DPChallenge: A Digital Photography Contest You are not logged in. (log in or register) 
 
Challenge Entries
Portfolio Images
This image is not part of a public portfolio.
The Bats' Meow
3rd PlaceThe Bats' Meow
rjkstesch


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: The Great Pumpkin Carving Challenge (Advanced Editing IV*)
Camera: Nikon D70
Lens: Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED
Location: Home
Date: Oct 29, 2005
Aperture: f4.5
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/3 sec
Galleries: Still Life
Date Uploaded: Oct 29, 2005

 My daughter and I had a pumpkin carving fest. She did the majority of the carving on the bat pumpkin, while I carved the cat and did clean up on the bat pumpkins.

A candle wouldn't give the glow that I wanted, so I used yellow tissue paper in each pumpkin and placed a "Touch Light" at the bottom to complete the glow.

The set up in on my kitchen counter, under the counter lights with a reflector to provide some fill. Even then, the light was still not right and took a bit of PS to even them out.

Edit: Thank you everyone. I am amazed! This is a high honor for me. I had guessed it would be a solid mid to high 5. Who'd of thunk?


Here's the PS that was applied:
Levels = Output 14,255; Input 0,0.85,255
Brightness/Contrast=-8,+8
Hue/Sat= 0,5,0
Rotate to straighten,
Cloned out blemishes on pumpkins
Applied Shadow/Highlight to full image
Applied Shadow/Highlight to pumpkin & forground, 58% opacity
Applied Glaussian Blur to background glass
Applied Gradiant Layer @ Darken to all @ 49% opacity, erased gradiant in foreground & pumpkins
Flatten layers
Applied Glaussian Blur - Normal @ 46% opacity to all and erased blur on pumpkin
Flatten layers
Crop
Resize
Sharpen
Enlarge canvas to create frame
Save for web

Statistics
Place: 3 out of 88
Avg (all users): 7.0386
Avg (commenters): 7.7917
Avg (participants): 6.5397
Avg (non-participants): 7.2235
Views since voting: 8475
Views during voting: 512
Votes: 233
Comments: 35
Favorites: 9 (view)

Please log in or register to add your comments!

AuthorThread
 11/08/2005 03:16:54 PM
Nice finish. I'm glad to see a fellow Utahn in the top three. WOOHOO!

Message edited by author 2005-11-15 10:57:08.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/08/2005 01:41:49 PM
Becky congratulations on your 3rd place, it's always nice to see a local ribbon.

John
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/08/2005 01:18:28 PM
Congratulations on your ribbon. Those are both great carvings and love the photo of them.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/08/2005 10:17:13 AM
Becky...
Outstanding, all your work and great faily time and a super photo of one of the best two pumpkins I've even seen. Great Job!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/08/2005 05:39:24 AM
This is a great photo, perfectly lit, congrats on your first ribbon, more to come i'm sure.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/08/2005 03:26:19 AM
Congrats, Rebecca! Excellent carving and a great photo! Well done all the way around.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/08/2005 02:17:05 AM
Congratulations on your ribbon! This is such a lovely picture, the lighting is just perfect.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/08/2005 01:45:43 AM
congratulations on the ribbon. You have very nice pumpkins and that is a great shot.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/08/2005 12:16:02 AM
Way to go Becky! You got me by a nose!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/08/2005 12:14:32 AM
Grats on your first ribbon. Very well done :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
11/07/2005 08:46:34 PM
great carvings!! nice set up too
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/06/2005 10:20:10 PM
Expertly carved. Beautifully lit! Cats and Bats! Lots to love here!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/05/2005 07:08:22 PM
Love the texture.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/04/2005 07:56:51 PM
Awesome carving and good tonal balance.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/04/2005 07:20:43 PM
Awesome....looked really hard to do....10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/03/2005 11:45:21 PM
The carvings are excellent. I like that you included a decorative pumpkin in the shot. I find the background a bit distracting in the photo. JMO.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/03/2005 06:56:04 PM
Wow, very nice carvings. Very creative.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/03/2005 06:07:28 PM
Nice detail
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/02/2005 07:28:58 PM
I love it!! wow thats great! i have a pretty good idea who took this one, but i'm not quite positive... i love the contrast, the lighting is magnifisent, and i truely belive this photo is something that belongs on the front cover of a magazine!! i just love it, it's origional and the levels are great! i love how you managed to get the light from the candel in the pumpkin, yet still have an alternative source! i could go on and on, but i'd rather save it for the next commenter! If you are who i think, i'll be talking to you soon!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/02/2005 01:00:12 PM
The lighting on this is so perfect, great settup, perfect focus, good job on the carving, like the way the stems are pointed creating leading lines.
My only suggestions - could do without the stuff on the right, it a little busy as is, and the window lines make it look tilted left, perhaps you could have tilted the image to the rt and cropped a touch off the bottom. But thats just nit picky suggestions cause it's so close to perfect!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/01/2005 11:08:45 PM
Beautiful lighting and compisition. You've nailed this challenge. Bumping up.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/01/2005 10:55:25 PM
What great craftsmanship. So expertly carved. MEOW
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/01/2005 08:42:06 PM
i love this-this must have taken some time to carve =10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/01/2005 05:52:32 PM
amazing carving here
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/01/2005 05:45:17 PM
Nice pic. I really like how the one in the foreground is in the shadow.

GREAT JOB
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/01/2005 04:23:18 PM
if these are real carvings and if I could vote I would give it a 9(
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/01/2005 02:18:39 PM
Love the cat very cool work
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/01/2005 11:01:16 AM
Love the carving. Needs a better setting.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/01/2005 10:12:02 AM
Awww, the kitty is so cute!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/01/2005 09:09:03 AM
Beautiful
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/01/2005 09:01:32 AM
Great carvings! That is really good. I never had the patience to be that intricate. Looks like a post card!!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/01/2005 08:39:36 AM
Good carvings, and the I like the setup. DOF works well with this.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/01/2005 07:06:46 AM
Wonderful carving job. I loved the cat. Looks really good. The eyes came out awesome on that one. Lighting is so nice, too. Wonder how it would have looked with a solid background, like rice paper or something with a soft glow from behind. Just a suggestion.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/01/2005 04:42:56 AM
Great pumpkins. A better backround would have made the picture more appealing.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/01/2005 12:20:44 AM
Great shot - nice carvings too!
  Photographer found comment helpful.


Home - Challenges - Community - League - Photos - Cameras - Lenses - Learn - Help - Terms of Use - Privacy - Top ^
DPChallenge, and website content and design, Copyright © 2001-2025 Challenging Technologies, LLC.
All digital photo copyrights belong to the photographers and may not be used without permission.
Current Server Time: 03/31/2025 06:34:49 AM EDT.