I was a tomboy, so I never owned a Barbie. But I don't doubt for a second that any Barbie I may have owned would have suffered a fate like this at the hands of at least one of my three older brothers! That's not being stereotypical, just a plain and simple acknowledgement of fact. Little boys love to torment little sisters by doing things like this to their toys. End of story.
The original idea was to have the chopper, which is Ryan's toy, flying off with Barbie's head, but the tiny size of the chopper and instability of the head made that an impossibility. Suspending the head from the ceiling was an idea, but the fishing line would have shown and this is only a Basic challenge.
So I sat the Barbie atop the ladder, where you're NEVER meant to sit or stand, and set up the camera on a tripod with a handheld remote flash. Ryan was in charge of flying the copter, which wasn't too easy in a darkened kitchen! I would hit the shutter, then the flash at the same time he flew the copter into the airspace around Barbie. It actually only took about 3 dozen takes before we got the shot, and I am amazed at how many good shots we got out of this shoot. Thanks babe!
pp: RAW-TIFF conversion, crop, brightness/contrast, saturation, resize, usm, sharpen, save for web
Statistics
Place: 101 out of 139 Avg (all users): 4.6901 Avg (commenters): 5.6000 Avg (participants): 4.3103 Avg (non-participants): 4.8323 Views since voting: 938 Views during voting: 346 Votes: 213 Comments: 9 Favorites: 0
Aww and so I return the favour with a critique for you! Memory jog - you critiqued my Fine Arts pic.
First Impression: I thought this was a pretty funny picture, sure there's some distracting elements in it but I still liked it and gave you a 6. Too bad more people didn't agree with me.
Composition: Some of your commenters covered it but there are a few things that could be improved. There's a strange white mark on the left and I think maybe the shadow of the tail of the helicopter? Also I would have liked it more if the ceiling to wall line wasn't visible, just all beige. But you're shooting up at a ladder so not much you can do there, maybe shoot more straight on so the line isn't diagonal?
Subject: You covered a few childhood toys, barbies, helicopters, ladders. Alright I never played with barbies.
Final thoughts: I judged your photo on the artistic side more than the technicals, it was under appreciated though by the masses. Barbie deserved it, says right there DO NOT STAND OR SIT, psh blondes :)
Hey snaffles....I too was a tomboy and reading your photographers comments....well I could relate. I thought you might be able to relate to mine as well. Take a look.... (edited to fix the tag)
nice humor and oh so very real! lol as far as the photo, the lighting is harsh, and that shadow floting there on the left is a distraction, but it's obvious some thought and work went into this picture