Chal 47: Self, ginger

ginger_55

Trapped: a self portrait
by ginger
Two photos, blended together,
both taken 9/13/2005

Flyinggina

Wonderful, Ginger. Creative. Evocative. Different!

Dee

You came up with it first
I had a similar thought in mind... oh well

Sandy

So creative, terrific photo, I really like what you have done.

Osprey Whisperer

Nice job Ginger. Interesting approach. I do like it.....but am also curious what you look like. Perhaps it's just my eyes..but I have a hard time picking up/out your face. The eyes are great...really grab my attention. I guess (probably 'cause I don't know you) I'd like to have an easier time seeing more of your face. Just a personal thing...and really doesn't detract from a nice image. Guess I'm also wondering how a multiple exposure (is this how you did it?) differs from a good bit of photoshop magic? Did you mix two shots in photoshop? Just curious because of my last image (camera with face in viewfinder). Sort of got the feeling because I combined two photos of mine...in PS..that that might be a "no no" for the "challenge". Guess I better go back and reread the rules. Cool shot though.

BMP

ginger_55

Dee, you were going to do something like this? Well, you still can. I am sorry, I was just staring at the backyard, noticed the chair, took some photos with the bush as the backdrop, then thought I might use the bush, so I remembered to take photos of it, too. Actually, it is the first time I have thought of something like this ahead of time and photographed for it. But it was not planned far in advance.

I have been all slumped, have to take my dog to the vet, have to spend my photography/book money on that, so I was all down. And w/ the darn storm, nothing much to photograph or do, so I really do/did feel trapped.

Thanks for stopping all of you: Gina, Dee, Sandy, and Birdman. Yes, you can combine two photos. I can show you the one of just me, but it is crummy: they all are, I am slumped. Oh, combining two photos is chancy, but you can do it. I just did what I wanted.

ginger

ginger_55

Is this better or worse????








OK, now I really don't know which is better? I tried to show more of me, but I don't want to lose the effect of "trapped".............????

ginger

ginger_55

sometimes this helps see them together

wholenewlight

ginger_55 wrote:

OK, now I really don't know which is better? I tried to show more of me, but I don't want to lose the effect of "trapped".............????

ginger

The first one is definately better. The second one loses the "mystery". I really, really like the first shot. Very creative. Did I say I liked the first one?

ginger_55

wholenewlight wrote:

The first one is definately better. The second one loses the "mystery". I really, really like the first shot. Very creative. Did I say I liked the first one?

John, by "the first one", you are talking about the darker one, right???

I confused myself by the way I posted the little things.

thanks for commenting.

if you get back, please clarify......

I agree on the mystery, I just wonder if that is a portrait..........it is about as much of me as is functioning right now, so it is accurate.

ginger

Osprey Whisperer

Whole different feel...when you reduced them. I kind of like the 2nd one (reduced versions). Many photos/paintings/art take on a whole different look/feel /effect with a different size.

I guess the later seems a bit washed out ....or too bright/intense/harsh for my liking. Just my feeling. That's the great thing about art/photography/sculpture etc. It's so subjective. Hey...if you are happy with it...that's what's important. Unless you want to sell it.....make money....have steady customers and be able to afford food.. Starving artists...or rich design sluts. Shame on me. **industrial designer**

Nice job, Ginger. Think you are on the right track.

Cheers

BMP

wholenewlight

ginger_55 wrote:

John, by "the first one", you are talking about the darker one, right???

I confused myself by the way I posted the little things.

thanks for commenting.

if you get back, please clarify......

I agree on the mystery, I just wonder if that is a portrait..........it is about as much of me as is functioning right now, so it is accurate.

ginger

The darker one is my choice - and especially after reading your explaination about the storm blues, dog's vet trip, etc - great "trapped" shot.

Nikolai

Wow!
Nice job! Very artisic!
And I like this much more than a lighter version you posted later.. Some enigma has been lost in the latter..
WTG!

ginger_55

Thanks, Mike, John and Nik, that is a big help!

ginger

Dee

A combination
I like the darkness of the original background, but I like seeing more of your face, just not as much when you do your mask keep the leaves dark and just brush a "hole" for your face to show through and lower the opacity on the face layer/mask...

I'd almost like just a hint of color or more contrast in the background too. I think you've got a winner here!

behr655

I like the first one also. Very nice.


Bear

ginger_55

Dee wrote:

I like the darkness of the original background, but I like seeing more of your face, just not as much when you do your mask keep the leaves dark and just brush a "hole" for your face to show through and lower the opacity on the face layer/mask...

I'd almost like just a hint of color or more contrast in the background too. I think you've got a winner here!

Hey, Dee, why don't you do yours, too. Sounds like you have some good ideas.

It is difficult for me to realize another artist's vision. I might play with this more, but I don't think it will get better.

What I like most about my dark one is that the eyes are the portrait, basically, with that amt of blk/white, I could get the eyes just like I wanted them.

I am not very good with layers. I don't really know how to do a mask, I did use one here, but in the most basic of ways.

ginger (you can still do one. Would be interesting to see one with some color in it.)

Osprey Whisperer

Excellent entry Ginger. Good luck.


BMP

Osprey Whisperer

Bird Man Photographer wrote:

Excellent entry Ginger. Good luck.


BMP

I take that back....now....!!! **wink wink**

Hope you had that coffee.

MM

ginger_55

I cannot do multiple exposures.

If I could learn, now is not the time.

Anything I had up there, or have posted here, it is not up
to what can/should be done.

I am sorry,

good luck, everyone.

ginger

ginger_55

somehow I don't think this is what anyone had in mind.



Hey, an interesting thing about these shots, they were not photoshopped at all, except for the cropping. I had to find nine shots from the other day that I might "like", bring them up and try to see if I could get them together.

No curves, no sat, no anything on the photos, just as brought up from auto RAW, put on this blank sheet of paper IN photoshop (they were cropped to fit with the rectangle), then they were all turned blk and white. The recipe is in Scott Kelby's CS2 book. But for those people who don't think photos should
be photoshopped, these are as "raw" as one is going to get.

Furthermore, so am I. No makeup whatsoever, dirty hair, the end of a very bad week. Not exactly what I wanted to post, but I decided to try Kelby's thing.................

Then I slept on my hair wrong last night, so I am back to "the photograph" up there.

ginger

Whatever date I had down for the other photo I did, this is part of that. No exif even came down on this, but they were all taken in the same place, same way, camera with 17mm, grey skies gave light w/o shadows, etc.

NO PS, not that I have ever thought that was something to be proud of.

Flyinggina

Wow, Ginger. You are fearless. I am particularly drawn to the eyes -- the way you are looking directly at the viewer in most of the shots - daring us to look back. As I scan the individual pictures, I cannot escape the feeling that your eyes are trying to tell me something. Are you sad, angry, weary? Without the title, the series does not say "trapped" to me, but your choice of that title suggests that you are feeling all of the above and more. I like this picture a lot.

Va

wholenewlight

ginger_55 wrote:

Furthermore, so am I. No makeup whatsoever, dirty hair, the end of a very bad week. Not exactly what I wanted to post, but I decided to try Kelby's thing.................

Then I slept on my hair wrong last night, so I am back to "the photograph" up there.

ginger

Whatever date I had down for the other photo I did, this is part of that. No exif even came down on this, but they were all taken in the same place, same way, camera with 17mm, grey skies gave light w/o shadows, etc.

NO PS, not that I have ever thought that was something to be proud of.

Pretty amazing shot(s), Ginger. I still like your first attempt (darker one) but this is a very powerful image. It shows a lot of personality and emotion. I might like the title and border a little smaller (less real estate in the image). You should be proud of this creation!

SnapHappy

Ginger I liked your first effort but I love the latest one.
Great picture's.

I find myself going through each one in order, sort of like an animation and wondering all the time how you are feeling at that time. Once I'm at the end of the seQuence my eye returns to number 1 and then I read through them again. Much like many of your pictures I have seen, truly impressive.

ginger_55

Thank you all. I was embarrassed to show those photos: very difficult way to let the world see me. I was feeling quite trapped by circumstances, very basic and RAW. Very bad week.

But I took the leaves off, so to speak. Went to all the work to do this, then did not save the basic shot with no type, so I don't know how to change any of it.

Took me til 2 AM, then my PC wouldn't work, I was afraid that I had killed the PC. So I stayed up the rest of the night trying to fix it, about 3 hrs sleep, and I have a dentist appt this AM.

My PC worked fine with the AM, think either Comcast or AOL goes down for awhile at night. I obsess.

ginger

PossumCorner

Not trapped, re-grouping
Ginger you don't obsess, you just say how it is. Those are gutsy portraits, I'm the same age as you, look older (self inflicted weathering) and am still ticked off that I don't look 20 years younger, talk about an ego. I'll work on overcoming it now, bit late for this round though.


Anyway how is your dog, which of them is it? And was it an allergy or sarcoptic or just a nervous reaction from the storms? Envy you going to the dentist, I sure need to, but we just picked up the new camera today, a Panasonic FZ20 to keep the D70 company, so dentist funds all gone.