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Breathe
Breathe
Rikki


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Transparency II (Advanced Editing IV)
Camera: Canon EOS-20D
Lens: Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6
Location: At Home
Date: Oct 30, 2005
Aperture: f5.6
ISO: 1600
Shutter: 1.6 seconds
Galleries: Emotive, Political
Date Uploaded: Oct 30, 2005

 To enter or not. I didn't want to enter this challenge at first because I wasn't really motivated to do anything for this challenge. Then a package arrived in the mail.

I've never tried to process anything like this before. My photos are never this dark but when I received my gas mask this weekend, an idea popped in my head. I had no available model so I had to do the whole thing by myself.

In my garage, I propped an old coffee table glass top against my dolly (the line you see on the right hand side is the reflection of the edge of the glass). With just the garage light overhead (partly covered with a trash bag) I started shooting. I wear glasses so putting the gas mask on was a lot of work. And these things stink! Once I placed the mask over my head (with the canister in place), I took one deep breathe and realized no air was entering the filter! Damn! That was pretty scary to say the least. I realized that for the filter cannister to work, you had to remove the little rubber gasket at the bottom of the can.

The "drops" were created using 409 spray. The spray didn't last too long as they would just drip down the glass so I had to spray every second and third shoot. I shot about 50 images and have great outtakes.

Anyway, I'm not sure if people would see the transparency here but I had a lot of fun creating this image and it's very dark (for me at least).

I just hope to break 5.5 in this challenge for this image since I'm not sure how voters would see and relate to this image.


Statistics
Place: 114 out of 155
Avg (all users): 5.0246
Avg (commenters): 6.3571
Avg (participants): 4.6988
Avg (non-participants): 5.2500
Views since voting: 1192
Views during voting: 361
Votes: 203
Comments: 19
Favorites: 0

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AuthorThread
 11/09/2005 03:00:18 PM
this image is compositionally and thematically quite strong, but its visual busy-ness combined with the overall soft focus make it rather difficult to really understand. If you do a re-edit, I'd be quite interested in seeing it. I think there's a lot of potential in this picture that just needs to be brought out in Photoshop.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/07/2005 02:57:34 AM
I scores this an 8 and it should have finished much higher.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/07/2005 02:53:53 AM
Missed this in the voting, but I mighta wondered about the transparency - but I think it is a great pic and as mentioned, has that film noyer ;-) thing going for it. Be happy with the shot!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/07/2005 12:24:25 AM
WOW... Really dark for you Rikki! Nice to see you expanding your horizons too. This really does have a film noire feel to it. Good job. (And you still finished higher than I did!) ;-)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
11/06/2005 10:30:02 PM
Returning for comments:
Very good capture with an exhilirating feel.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/04/2005 07:31:18 PM
Weird & cool.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/03/2005 12:13:58 AM
awesome photo, not sure about the transparency. i really am in love with this photo though, its more film-ish than most of the recent DPC blah that has been so played out. keep this kind of interesting work going, it may get voted low now, but it will last much longer than most uninspired work
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/02/2005 02:10:19 PM
Gas-masks are THE fashion accessory at DPC this season
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/01/2005 04:02:24 PM
nice and weird. lovely gas mask. looks like this pic could have used a bit of sharpening.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/01/2005 02:21:28 PM
Wait, gas mask...nico? I think the creativity is there in spades for this shot, but ultimately I don't really like the water drops. They are not attractive in their highlighted form. 6
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/31/2005 07:53:27 PM
wow! a gas mask and avant-guarde picture in a dpc challenge! i love it!!
i really dig the mottled effect from your transparent medium for this photo. i also like the color treatment and message the model's relaying...especially since the far left side is clear and the toxins (or whatever you want to call them...i think of them as toxins) are only around the model.

with the aesthetic tastes of this web site, i'm betting that you may not score as high as i think you should (just like mine isn't going to score as high as i'd like in this one because it flies in the face of the traditional dpc aesthetic)...but this picture really nails the theme for me--where the transparancy adds to the primary focus and theme of your picture. very nicely done!!!!!!! good luck!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/31/2005 05:59:22 PM
It's tough to decipher what's happeneing here dur to the lighting, but it looks very interesting--almost like a painting.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/31/2005 03:17:52 PM
A very strange, but interesting shot. Quite surreal.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/31/2005 12:00:17 PM
It took me a while to figure out where the transparency lies in this image but now that I see it I have to say what a powerful interpretation of this challenge. The dark and almost "armageddon-like" message your image portrays is amazing. I think this will not be favored by most people on this site which is unfortunate. I like seeing images like this. It stirs the imagination and makes people think. Great job. If I could vote, I would have given this a 10! Great job!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/31/2005 09:02:05 AM
funny
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/31/2005 08:45:13 AM
Interesting...and disturbing in a "Silence of the Lambs" kind of way. Hmmm.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/31/2005 03:49:44 AM
mmmmm 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/31/2005 01:11:50 AM
This shot provokes thought but I don't quite get transparency from it
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/31/2005 01:05:17 AM
Krazy, kind of odd and curious and busy and not all at once.. is that water or sparks?
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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