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The Day is Done
The Day is Done
sailracer_98


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: The Cowboy (Advanced Editing VII)
Camera: Canon EOS-40D
Lens: Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon
Location: My basement
Date: Jun 8, 2008
Aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/60
Galleries: Portraiture, Self Portrait
Date Uploaded: Jun 8, 2008

 This is my first portrait entry and my first self portrait, so be gentle!

I put the camera on a tripod and sat sat on a stool in front of a projection screen an took the shot with the self timer. I used a 580EX with a GF Lightsphere mounted on the hot shoe aimed up and back. I set the focus with a tape measure and bracketed some shots with the focus changed slightly to make sure I got one with good focus.

I converted from RAW with Canon's DPP and also did the black and white conversion in there with the RGB sliders. In PS, I adjusted the levels, returned some detail to the hat and cloned out my shadow on the screen behind me. Then cropped, sharpened and saved for web.

Post Challenge: OK, I guess nobody got that I was going for the grieving cowboy look. The title is the first phrase of the song "Taps"

Statistics
Place: 50 out of 91
Avg (all users): 5.5455
Avg (commenters): 5.1667
Avg (participants): 5.2439
Avg (non-participants): 5.6370
Views since voting: 778
Views during voting: 310
Votes: 176
Comments: 7
Favorites: 0

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AuthorThread
 06/22/2008 09:31:36 PM
Critique Club Review:

Color/Saturation/Hue N/A Brightness good, Contrast good. Focus Excellent Depth of field very good

The blank background takes away from the picture. The photo looks a bit overprocessed, as evidenced alon the edge of the hat, particularly along the left side of the frame.

Crop is a bit tight, as the hat bleeds out of the frame. The head-on lighting makes the skin shiny, coupled with the intense stare, it gives it an almost Heeere's Johnny! feel. Sort of a half crazy cujo kind of thing.

I see you were going for a greiving portrait. Downcast eyes, and a downward tilted head would help there. The grieving tend to look down and not face the world.

Overall an interesting photo.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
06/15/2008 10:56:11 AM
Good cowboy portrait. A little too shiny on the skin due to lighting.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 06/11/2008 10:45:54 AM
Good shot, but doesn't do it for me.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 06/10/2008 02:48:05 PM
That's an intense gaze for sure. I didn't know cowboys wore button collar shirts? :-)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 06/10/2008 07:22:52 AM
My apologies if this is an SP, but this looks like a mad crazy cowboy who's gonna start accusing me of something to pick a fight. "Hey you, you seen my horse? You stole my horse didn't you? C'mon man, give it back. Now! Hey, are you DEAF. I said give it BACK! Don't you walk away from me, DAMMIT." Something about the eyes. He's scary. :) Quite a good shot technically, but wow, he gives me the creeps.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 06/09/2008 06:51:14 PM
too much makeup, expression too blank.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 06/09/2008 02:19:34 AM
I'd like to see a different background for this shot. The crop is also a little tight and cuts off the hat.
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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