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To Kill A Mockingbird
To Kill A Mockingbird
mefnj


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Classic Novels (Advanced Editing VII)
Camera: Nikon D90
Lens: Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II
Location: New Jersey
Date: Oct 12, 2013
Aperture: 8.0
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/6
Date Uploaded: Oct 13, 2013

N/A

Statistics
Place: 11 out of 86
Avg (all users): 6.4571
Avg (commenters): 7.4500
Avg (participants): 6.4286
Avg (non-participants): 6.4762
Views since voting: 926
Views during voting: 254
Votes: 105
Comments: 22
Favorites: 1 (view)


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AuthorThread
10/23/2013 12:20:11 AM
Thanks to all the commenters. I must admit that I drew mainly on the novel title as opposed to any deeper meaning from the storyline... But if you saw it, then I guess that is "art" being art.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
10/22/2013 11:12:02 PM
A hauntingly beautiful memento mori. The title of the novel derives from an old folk wisdom that it is immoral to kill a mockingbird because they do nothing but sing and bring goodness to our lives. Atticus says as much in one of his monologues to Scout. And this is a central theme in the book, because there are individuals in the town, especially Boo, who are feared and reviled and mocked when all they want to do, is good.

As such, I take the imagery here to be sort of a post-mockingbird conceit, as it were, a commentary on how we've gone and sucked all the beauty and good out of life in our post-modern times. It's MY conceit of course: no reason it has to be yours. But it ties the whole thing together fabulously for me, and I have no technical nits to pick, being a lover of photographing dead things on slate myself.

9 from me.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
10/22/2013 11:03:54 PM
Unfortunately this specimen looks more like a crow or maybe even a Robin so with that being said I will have to give you a 3 for effort.

JK it doesnt matter what kind of bird it is :) 6
  Photographer found comment helpful.
10/22/2013 08:04:16 PM
Works well with the title.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
10/22/2013 05:26:13 PM
For such an iconic novel and familiar story, it is painful to see it interpreted or "inspired" in this way. The book itself is the antithesis of this image insofar as the message is to "not kill a mockingbird". On the other hand, the image is technically and even artistically well done with excellent tonality and details including its gritty texture. The processing to include some arty vignetting is quite well done. If this were somehow more sympathetic to the book, I could feel comfortable with giving a 6 or maybe better. But for this topic only a 5.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
10/22/2013 11:11:02 AM
graphic.
i don't like the very graphic nature, but i appreciate that this is part of life and happens to us all. art is also about pushing peoples boundries of acceptability, to make them see more than the surface.
a 6 from me for that.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
10/22/2013 12:51:16 AM
Haunting, tragic, splendid. Much like the novel
  Photographer found comment helpful.
10/21/2013 11:36:03 PM
What a find - sad but fascinating, and beautifully photographed.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
10/21/2013 11:13:05 PM
Need to explain a bit. The mere anatomy of the bird on the cold rock is beautiful. The dark area looks like the last drops of its soul are crossing the last passage. I wonder if more details in the dark area of the tail would have brought more to the image. I also would have tried a softer focus. But all these do not matter and won't alter the vote. Good luck 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
10/21/2013 09:50:22 PM
What a beauty this is! It looks like a fossil. It looks like it was constructed from tiny, most delicate pieces of ivory. It looks like a fabrication of the mind.
It's too bad that you applied the title of this novel to it. Might have been as well Dante's Inferno. or a Conrad novel.
Still, as a photo in itself it's fascinating.
9
  Photographer found comment helpful.
10/21/2013 03:09:42 PM
Now that is one of the more literal book title representations I’ve seen. I like the way you have produced this image. The vignetting works well and I’m glad you left in the colour. 7.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
10/20/2013 10:07:12 PM
as roadkill goes, this is magnificent. The skeleton is in some somber procession. Even the vignetting is excellent and interesting. look at the texture of the surface and the mysterious dark shapes.

I think I see the soul escaping through his forehead. 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
10/19/2013 12:39:55 AM
Extraordinary.

Although this fails to deliver the racial punch the novel did, I suppose the fact that the mockingbird is noted in the novel ties this together.

Would have liked something more provocative, but this is a really nice image.

7
  Photographer found comment helpful.
10/18/2013 01:45:18 AM
Gorgeous image. I had to review the significance of the title in the book, and after some pondering, your image is more telling than I had first thought. The posture of the skeleton, even its being a skeleton with the barest of dead plumage is so vulnerable; but even better is the open beak... 9
  Photographer found comment helpful.
10/18/2013 12:32:20 AM
Very interesting. Could have been the books cover.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
10/17/2013 10:50:13 PM
Did you find this as is? This is a well staged shot. Not a mockingbird, and not at all relevant to the story, but I can't help but score it well. 7
  Photographer found comment helpful.
10/17/2013 08:57:21 PM
I can't believe you did that to that poor bird. You get a 1 for that.

Not really.

I think this is a cool shot.

Gave it a 7
  Photographer found comment helpful.
10/17/2013 06:49:43 AM
Lovely in its morbidity. A good find, unless you carry one of these around in you bag ;) I think it connects with the novel wonderfully and has an artistic impact, good lighting and enough grungy detail to pull it off.8.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
10/16/2013 11:39:02 PM
7...I've come back to this a few times. I love the skeleton, the delicate-ness of it. What I don't care for is the vignette, or maybe more of how the vignette is done. A more careful darkening around the remains would have been more effective I think, not the typical/generic bring-in-the-darkness-from-the-corners sort of thing. I also think a careful B&W conversion could be stunning. As far as the novel inspiration part...it works for me, everything's allegory.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
10/16/2013 06:47:08 PM
Voted earlier, coming back to comment:

Simple splendid take on the challenge. Very eerie and appropriate. Just love this. Top score for the challenge for me!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
10/16/2013 12:33:13 PM
Very fitting photograph for the title.
Creepy and eerie. But nicely executed.
The vignette on the bottom seems a little too much... but other than that, I really like this photo.
Great sharpness and lighting. 7
  Photographer found comment helpful.
10/16/2013 12:19:25 PM
Good image and appropriate for title.8.
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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