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Challenge: Time Lapse (Advanced Editing VI ("Time Lapse")*)
Collection: Challenge Pics - Meh
Camera: Olympus E-500 EVOLT
Lens: Olympus 50-200mm f/2.8-3.5 ED Zuiko Digital
Date: Jan 3, 2008
Galleries: Nature, Floral
Date Uploaded: Jan 6, 2008

 I entered the LoD Tourney to challenge myself and had no idea that it would start like this! I don't normally like spending a lot of time doing photoshop on photos and I spent more time than I wanted to on this photo. But i learned some things, so I guess that makes it ok.

These are the photos that I used:


"Things change over time" - My first thought was to show a flower in stages of wilt and decay. Ta da!

"create your entry from 1-10 captures of a single scene (defined as a composition whose framing does not change, with the exception of natural subject motion). All captures used must be shot within the challenge submission dates." - well this sums up my shot pretty well. The framing did not change (i guess except for bumps in the tripod), and the natural motion was due to dehydration and gravity. This is a "continuous" scene because this covers the motion of an upright rose gradually drifting to it's deflated state.

A flower was placed in a vase on my windowsill. The only things that changed were: calendar dates, time of day, and the flower wilting. I look at this as a "single scene" because no other elements were introduced.

Process (before I completely forget)

1) All files are RAW - so I opened them in Silkypix. I adjusted the pictures to try and match the colors of the flower as closely as possible.

2) Saved each as jpg

3) Opened each in PS7. Adjusted using levels and did some sharpening.

4) Layered all into one file.

5) Changed the opacity and fill of the transitional flowers. Also used the darken mode on each layer.

6) Did a lot of work with masking out parts to create the transition. I messed with HSL to get a better color on the starting rose, and to desat some of the color out of the finished rose. Used Brightness/Contrast to make some things pop better. And then I desatted the background so I could improve the colortone. I did that with color balance. To smooth out the colors and the background, I used Gaussian blur. Also there were dots on the window so I cloned some out and let the rest get smoothed with the blur. (note to self: P1031274_filtered-crop1ABC-PSD2new)
I messed with this stage several times till I got a color that worked. (Thanks for your help wronp!!)

I've never done any piece this big before so I am sure there's room for error. A couple of things I see, but I am not gonna change: technically, in transition, the second flower should be behind the third flower, but I like the way it looks now. Also, the carnation DID wither BUT it ended up falling behind the main first flower. I chose to keep those two a little more prominent because they are the starting and ending points. There are other mistakes, but I don't feel like changing them.

I would like for this to score high and do well, but this challenge is gonna be open to such a wide interpretation, I can only submit and wish for the best. :)

Statistics
Place: 35 out of 84
Avg (all users): 5.9686
Avg (commenters): 6.4545
Avg (participants): 5.8889
Avg (non-participants): 5.9882
Views since voting: 1539
Views during voting: 767
Votes: 318
Comments: 28
Favorites: 0

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AuthorThread
 01/14/2008 03:56:23 AM
Grrrrrrr beat me by one place!!!!

Lovely time lapse photography and the transclucent effect on pictures 2 and three works really well to convey the passing of time

Great colours and sharpness and overall a really impressive image that deserved to score even higher
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/14/2008 12:54:18 AM
Good girl i gave this a 7 great shot
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/14/2008 12:26:09 AM
This is a great time lapse image. Well done.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
01/13/2008 09:15:39 PM
sher: wow. somebody's patient.

scalvert: I've got to hand it to this photographer. It meets the challenge dead on and exactly conforms to our secret ideas about what "time lapse photography" means.

sher: hmmm... this isn't your photograph, is it?

scalvert: no comment.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/12/2008 02:49:26 AM
Shows the decay of a flower well but you may be on shakey ground with the "natural motion" rule
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/11/2008 12:45:52 PM
This is a good attempt, but I found the other shot of flowers in this challenge to be a bit better.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/10/2008 02:51:34 PM
great job on the time lapse. that must of taken some days. beautiful and melancholy. i like the 'faded transition' to the last shot.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/10/2008 09:44:47 AM
Very effective.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/10/2008 04:51:32 AM
nice colours 6
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/09/2008 07:53:40 PM
The life cycle of a rose, after it was cut and placed in a vas. Nice and sharp and your fade in the middle position helps bridge the gap nicely between the two states.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/09/2008 05:56:15 PM
Interesting wilting flower. I'm not too keen on the "see-through" petals.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/09/2008 11:45:47 AM
More of a metaphorical representation than a literal one. Not sure what I mean by that, but I can't see someone standing by with a camera while a flower droops :-) I do like the concept, but I'm a bit less than thrilled by the result.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/08/2008 04:02:39 PM
I like the idea, this must have taken you some time to capture. Nice work.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/08/2008 02:32:34 PM
stunning,well done...sorry i cant vote but would be a 10+
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/08/2008 12:55:02 PM
Very interesting. Another great photo!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/08/2008 10:27:36 AM
Nice title. If this is genuine, you have done well generating the captures required - I'm guessing over a number of days.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/08/2008 07:56:44 AM
Very nice image. How long did your camera have to sit there to get this shot? My only quip is with the tranlucent petals. Still a great idea well executed. 8.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/07/2008 09:02:30 PM
Nicely done! I'm going to have to check back after the challenge to see how many days this took.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/07/2008 09:01:30 PM
How long did this take?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/07/2008 07:10:07 PM
Makes a nice abstract but really doesn't convey any sense of passing time. I don't think the wilting flower thing is a good one for 'time lapse' as far as photography goes, though I always enjoy watching videos along these lines.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/07/2008 05:28:41 PM
Beautiful. Well lit and well presented. 6
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/07/2008 02:02:20 PM
Very interesting and creative shot.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/07/2008 01:57:47 PM
How beautiful a shot this is and it certainly exemplifies "time lapse" with a more traditional definition by comparison to some of the others entered in this challenge where they seem to be a conglomeration/collage of action shots rather than true "time lapse". Very nicely done!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/07/2008 01:13:10 PM
nice work, am glad someone found a way to show this type of shot :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/07/2008 11:36:52 AM
I'd prefer this shot without the carnation. It's a lovely and sad progression. Good job on combining the images. Sad the rose never fully opened.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/07/2008 01:51:26 AM
This looks like a week long time lapse. Nice variation. Did it tie up your camera for a week?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/07/2008 01:31:25 AM
Nice transparent effect!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/07/2008 12:23:23 AM
You pulled it off, and it looks pretty good.
Did the fish survive?
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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