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The Flockettes
2nd PlaceThe Flockettes
scalvert


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Marshmallow Peeps (Advanced Editing VII)
Collection: Favorites - Ribbons
Camera: Canon EOS-40D
Lens: Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon
Location: Easton, CT
Date: Mar 23, 2008
Aperture: f/11
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/180
Galleries: Humorous, Food and Drink
Date Uploaded: Mar 23, 2008

 Evolution of The Flockettes: I once created an egg with legs for a college photography assignment using paper clips and clay. We had a chocolate egg with a peep inside, so I figured I could do something like that, with the peep cracking open the shell and sticking his legs out... until my son ate the prop. :-/

OK then, I'll make a peep look like a dancer. The package consists of 5 peeps stuck together, so I guess it's a chorus line. I bent some paper clips to the right shape and went to get the Play Doh. I couldn't find any, but discovered the foam tulips among our craft supplies. The Mrs. informs me that we're out of Play Doh. I tried some modeling clay, but it was too hard to work with. *sigh* At least I had a stage. My kids had an unopened puppet theater that they received as a gift. I put it together and found that it was just a wooden frame with yellow curtains (no stage or background). I was about to give up, when my wife found some yellow Play Doh in the basement.

The material was easy to mold around the paper clips, but the feet were fragile, so I set them aside to dry for a while hoping that they'd get tougher. I tried to think of something else to add to the tulips as an outfit. Ah, muffin cups! We even had them in matching colors (although too pale to matter). I couldn't figure out how to attach them to the front of the peeps in any way that would make sense, so I glued pieces to the tails instead.

I went back to the basement for something to use as a stage. I tried foamcore, marble, wooden serving trays, a lazy susan, and finally an old cutting board, which fit perfectly. I used books underneath to level it. The blue theater frame was distracting, so I put black mat board on the left to keep it in shadow. For a background, I hung my daughter's red dress from the chandelier. I tried putting the audience peeps in Easter grass, but they sunk down in it too much, so I used a strip of astroturf. The peeps wouldn't stand up on that either, so I snipped their little butts off with scissors to expose the sticky marshmallow inside (ha).

Now for the hard part. I figured the paper clips would be strong enough to support the peeps and I'd just hot glue them to the board to stand up. I cut a slit in each peep to glue the legs on, but the drying Play Doh turned out to be very brittle and I had to hot glue several of the feet back on. There was no way these chicks were going to stand on their own, so I glued a length of thin fishing line across their tails and used gaffer's tape to hold it on either side of the frame. So the front-heavy peeps were "sitting" on fishing line and kept from rotating forward by their feet. The final touch was a monolight with a 10 degree honeycomb grid for a spot light and a little bit of fill light from a softbox off to the right. Total time: about 2.5 hours, and I only used materials I already had in the house (including the peeps). The title was a desperate attempt to avoid "Peep Show," since I figured there would be a dozen of those.

Processing: Convert from RAW, levels, saturation, clone out the fishing line, dust specks and some imperfections on the audience peeps, shift the color of the legs a bit to match, and a little Dodge & Burn and USM.

Statistics
Place: 2 out of 99
Avg (all users): 7.4249
Avg (commenters): 8.2778
Avg (participants): 7.0714
Avg (non-participants): 7.5693
Views since voting: 8871
Views during voting: 590
Votes: 193
Comments: 46
Favorites: 11 (view)

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AuthorThread
 03/05/2010 11:02:58 PM
Yeah... there's something wrong with you, Shannon. *grin*
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/04/2008 05:04:55 AM
Originally posted by The Puppetmaster:
The peeps wouldn't stand up on that either, so I snipped their little butts off with scissors to expose the sticky marshmallow inside (ha).

Don't even try to claim that no peeps were harmed in the making of this photo. I may have done some things to woodies - torn limbs off, burned them, submerged them in hot oil, carved faces in them with a dremel tool, BUT I NEVER snipped their little butts off. There oughta be a law...

:P

A little late congrats, by the way. Much patience, much effort, nice reward.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/03/2008 11:11:50 AM
I admire your creativity. Thanks for sharing the details of how you put this together.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/01/2008 12:06:49 AM
Ahh, I never tire of reading your adventures in setting up these creative shots. This made me feel better about sitting with a pair of tweezers putting little pieces of thread on a hacked together peep bunny. Thanks for sharing how you found solutions for problems with the setups! And, congrats on a well deserved red! :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/31/2008 08:03:36 PM
I so knew this was yours :-)

For future play-dough emergencies: make your own!!!

Easy, cheap, and has a wonderful texture. The best one is the cooked version:

Traditional Play Dough

* 1 cup flour
* 1 cup warm water
* 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
* 1 teaspoon oil
* 1/4 cup salt
* food coloring

Mix all ingredients, adding food coloring last. Stir over medium heat until smooth. Remove from pan and knead until blended smooth. Place in plastic bag or airtight container when cooled. Will last for a long time if stored in the frige.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/31/2008 07:56:16 PM
I now know what a peep is and a flockette...:)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/31/2008 07:54:12 PM
Congrats...another fantas-a-mystical image from the infamous Scalvert!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/31/2008 02:13:21 PM
Wow, definitely best of show... :-)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/31/2008 12:18:37 PM
Just read your story....that's dedication....a man who is truly willing to suffer for his art! : ) I almost feel guilty that mine took about 20 minutes to set up....ALMOST! : ) If you are like me the arts & crafts portion of the set up is nearly as much fun as the update button. Well worth the effort and another splash of red for your profile (will you even notice? ;) Congrats!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/31/2008 09:54:55 AM
This is sooo original and wildly creative. Love the stage lighting. Incredible shot, congrats on the ribbon, Shannon.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/31/2008 08:34:36 AM
Thanks for the laughs.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/31/2008 04:13:49 AM
well done/congratulations
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/31/2008 03:11:22 AM
You went through all that trouble just to come in second place? Well at least you didn't waste budget on hiring Little Bo Peep to perform... :P
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/31/2008 02:58:11 AM
Oh, when will you finally grow up Shannon? Congrats on the red one!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/31/2008 12:49:45 AM
I love how this looks serious and dramatic, without seeming pretentious. I dunno, you just got a really good balance here. Congrats!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/31/2008 12:47:24 AM
Awesome Shannon...congrats, what an awesome set up!! Well deserved!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/31/2008 12:42:42 AM
That is a crazy amount of work but I'm glad it paid off for you. It's so good and I'm glad to see that it did ribbon - congrats!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/31/2008 12:35:47 AM
Congratulations! I love this...it's so original. All the hard work paid off!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/31/2008 12:25:23 AM
Congrats on the red! The most creative concept of the bunch of you ask me.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/31/2008 12:08:03 AM
This one was one of my favorites of the challenge. Grats on the ribbon
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/31/2008 12:05:37 AM
now das funny..... congrats!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
03/30/2008 12:56:52 PM
I hope this ribbons because there has been so much work put into this. It's a scream. Where di you get the peep legs? I love the stage lighting too. Good luck!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/28/2008 09:44:26 AM
nice, very creative
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/27/2008 07:00:26 PM
Great take on the challenge :- )
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/27/2008 04:50:23 PM
Creative use of elements to make this scene. Can I say it's "believable"? Yes, weirdly, I'm sitting in a low balcony seat (just like Lincoln when he was shot...gasp!) looking down on the peeps and their peeps. :) Are those wood tulip cut-outs from the craft shop!? ...and muffin papers, too!? Lighting is what makes this, of course. It's just how it should be down to the last detail of stepping... Smacks of Scalvert! (Which, if you don't know and aren't he himself, is a compliment...I think.) I will curse you with a high vote (as I did another) in the hopes that it plagues your profile page for long to come. ;->
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/26/2008 11:04:25 PM
for me you are one of the best- maybe the best
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/26/2008 07:12:18 PM
like this cause it's a fun shot and lots of work went into it. 9
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/26/2008 02:43:33 PM
Love the creativity here front page I would think.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/26/2008 01:34:03 PM
Very well done, but you have way too much time on your hands to do this much in a 24 hour challenge :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/26/2008 07:43:19 AM
This is hilarious! I love it.
Nice lighting and composition. Good luck with your scores! If I could vote, I'd give you a 9.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/26/2008 04:38:39 AM
This took some serious doing! Nice!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/25/2008 11:54:00 PM
Absolutely incredible. Great lighting and a perfect picture. LOVE the set and idea of it, too! Ingenius!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/25/2008 08:32:58 PM
Too funny!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/25/2008 03:52:06 PM
Wowo you realy threw yourself into this one!! Very nice set up.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/25/2008 01:51:35 AM
should be a contender...good luck, you put a bit of work into the creativity 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/24/2008 09:32:45 PM
Now this is funny....Great idea!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/24/2008 07:46:47 PM
creative!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/24/2008 07:28:12 PM
Very clever! I like it a lot!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/24/2008 04:14:43 PM
I can't vote, but this is very creative and fun.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/24/2008 03:57:22 PM
Really well done - and extra points for the ridiculously elaborate set up.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/24/2008 03:30:06 PM
What a great setup, must have taken a while. Fun!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/24/2008 11:10:57 AM
OMG this shows so much creativity!! Bravo to you....and the "Flockettes!"
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/24/2008 09:52:12 AM
LOL :-) Very cute and good lighting for the show.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/24/2008 08:17:23 AM
Great job! Nice lighting. One of my favorites in the challenge!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/24/2008 05:23:52 AM
Great setup. Very creative!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/24/2008 12:53:36 AM
Great concept and hilarious title.
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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