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Don Quixote
Don Quixote
GeneralE


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Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Portrait From Behind (Advanced Editing VII)
Collection: Portfolio
Camera: Canon PowerShot S3 IS
Location: Berkeley, California, USA
Date: Dec 19, 2010
Aperture: 8.0
ISO: 80
Shutter: 1/318
Galleries: Emotive, Portraiture
Date Uploaded: Dec 19, 2010

Inspired by these lines from Gordon Lightfoot's musical version of the classic story by Cervantes:

Reaching for his saddle bag
He takes a rusty sword into his hand
Then striking up a knightly pose
He shouts across the the ocean to the shore
'Til he can shout no more


When I first saw the challenge topic, my first thought was that a silhouette might be a good way to create an iconic representation of a figure identifiable from the back, and I thought these props might work for that.

Isaac modeled for me -- I thought I'd have to set it up and pose myself, have him snap the shutter for me, but he did a good job of it. Sword and shield from my former participation in the Society for Creative Anachronism. Shot on the rocks near the Berkeley marina/pier; San Francisco Bay and the Marin County hills in the background.

-Handheld, manual mode
Retouched the sword-tip to make it slightly less rounded
-Noise-reduction with PictureCooler
-RGB Curve
-Crop a little from left and bottom
-Resize
-USM at 16%/64 dia/TH = 0
-USM at 66%/0.6 dia/TH = 5
-SaveAs JPEG at quality 10/10 = 227KB

Statistics
Place: 55 out of 82
Avg (all users): 5.2057
Avg (commenters): 7.0000
Avg (participants): 5.0000
Avg (non-participants): 5.2990
Views since voting: 1048
Views during voting: 288
Votes: 141
Comments: 2
Favorites: 0


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AuthorThread
02/08/2011 07:36:14 AM
At the edge of All the Ages
A Knight sate on his steed,
His armor red and thin with rust
His soul from sorrow freed;

And he lifted up his visor
From a face of skin and bone,
And his horse turned head and whinnied
As the twain stood there alone.

No bird above that steep of time
Sang of a livelong quest;
No wind breathed,
Rest:

"Lone for an end!" cried Knight to steed,
Loosed an eager rein--
Charged with his challenge into space:
And quiet did quiet remain.


— Walter de la Mare

********************

With a host of furious fancies,
Whereof I am commander,
With a burning spear and a horse of air
To the wilderness I wander.

By a knight of ghosts and shadows
I summoned am to tourney
Ten leagues beyond the wide world's end-
Methinks it is no journey.


— The Mad Song of Tom O'Bedlam
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
12/20/2010 01:19:23 PM
Is hero of Grog! Is great fighter-of-beasts and lover-of-females. Grog not have many heroes besides Grogself. Don-of-Quixote will join Grog at table of honor for talk of battles won, beast slain, females taken, and all greatness.

No, stop Don-of-Quixote! That is not evil monster! Is humble server-of-wine and meat! Grog says not kill until after meal.
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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