kind of disturbing. Here is another that I liked better for the theme but you couldn't see the baby's head. As creepy as it is, you would have died laughing while watching me try to catch a wind-blown lightstand/umbrella, set the self-timer on the camera, and get in position while tripping over headstones because I couldn't see thru my mask in the dark. I hope no one was watching because they would have thought I was a lunatic.
I loved your ghost shot. The colors and the blur had an ethereal quality! Fantastic!!!!!!!
My Images | My Lessons Learned and Other Adventures
Thank you so much for the feedback! It was fun photographing my dad - he was a ham!
Thank you thebigsky! I really appreciate the comments. Hope the family is feeling better.
My Images | My Lessons Learned and Other Adventures
i got two keepers from this outing and this was one. the only way i could figure out how to express myself with this theme was to use time lapse/ long expo....the moonlight was such a bonus.(hard to set my expo, but i finally got it!)
I have been on a road trip for the majority of the time the challenge was happening. Being in the Montana and yellowstone area didn't seem to offer an opurtunity for an image until I downloaded these from a cold morning shoot along the Bitterroot River. I was struck immediately with the dream like quality of several images.
There are so many great images in this challenge, it is an honor to be here among them.
regards,
P
Thank you!
AaronNelson & richtersl thank you so much for your kind words.
Slight tangent (although I don't think too irrelevant): all kidding aside, the urgency involved in you trying to GET the picture probably contributes to the sense of creepiness and urgency IN the picture; I think the camera really does pick up "truth" of emotion and intention. I'm no method actress (British-trained, so totally different approach to acting and stagecraft), but I think this is the reason that the whole method thing produced so many successful *film* actors and performances. The camera sees and senses real emotion differently. And you had that in spades!!
Add me to the chorus of folks saying, "gaWOW":jawdrop to that amazing image. Simultaneously disturbing and beautiful, and I find myself going back and looking at it again and again. Care to share a behind-the-scenes at some point?
And, again, congrats to all the finalists... for that matter, to everybody who entered. Some truly amazing images which are for sure making this n00b think hard, and even more keen to learn how to do some of this stuff! Watching these images develop (as it were) and hearing everybody else's responses to them is just SO darned cool. I love this place!
And I am so NOT the actor
My Images | My Lessons Learned and Other Adventures
Here is my top ten, a bit late..
http://precisephoto.ca
— Kevin
My Site, My Book
peace,gail
ive been trying to think of how to reply properly ...
first ofcourse thank you for the praise...!
as for not understanding my interpretation of the poam and my photography towards it?... i dont know if it would be the same for every person, i just put it out there for people to see themselves....
my personal interpretaion goes kinda like this:
bryce canyon amazes me.
its been there before my time and will be there after my time.
the poem strongly suggested saying goodbye to me.
bryce canyon is so unique i feel like its alive and once you meet it becomes apart of us somehow.
while i dream each night they are there standing.
so night photography, long expo for effect, and surprisingly perfect moon light is what came out of it....
if you dont connect with someones interpretation dont hesitate to ask, im sure we all like to talk about our entry.
It took a while for it to dawn on me that the light came from the moon. What a cool effect! I think your exif said the exposure was like 460 some-odd seconds. Right? I just remember being amazed at the number. How do you determine the correct exposure length? Trial and error?
http://lrichters.smugmug.com
First of all Thank you!
In reply to your question about sharing a behind the scenes. Yes I would be glad too, but I will wait until after the voting is done so as not to distract from that.
im sure there is a corrct way to do long expo...i just dont know what it is.
in my case yes trial and error. first couple underexposed, next was over...so i just did the math....this one needed just a hint of expo slider and bump it up a little in ACR...
the main problem with all this is you take the exposure for say 7 minutes, you then need to wait 7 minutes for the camera to do "Noise Reduction"
so you can see that using my method can take hours....
im still learning
Yeah, I can see where that could get REALLY time-consuming.
Bryce Canyon is a 6 hour round trip for you? And then you had to sit there in the dark waiting for your camera to finish doing its thing? Holy cow! :eek1
http://lrichters.smugmug.com
i even got a new cd for the adventure....(metallica for the curious):D
I have had several requests to do a behind the scenes of "The Abyss"
so here it goes.
My initial thoughts on the poem were of great loss and despair and an overwhelming feeling of no control over the inevitable fall into death or an abyss of no return. Pretty much in the first few times of reading the poem an image of a hand grasping onto life, holding it above an abyss of water came to me. I developed the image further in my mind imagining other "loved ones" grasping onto the hands fingers holding on for dear life before being engulfed by the gaping maw, this idea proved to be a little to busy and goofy looking so I ended up staying with simple and concise.
Photographing the hand and "life" the fetal position were both the easy part they were done in studio the fetal position was shot from atop a ladder while the model was laying on the floor, lit with one strobe and a 3'x4' soft box. The hand was shot with one strobe and a 42" shoot through umbrella hung from above.
The harder part was to use photographs to represent a gaping abyss of water, for this I used a technique that is similar to what was used in earlier challenges by pyroPrints.com in LPS Semi Final #4.
http://www.digitalgrin.com/showpost.php?p=736479&postcount=7
I have been aware of the Polar coordinate filter and what it can do for many years but have never had the opportunity to use it to create an image other than a planet before.
The technique is quite simple you start out with a wide aspect ratio image like this:
Then to make it even longer you mirror it and place it beside itself and finally you make the image square by making the height the same as the width. In this case I ended up with a 7700x7700 pixel image like this:
You then apply a Filter/Distort/Polar Coordinates, filter to the image to come up with this:
This and several other breaking waves were used in building the basis of a water abyss, successive smaller sizes and layers of opacity were used to simulated a never ending tunnel of ocean. This combined with other elements like kelp and rocks created this intermediate version:
At this point I was 80% happy with the look of the abyss but something was missing it did not have a 3D enough look for me to be 100% satisfied with it. So I decided to go out and buy a block of ice and run hot water through the block to create a tunnel that has irregular edges.
This is the result of the Ice tunnel and combining it with the water tunnel:
The effect is subtle but it added enough realism to it to make me happy.
The next step was to add even more depth and symbolism to the image by having even more water and rocks that come rushing out of the abyss towards the viewer. I used a tidal crevice to represent this:
Lastly I felt that the tunnel of water resembled a mouth trying to swallow up anything near it. To add to the symbolism and imagery I then added some of the same washed up and tangled kelp use in the base image to give the impression of evil eyes at the top of the frame:
The final image had come together and it has reached my minds eye about 80%, The other elements that I imagined like a full moon and the hanging people were cool in my head but looked cartoonish and goofy in application. The imaginary evolution had solidified into a reality.
You can see all the pictures used in the creation here
questions are welcome.
Thank you once again everyone for your interest and support.
I love participating in these challenges, it pushes me to create and learn new things and its also a heck of a lot of fun!
WOW!
Emily, can we please go back to a SOOTC challenge
Very impressive Sherstone. Thanks for sharing
http://danielplumer.com/
Facebook Fan Page
so sweet, thank you for the lookie
Sean, I think I am about 13 years older than you. Having said that I'd love to have your imagination, skill, and patience you have when I grow up. You Rock!!!
peace, g