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Mother's Grief...Mother's Joy
Mother's Grief...Mother's Joy
DrAchoo


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Image Grain (Advanced Editing IV*)
Camera: Canon EOS-300D Rebel
Lens: Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II
Location: Vancouver, WA
Date: Oct 17, 2005
Aperture: f/2.2
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/400
Galleries: Emotive, Black and White
Date Uploaded: Oct 17, 2005

 I was looking for something with both a melancholy and an old feel to it. This idea came to me and I dressed my daughter up and zipped down to the oldest cemetery in the county. I searched for a stone which said "baby" and found this one. (I liked the juxtaposition of one baby with the other.) I was worried about Laine's cooperation, but she did just fine. I'd place the rose on the ground 10 feet behind the grave, run into position and then ask her to get it and "put it on the rock". This was I think the second shot I took. It was the best, but unfortunately I had the compensation set for +2/3rd from another shoot so I blew out her arm and hair a bit. Maybe a little push to get me to shoot RAW.

Post-processing: First with a small crop. Then some levels (mild). I converted to B&W by using the channel mixer. It was at least 90% blue channel because that is the "moodiest" of channels and also she was wearing a red dress and I wanted it to look black. Next was some burn around the edges and erasing layer bits to bring the rose color out. A little burning on her hair to save the highlights. A little cloning and dodging around the letters to bring these out. Next I added the grain with Filter>Artistic>Film Grain. I've lost what the exact settings were. (It was close to 6/2/4) Then I duplicated the layer and blurred a bit (gaussian 0.5) and changed the opacity to make the grain a little more "filmlike". Erased some of the grain from her face, hair, rose and words. Finally I resized and added the border.

I went back and forth about sepia and finally added a muted version on about the fifth upload and tweak.

Statistics
Place: 7 out of 274
Avg (all users): 6.5253
Avg (commenters): 8.2143
Avg (participants): 6.4500
Avg (non-participants): 6.6410
Views since voting: 4861
Views during voting: 322
Votes: 198
Comments: 29
Favorites: 10 (view)

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AuthorThread
 02/20/2009 08:56:46 PM
Lovely, Choo. Lovely.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/24/2008 09:09:02 AM
Sweet as Honey.....
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 06/20/2006 11:13:02 PM
Wow, powerful shot. It caught my eye immediately. The selective coloring is warranted her and works well. The tones all work well together. Excellent.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/15/2005 03:31:34 PM
fyi... 7 - touching album photo.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/31/2005 07:33:17 PM
Excellent work. A very emotive capture. Congratulations!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/31/2005 07:05:06 PM
Nice shot! The only thing I'd change is to get rid of the rose color - it betrays the "fake" nature of otherwise perfect retro stylization. But this is just my opinion
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/31/2005 11:21:04 AM
You're so good at the conceptual stuff, with fresh, interesting ideas--and always pull it off technically. Congrats on yet another winner!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/31/2005 09:51:22 AM
Very nicely done. Very touching image.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/31/2005 12:19:31 AM
Congratulations on your top ten finish with this touching study.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/31/2005 12:10:58 AM
Congrats on 7th, Doc! Excellent shot! Beautiful and emotive.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/31/2005 12:10:53 AM
Heh!! Congrats on your top 10. WOOHOO
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/31/2005 12:10:42 AM
Such a beautiful image... Very touching. Congrats on your top 10 finish!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
10/30/2005 10:55:04 PM
Quite the shot. Well done. The selective desat is a nice touch. The grain on this adds to a mood that this might have actually been captured in the early 1900s. Good work.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/30/2005 08:20:46 PM
awsome
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/30/2005 07:45:46 AM
one of my favorites this challenge = slective desat and grain add tothe story
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/29/2005 03:17:48 PM
Sad and lovely.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/28/2005 10:13:32 PM
I am not a fan of selective desaturation, but it works here enhancing the photograph. Nice work.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/28/2005 06:52:40 AM
A touching scene which has loads of atmosphere, the yellow rose is a nice touch
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/27/2005 10:40:40 PM
wow.. powerful image
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/27/2005 05:49:03 PM
This is very powerful. The grain adds to the mood conveyed by the photo. I might like it even more if it were a little lighter -- but I still really love it, and it's one of my favorites in this challenge! 9
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/25/2005 11:25:02 AM
Very emotional picture, love the lighting and the desaturation of color. 9.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/25/2005 12:59:00 AM
I had to hold back a tear on this one. well done.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/24/2005 08:36:29 PM
Looks like this has been played with a bit in PS
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/24/2005 06:33:20 PM
Beautiful - this is one of the rare occasions where I like selective desaturation. Your toning is perfect here, too - this could easily be too heavy of a sepia tone, but for this contrasty of a photograph, it works beautifully. The grain is perfect - you have a very moody, emotive shot here. Well done.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/24/2005 03:55:34 PM
a wonderfully emotive image and very well done
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/24/2005 01:39:02 PM
Very powerful shot!!! 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/24/2005 12:06:54 PM
very sweet photo
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/24/2005 10:41:03 AM
great entry for grain. like the darkness.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/24/2005 10:17:35 AM
This would have been an amazing photograph if not for the over-processing. Sorry, but it just kills the image for me.
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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