I wanted to say thanks to everyone that left feedback on my 'Peace at last!' entry. The kid in the crate is my 6 year old son, Joey, and the dog is Blaze our 10 year old best friend and all around terrific family dog. The idea to take that shot was inspired by the fact that my boys genuinely like to play doggie and often use the crate as part of their make believe fun. I took some shots indoors, but the lighting was just not good, so we moved to our back deck. I liked how Blaze looked against the brick. I had some shots of both my boys (Johnny 5) in the crate by themselves with real Milkbones in their mouths and front paws begging that were also cute, but I thought it added so much more to have the dog sitting in front of the crate. The kids were really good sports about helping me out with this one, and we had fun. Having fun is always an important part of my photography. Thanks again...
Maryann (fotomom)
P.S. Blaze doesn't spend any time in that crate...just our younger dog Buddy who hasn't grown out of the chew everything in site stage yet.
Thanks for those that listed mine in their faves and those that left feedback in the gallery. I really appreciate it. I was out of town for the last couple of days so I kind of had to rush to even get an entry in. I'll try to go through today and leave some feedback in the gallery.
Thanks to those who commented on my chess piece entry.
As another Artistator* once put it, "there's a fine line between clever and stupid." I like to think I straddled that line without falling too far to either side.
I have left feedback in the challenge gallery itself. Certainly many worthy images!
And don't worry, I'm done with chess pieces. (and eggs.)
Thanks to all who listed "Water Colors" among their favorites and to those who commented on it in the gallery.
Nothing special was done with the image. This is what it looked like SOOC:
The photo was cropped, levels were adjusted, a few masks were applied to even out the color and lighting. A saturation layer was then added to bring out the reds. Last, the photo was flipped 180 degrees.
divamum - I really enjoyed your story about how you created your shot and also the story behind the stairs. Very entertaining . . . and inviting because now I am curious about the rest of your house!! My brother bought an old farmhouse that was partly updated; he has still done a lot to it and I am always fascinated by the stories of progress (and, sometimes, the lack therof). I bet you have lots of stories too!
Lauren
Thanks! Yes, we do have stories, but the BEST one is that in addition to the absolutely wonderful work on the house, our contractor and his family have become some of our closest friends. Given the horror stories one usually hears about builders, I have a feeling not many people can say that!
Our 1928-built house is tiny: started life as a 525sf bungalow, a previous owner added 200sf to the back of it, and we have now added ~400sf to it by turning the attic into living space ( which typical of the period had a ventilation dormer at the front). Of course, opening up the attic required reinforcing the joists and installing real stairs, which required moving the kitchen, which required... you get the idea.
It was actually a genuinely enjoyable project - I did the design work myself thanks to a shovelware home design program I'd picked up at BB, and then my contractor tweaked my ideas to make them structurally viable. We bought virtually all material components via Craigslist and salvage yards (very limited budget for the project, and had to divert as much of it as possible to labour charges). And now Diva Jr has a great attic bedroom, her old room became my music room and occasional photo studio (small, but useable) and we turned our nightmare kitchen into something not only useable, but beautiful. When I say "nightmare", I mean it: original kitchen was literally a hallway to another room, and only had enough space for a 24" stove and 24" of counter space. Dire. Thanks to hours of playing "what if" with the design software and to Craigslist, it's now a comfortably-sized dedicated space with high-end maple Shaker cabinets and beautiful stone countertop... all acquired at less than 1/3 what even the most basic new materials would have cost us!
Thanks to those who chose mine as one of their favorites - redleash (Lauren) and adbsgicom (Andrew)! And thanks to those that commented in the gallery.
This round really challenged me! I had a lot of ideas that I just couldn't pull off. But the experience I got while shooting this round will pay off in future rounds. So big thanks to Llywellyn!
I have left feedback in the gallery for most of the pictures and will catch up with the rest in the next day or so.
Comments
Maryann (fotomom)
P.S. Blaze doesn't spend any time in that crate...just our younger dog Buddy who hasn't grown out of the chew everything in site stage yet.
http://photos.thomasflock.com
As another Artistator* once put it, "there's a fine line between clever and stupid." I like to think I straddled that line without falling too far to either side.
I have left feedback in the challenge gallery itself. Certainly many worthy images!
And don't worry, I'm done with chess pieces. (and eggs.)
Nothing special was done with the image. This is what it looked like SOOC:
The photo was cropped, levels were adjusted, a few masks were applied to even out the color and lighting. A saturation layer was then added to bring out the reds. Last, the photo was flipped 180 degrees.
http://lrichters.smugmug.com
Lauren Blackwell
www.redleashphoto.com
It was taken in Stockton, New Jersey at a place called Prallsville Mills.
http://lrichters.smugmug.com
Thanks! Yes, we do have stories, but the BEST one is that in addition to the absolutely wonderful work on the house, our contractor and his family have become some of our closest friends. Given the horror stories one usually hears about builders, I have a feeling not many people can say that!
Our 1928-built house is tiny: started life as a 525sf bungalow, a previous owner added 200sf to the back of it, and we have now added ~400sf to it by turning the attic into living space ( which typical of the period had a ventilation dormer at the front). Of course, opening up the attic required reinforcing the joists and installing real stairs, which required moving the kitchen, which required... you get the idea.
It was actually a genuinely enjoyable project - I did the design work myself thanks to a shovelware home design program I'd picked up at BB, and then my contractor tweaked my ideas to make them structurally viable. We bought virtually all material components via Craigslist and salvage yards (very limited budget for the project, and had to divert as much of it as possible to labour charges). And now Diva Jr has a great attic bedroom, her old room became my music room and occasional photo studio (small, but useable) and we turned our nightmare kitchen into something not only useable, but beautiful. When I say "nightmare", I mean it: original kitchen was literally a hallway to another room, and only had enough space for a 24" stove and 24" of counter space. Dire. Thanks to hours of playing "what if" with the design software and to Craigslist, it's now a comfortably-sized dedicated space with high-end maple Shaker cabinets and beautiful stone countertop... all acquired at less than 1/3 what even the most basic new materials would have cost us!
/total tangent
Would love to see more photos of your house. Any on your site or blog?
Lauren Blackwell
www.redleashphoto.com
This round really challenged me! I had a lot of ideas that I just couldn't pull off. But the experience I got while shooting this round will pay off in future rounds. So big thanks to Llywellyn!
I have left feedback in the gallery for most of the pictures and will catch up with the rest in the next day or so.
Congratulations to everyone for a great round!