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The Dressing Down
2nd PlaceThe Dressing Down
vawendy


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Photograph Becomes a Painting (Expert Editing)
Collection: 2013 Challenge shots
Camera: Canon EOS-7D
Lens: Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM
Date: May 15, 2013
Date Uploaded: May 15, 2013

[May. 23rd, 2013 10:24:07 PM]

This was so much fun to do!! I live just a few minutes away from Jamestown Settlement, but I really haven't done much shooting there. It just hasn't been my thing. But in looking through Robert Llewellyn's Jamestown work, I thought it would be a fun place to explore.

Anyway, as I was walking through the old fork area, I walked into an old building, and there was a chicken!! The most wonderful chicken! The lighting in the room was great, and the chicken was... well... wonderful!! So I took pictures of the chicken for awhile.

(no... he wasn't on the table. He was on the floor, back in the corner.)

Then I remembered the guy outside of the fort. He was wonderful, too!

I went and asked the guy if he'd come in the fort and sit at the table because I wanted him to stare at the chicken.

Well, I explained it a little bit better to him than I'm explaining it to you, but I'll keep going anyway...

So my idea was to have him sitting at the table and just having a stare down with the chicken, it was the guy that stuck out his finger like he was scolding the chicken.

It was perfect!! It was wonderful!!

I had a guy pointing at nothing in a great room with neat lighting.

And a chicken in the corner.

So he shooed the chicken out of the corner in front of the table, which was great, because the lighting was pretty much the same on the chicken on the floor as it would be on the table, and I happily went home.

I cut my chicken out, put him up on the table, and realized I had absolutely no idea how large a chicken should be!! I think he's a little larger than normal, but no one really commented on my chicken with a glandular condition, so I think I got away with it.

However...

Luckily...

after I went back to look at what a chicken shadow should look like (direction, intensity, etc...)

I realized that a chicken should have a tail!!

You see that dark part sticking up from the chicken? My chicken kinda didn't have that dark part at first... I kinda missed cutting out that part, because it blended into the original background... so he had a short, non existant type of tail.

(yes -- I know my chicken should be a she. Be he wants to be a he!)

Well, I put his tail back on, created a shadow and a bit of a reflection and started to work on the painting as a whole. There is an oil painting filter on this -- although I like it better without, and you can't really tell at 800 pixels, so I don't know why I bothered. The biggest thing was working with the lighting. The light from the window and the door just had to be brought down significantly. Each time I thought it was brought down enough, I brought it down even more. There's definitely toning on this -- but mostly just warming. It was already quite warm, but the shadows, and the light were rather blueish, so that was warmed significantly.

Ok -- that's about it. Except the fact that I really love this, and I printed out a copy to bring back for the chicken and some corn to bring back for the guy. :)

Thanks for all the comments!!

Statistics
Place: 2 out of 102
Avg (all users): 7.6695
Avg (commenters): 8.7895
Avg (participants): 7.2115
Avg (non-participants): 8.0303
Views since voting: 4639
Views during voting: 357
Votes: 118
Comments: 52
Favorites: 7 (view)

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AuthorThread
 08/16/2019 03:22:49 PM
I'm back to look at this masterpiece again... so fun.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/30/2013 07:24:07 AM
This is just awesome!!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/29/2013 10:00:06 AM
My favorite! I could stare at this picture for hours. There is a whole story behind this, that each viewer can imagine in their own minds. While mostly real, this picture is exactly like a painting. Love the colors, love the theme, love the setting. I also really enjoyed reading your "tale"!! Congrats to you, to the guy and to the chicken! I must say, I'd like to have a print of this too, and frame it!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/29/2013 07:56:27 AM
OMG Wendy, you did good. Thanks for the adventurous tale around it.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/28/2013 03:25:36 PM
Brilliant story and brilliant image, Wendy. Congrats on your well deserved ribbon.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/28/2013 01:10:13 PM
happy birthday lydiatoo
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/28/2013 12:43:35 PM
OMG.

The story is almost as good as the photo. Or maybe better. Love. It.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/26/2013 12:29:10 PM
I liked this. Seven from me.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/26/2013 05:24:25 AM
Well done Wendy, if I'd have voted :-( this would have been top for me.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/25/2013 08:23:03 AM
So glad it ribboned, bc it deserved to. Love the story, you seem to have some amazing experiences happen to you whilst your taking these images, It's great being a photographer getting out there meeting people, makes you more confident I feel. What a nice man to do that for you, he looks like a nice gentleman, well done!

As for the chook you did a great job, all that mention about the shadow... I don't even look at those sorts of things, goes to show how little I know!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/24/2013 08:30:21 PM
I love the story, too! Thanks, Wendy!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/24/2013 08:12:54 PM
This is lovely Wendy! Great tones and subjects!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/24/2013 06:11:36 PM
this is pretty brilliant Wendy
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/24/2013 11:25:06 AM
Wonderful humor, Wendy. Wonderful story. Congrats on the ribbon
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/24/2013 10:48:09 AM
Fab! I'm sure the hen is going to love the photo; do tell us what the man's reaction was to you presenting him with a bag of corn :P
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/24/2013 10:23:12 AM
Congrats on the Red!!! This has all the mood, period time, and lighting (absolutely love the light) of paintings by the Old World Masters such as Rembrandt and others of that era. I also love the humor of the piece where this gent is talking down to this 'mother hen'.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/24/2013 08:34:52 AM
Yea!!! Congrats on the ribbon!!! As usually you stellar efforts have paid off!!! Yea!!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/24/2013 05:15:56 AM
Congratulations,great image.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/24/2013 03:18:18 AM
one of my favorites of the challenge, great work! congrats on the red!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/24/2013 03:02:32 AM
Congrats Wendy, great choice for the location and good work!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/24/2013 02:53:10 AM
Very amusing and brilliant creation!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/24/2013 02:00:46 AM
You rocked this one, Wendy! Congrats!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/24/2013 01:21:37 AM
Congrats on the red, Wendy. Superb piece of art. And the chicken is much better off being dressed down than just being dressed.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/24/2013 01:14:06 AM
congrats Wendy :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/24/2013 12:59:57 AM
Robert Llewellyn is smiling somewhere in Va. or maybe not. He's got competition now. Grats on the ribbon.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/24/2013 12:52:16 AM
Cool. A profile shot. (It's also a bimodal distribution in a funky way.)

  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/24/2013 12:34:24 AM
Crazy good.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/24/2013 12:26:48 AM
Congrats, was my favourite of the bunch, though it was a tough choice, but well done.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/24/2013 12:12:47 AM
I strongly suspected this might be yours :-) Old Master city! Congrats!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
05/23/2013 10:56:58 PM
Wonderful art; not as painterly as some, but a great image all the same. Interested in the story behind it. Good luck.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/23/2013 09:54:04 PM
This is marvellous! A truly beautiful work of art.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/23/2013 09:46:39 PM
Great work - very much like an old Dutch masterpiece.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/23/2013 02:55:43 PM
amazing, I love it
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/23/2013 11:11:43 AM
I admire the use of light in this shot, to illuminate the tableau in a way that effectively counters the usual flattening effect of photography. What I mean to say: this looks just like a Old Master. And it's amusing! Good job.

Here is a Flying Pig HM for Chiaroscuro with a camera

Check out The Flying Pig thread for more.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/23/2013 08:56:41 AM
Top 3, this how so much that works so well together.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/22/2013 10:25:45 PM
This is an amazing photo--I hope it's not getting too many "this doesn't look like a painting" comments or lowball scores for it. I can totally see this as a painting. Bumping to 9.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/20/2013 03:46:29 PM
wonderful!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/20/2013 12:02:21 PM
Another top tenner in my eyes.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/20/2013 09:05:09 AM
I just love this scene, the lighting, the old shack, the gentleman and of course who can not love that chook. Wonderful job on the PP. My eye is drawn to the door to the right, it really looks painterly, not that the other bits don't but that part especially does. This really has the WOW factor, without over using the paint filters, which can look a little clumsy and cheapen an image.

I want to know more about the scene, look forward to the notes, has to be the winner or at least top 3. 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/20/2013 06:49:07 AM
Love the atmosphere and great composition and colors - looks like something one of the old masters could have painted.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/19/2013 04:23:29 PM
I really, really love the setup. Great work!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/19/2013 02:13:38 PM
Great work!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/19/2013 05:49:37 AM
Very well done. I love the personality emanating from this "painting".
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/18/2013 07:05:13 PM
love this, very funny situation, great colors and contrast.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/18/2013 08:45:23 AM
This is absolutely stunning. Every little detail is perfect for this painting style.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/17/2013 09:48:17 PM
Ha! Brilliant! 9
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/17/2013 03:28:44 PM
This makes me laugh. The intensity of the farmer is great. The lighting and colors are wonderful. Great job!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/17/2013 12:51:29 PM
love this!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/17/2013 12:33:50 PM
Fabulous!!!! Love the stare-down
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/17/2013 03:38:49 AM
Brilliant. Perfect original image and painterly application. The diaspora in this challenge is very wide. So many interpretations of the effect, tactile portrayal of paint.
The lighting here is almost like erm light painting, only those elements that needed it were lit. I'd hazard a guess this is Johanna's "Pets and their Owners" style image. Whomsoever it is it is Very Very Good.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/17/2013 01:34:19 AM
Where do you find these funny dressed people?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/17/2013 12:30:05 AM
Aaah this is great...like a real master....love the lighting and the look and the feel of this. Superbly done. 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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