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Strumming...
Strumming...
srdanz


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Free Study IX (Advanced Editing IV)
Camera: Canon EOS-20D
Lens: Sigma 18-50mm f/3.5-5.6 DC for Canon
Location: my garage
Date: Nov 30, 2005
Aperture: f/22
ISO: 400
Shutter: 1/10
Galleries: Performance, Portraiture
Date Uploaded: Nov 30, 2005

Took this one (self portrait) in a garage, against the off-white wall while standing on a white sheet. Used a 1000W softbox as the light source from the side + small (60W) lightbulb frontally.
Focal length 18mm. Placed tripod on three chairs to shoot from way above; see setup here:

Cloned creases in the sheet, created a layer out of myself, blurred the background (gaussian blur, 7%), adjusted levels just a little bit, created a layer for the frame below the layer with myself, burned my hair (2%) not to stand out against the frame, dodged my right chin and my right hand, resized, USM (22/55) & save for web.

Oh, I figured out later that I could improve on it... dodged out a bit of a background in a background layer, and that caused this unusual sharpness around the hair and the right arm. Hopefully will be well received as I am running out of time for improvements of improvements...

Statistics
Place: 174 out of 519
Avg (all users): 5.8036
Avg (commenters): 6.8235
Avg (participants): 5.8081
Avg (non-participants): 5.7922
Views since voting: 1327
Views during voting: 423
Votes: 275
Comments: 20
Favorites: 2 (view)


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AuthorThread
06/22/2006 11:57:04 PM
I have done similiar ones to this...they are always fun to do. Great SP by the way!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
12/15/2005 12:14:48 PM
excellent idea. seems a little soft, probably due to the 1/10 shutter. you might give it another go around 1/30 - 1/60, just for comparison. keep it up!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
12/06/2005 07:08:03 PM
Very cool shot! Great point of view! Terrific lighting and focus. I love the '3d' look. Awesome job! I like it a lot :-)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
12/06/2005 05:28:00 PM
creative comp, well done
  Photographer found comment helpful.
12/04/2005 11:38:00 PM
Cool photo. Frame is awesome.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
12/04/2005 05:11:27 PM
Good perspective - frame works well. Needs better focus
  Photographer found comment helpful.
12/04/2005 04:32:44 PM
..."using any editing tools to duplicate, create, or move major elements of your photograph is not permitted. "

The addition of a border is permitted even in basic rules, yes. But when a border is in a layer beneath the rest of the image and partially masked, it seem more to be a created element.

Perhaps this picture can serve as an impetus to the review of rules pertaining to borders.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
12/04/2005 12:40:13 PM
If this is legal (this type of border seems like creating a major element to me, assuming you created the border in photoshop or the like), it's an interesting effect, though I might have chosen to use it with a different subject, perhaps something involving more action. Be careful when creating your border though, the thickness of the brown line seems to vary on different sides, which makes it feel kindof unbalanced.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
12/03/2005 11:48:19 PM
Creative use of the w.a. A great projection.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
12/02/2005 06:08:42 PM
This is by all means a perfect shot, the wide angle used here works very well, the colors and lights are awesome, the focus is great, the frame and the way the subject overlaps with it is briliant. Good job and good luck with your score
  Photographer found comment helpful.
12/02/2005 11:43:21 AM
Great angle in this unique portraiture study. Rich colors down to his eyes. The border to creat this out of frame image is great. Good luck with this. -9-
  Photographer found comment helpful.
12/02/2005 11:28:24 AM
Gosh, the illusion that the guitar is coming out of the border is amazing...That is sooo cool.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
12/02/2005 09:29:32 AM
I like the angle of this shot which adds interest to the overall photo. Lighting and focus is very good where everything in the composition is very clearly and sharply visible. My only critique is that the model should have been captured lost in the music he is strumming. Instead he is looking up directly at us. And because he is making that eye contact with the viewer I don't 'feel' any vibes of music coming forth from this photo - especially since the title plays to the fact that he is strumming. Compositionaly I think it would be more interesting if we could see the player (with his face in profile at this same angle) getting lost in his music.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
12/02/2005 02:30:36 AM
Interesting perspective!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
12/01/2005 08:51:59 PM
Great 3D illusion.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
12/01/2005 08:34:28 PM
3D effect is great..nice angle, nice shot!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
12/01/2005 03:57:04 PM
Nice angle!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
12/01/2005 11:40:19 AM
Composition: 5, Technical: 5, Appeal: 6, Challenge: 9, Overall Calculated Average Score: 6
  Photographer found comment helpful.
12/01/2005 10:35:42 AM
I love the compostion! nice use of leading lines! the lighting is a little off, and the color balance is very warm. I think the lighting ratio (the exposure of the light compaired to the exposure of the dark) could use some improvement too. mabey use a white bounce card on the right to return some of the light. The gutiar is great and the expression is wonderful. it's not tac sharp but I think that is ok for this shot. the triangular compostion betwen the face hands and head stock is great though. his watch in his sleave is a little distracting though. I think overall a great job though. I'm glad you tried this. keep shooting! 7
  Photographer found comment helpful.
12/01/2005 01:38:29 AM
nice perspective
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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