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The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, by Douglas Adams
The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, by Douglas Adams
Osiris1975


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Book Titles III (Advanced Editing VII)
Camera: Canon EOS-600D/T3 Rebel
Lens: Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM
Location: dining room of my home
Date: Jan 20, 2012
Aperture: 3.5
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/10
Galleries: Vintage, Emotive
Date Uploaded: Jan 21, 2012

 The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, by Douglas Adams.

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Wow, I never thought I'd do this well with my first challenge entry. Thank you everyone for your votes and comments, both kind and constructive.

Big thanks to my wife, who sat for me for these shots, and put up with my request to reshoot later in the evening (and then ended up not using those shots!).

With about one month's photography experience (in the artistic sense, and with a DSLR, anyway), I knew I'd have to apply what little I knew to full effect (rule of thirds, composition, a tiny bit of Lightroom experience), so I made sure to have foreground, midground, and background elements, leading lines, and placing edges (the curtains, the end of the table) on grid lines and points of interest on grid intersections (the tea-cup, my wife).

Originally, I wanted there to be a reflection of a watch, and not the watch itself, in the tea-cup, but I couldn't get that to work from such a distant POV from the cup, so I said, hey, what the heck, it's water-proof, must be tea-proof too.

The shot was taken with a tripod. If there was one thing I'd have done differently, it'd be to iron out that crease in the bottom right on the table cloth.

A little easter-egg in this photo for our British friends here on DPC, wonder who will figure it out? :)

Statistics
Place: 13 out of 118
Avg (all users): 6.4138
Avg (commenters): 8.2500
Avg (participants): 6.4915
Avg (non-participants): 6.3333
Views since voting: 1359
Views during voting: 245
Votes: 116
Comments: 26
Favorites: 2 (view)

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AuthorThread
 02/04/2012 11:30:04 AM
Greetings from the Critique Club!

First off, huge congrats on an outstanding first entry and glad to see you did so well in your first challenge. Your style is very reminescent style of Svetlana, aka silverfoxx. And yes I can see similarities to RKT in there too. And Deb (Melethia) is right - getting both a posty and an thumbprint is a huge accomplishment here. Hard to believe you've only been into photography for 1 month!!!

This is a very haunting, compelling image and now I want to go read the book so I can figure this out!! Don't worry so much about teeny details like the crease in bottom right. Nobody else seems to have noticed it and it doesn't detract. Composition is very good and I don't mind that we can see your wife's face. Adds to the mystery. Very glad you've already discovered the value of a tripod especially for shots like this. The lighting is nice and subdued and the tiny bit of grain in the curtains just seems to add texture.

I predict that if you keep up this kind of work, you could be giving the ribbon hawgs a serious run for their money. Just shoot and pp and enter what works for you, and let the scores fall as they may. It's so much more rewarding to ribbon with a shot you like.

Feel free to PM me,

Susan
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/02/2012 08:43:45 AM
What a way to start! Beautifully done!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/01/2012 12:27:00 PM
Originally posted by Melethia:
I don't know if you realize just how very hard it is to get a Thumb from Paul ( ubique) AND hang in the posthumous gallery at the same time. And with your first entry! This is a sign of good things to come, I'm sure. And while your set pieces are reminiscent of RKT's work (please do check her out - she's amazing), you have a different weight to the picture than she usually casts. Welcome to DPC!


Thank you, Melethia, I'm very appreciative of Paul's recognition of my entry, and I confess, I didn't know what it meant until I asked.

I've only been here a couple of weeks, but I'm loving it, it is such a great online community.
 01/31/2012 08:44:45 PM
I don't know if you realize just how very hard it is to get a Thumb from Paul ( ubique) AND hang in the posthumous gallery at the same time. And with your first entry! This is a sign of good things to come, I'm sure. And while your set pieces are reminiscent of RKT's work (please do check her out - she's amazing), you have a different weight to the picture than she usually casts. Welcome to DPC!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/30/2012 05:58:11 PM
Thanks Allen, that is high praise coming from someone with all those ribbons. :)
 01/30/2012 02:24:44 PM
This is a tremendous shot! Very effective and dramatic processing.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/30/2012 08:07:04 AM
Thank you all for your comments! It is exciting to have done so well on my first entry. I'm a newbie, though, so I am going to put out my fair share of rubbish while I hone my skills.

@Posthumous and ubique, thank you for the awards.

@Tiny and Mariuca, I did in fact take it as a complement that you thought this was the work by another. So thanks again.

@jpanguluri, would love your thoughts on what poses you felt might work better. I'm always receptive to constructive criticism, it is why I'm here in the first place.

@dali_lama_2k, it is like you said, given the choice between embracing title and subject matter, I went for title. If there is ever another book challenge, I'll definitely see if I can figure something out that embraces both.

@cinnabear, I'll end up in the dog house if I tell my wife she looks like Cousin It in this photo :) Thank you for your kind comments about the composition. :)

@tanguera, yes, I really did float a watch in the tea. Well, it wouldn't float, so I stuffed the tea-cup with paper towels first, lol. I originally wanted a reflection of a watch and not the watch itself, but I couldn't get that to work out.

Out of curiosity, did anyone notice:
1) The crease in the right bottom corner in the table cloth, and if so, did it annoy you? It annoys me!
2) The 'easter-egg' for anyone familiar with "Queen's Tea Time"?

Message edited by author 2012-01-30 08:09:06.
 01/30/2012 06:48:32 AM
This was one of my tops shots. your first entry? good things to come for sure.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/30/2012 04:39:14 AM
Mistook this for someone else,s work. Please take it as a compliment.Congrats.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/30/2012 12:08:43 AM
Well done on a great placing for your first entry! :-)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
01/29/2012 10:37:44 PM
best served warm, and so you do.

I'm hanging this in my fantasy art gallery

  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/29/2012 07:25:33 PM
Beautiful. I wish the woman at the window was in a different (better?) pose.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/29/2012 05:01:53 PM
Well thought out image.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/29/2012 09:56:26 AM
Well done, resonates.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/29/2012 12:39:48 AM
Ah, another Adams, and another fine interpretation!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2012 11:10:49 PM
Such wonderful atmosphere! I can hear the silence.
Must be Rachel's.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2012 09:42:26 PM
Great lonely mood here -- perspective works very well as does the tablecloth to distance us from this soul. The grain works well, too. Nice.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/28/2012 01:21:26 PM
This is really good!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/27/2012 10:21:43 PM
Beautiful and mysterious.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/27/2012 04:52:22 PM
Love the look, and bonus points for picking a Douglas Adams piece that is actually BETTER than his more well-known fare :) One of my favorite books, indeed! This shot is fantastic, and completely embraces the TITLE of the book, so don't get me wrong, but it is unfortunate that you couldn't do one more related to the CONTENT of the book due to the fact that pretty much no one would "get it" unless they had read it, so delightfully bizzarre as it is!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/27/2012 11:43:53 AM
Wonderful composition, very emotive.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/26/2012 01:58:40 PM
Gently beautiful (oh, dear!)
I do love the quiet absurdity of your picture. As if it were a picture presented for another audience entirely, and I am just peeking at it, unauthorized and through the back window. Thank you.
I'm afraid that you must now carry the burden of an Order of the Thumb.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/25/2012 11:17:32 PM
Cousin It? Just kidding. :D Very eerie shot I love how you use the tea cup and plate of confections to lead the viewer to your subject, the lines of the table cloth also just bring our eyes to her...maybe a tired young woman. With such abundant hair I might add.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/23/2012 08:50:24 PM
Did you really float a pocket watch in the tea????? Haunting, sad image
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/23/2012 12:44:13 PM
Good work this is by someone who,s stuff I like.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/23/2012 09:11:41 AM
Spectacular, the watch was a master stroke, 10 sugars for me.
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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