This is just a fun shot for me. Walking home from taking Aidan to school I wanted to play with the new wide angle lens. The Sun was at Rowans back and in the shot upper left corner which caused things to get blown. I helped it along ab it in post process. Rowan can be such a silly girl and it just makes picture taking all that more fun. Thats an apple in one hand and a dandelion in the other. She like spicking dandelions on the way to and from and then finding people to give them to. Today she wanted to ring doorbells on the way home to find someone to share with. I dont think I could ever find the words to share how much I love this little girl.
PP - RAW conversion bumping up the contrast and pimping out the colors, Super Fun Happy action in PS to tweak the contrast even more and add a softness to the shot, bitchin b&w action to shift to b&w and tweak contrast a bit more, crop to enhance the angle (and then clone in some of the areas that were new canva), a bit of dodge and burn to push it a bit further, contrast layer, slight addition of grain followed by a guassian blur layer applied to the background only to soften, chunky odd border to finish.
And an outtake - ----------------------------------
And just so there is no chance of ever losing this comment from Don -
This is very enjoyable to me. I love when artifice and natural emotion collide. The picture is very emotional, instantly emotional. We get the sense of laughter before anything else, before we realize who or "what" we're looking at.
But this natural, spontaneous effect is created through deliberate and very artificial means. What I like is that the artifice is not at all hidden, not trying to "trick" the viewer, but is so effective that it feels natural anyway. It's the same effect that Judy Garland has as a singer. You know how artificial her performance is, how refined and perfected every gesture and moan are, but it hits home anyway. It presses every button, but not just that. You trust Judy. You know that she gave her life to this art, that ultimately she is sincere. For you, it's the sincerity of your daughter, and the sincerity of the sun, which really is that powerful in its light and heat. Your processing was not so much the adding of artifice as it was the removal of detail in certain areas. As a viewer, I get the delightful feeling that you removed as much as you could without touching anything essential. It's a very comforting feeling, like when Mom cuts your steak for you.
I see laugh, apple and flower, plain as day. Plainer, even.
Uncontrolled laughter is white, I vaguely remember and miss that as a younger person. I just don̢۪t understand why you left that line of houses, it pulls my eye to the right taking attention away from what̢۪s important. Everything else works.
I actually like this better than your outtake. The bright background helps remove some of the suburbia and brings the focus back to the joy that Rowan is experiencing and expressing. I love these types of innocent candid moments.
This is very enjoyable to me. I love when artifice and natural emotion collide. The picture is very emotional, instantly emotional. We get the sense of laughter before anything else, before we realize who or "what" we're looking at.
But this natural, spontaneous effect is created through deliberate and very artificial means. What I like is that the artifice is not at all hidden, not trying to "trick" the viewer, but is so effective that it feels natural anyway. It's the same effect that Judy Garland has as a singer. You know how artificial her performance is, how refined and perfected every gesture and moan are, but it hits home anyway. It presses every button, but not just that. You trust Judy. You know that she gave her life to this art, that ultimately she is sincere. For you, it's the sincerity of your daughter, and the sincerity of the sun, which really is that powerful in its light and heat. Your processing was not so much the adding of artifice as it was the removal of detail in certain areas. As a viewer, I get the delightful feeling that you removed as much as you could without touching anything essential. It's a very comforting feeling, like when Mom cuts your steak for you.
I see laugh, apple and flower, plain as day. Plainer, even.
When I was younger I did a fair amount of babysitting, and this reminds me of what I would call the "attack of the giggle monster." No matter what you did to the kid, they couldn't stop giggling! I used to flip the kid upside down and try to shake it out of them, but that never worked; it just got worse!
That apple just cracks me up. So delightfully evil, heh.
Absolutely delightful! I love the blown aspect of this. Somehow it emphasizes the joy, the absolute wonder that is a little girl. I love the wee bit of tree you left on the left, and that skinny line of houses on the right. The angle (LOVE wide) and the tilt - more to simply add to the energy of the shot. But the star, and you already know this, is that gorgeous young lady with the megawatt smile. She just glows. One can surmise that the blown out sections here are not due to the sun at all.... Very worthy of this, or any other master's competition.
Add photograph to your favorites
Add photographer to your favorites
Photographer found comment helpful.
