how many people looked and did not see this shot?

06/19/2006 01:20:11 PM · #1

I thought the meaning of the shadow in this shot was pretty obvious, but then a few people commented that it took them some while to get it. So I wonder whether there were some people who looked at the shot briefly during voting, saw the still life, saw the shadow, but did not "decode" its second meaning.

Simms

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

06/19/2006 01:23:41 PM · #2

didnt vote, but really very clever.. however, it suffers from the cropping, a bit tighter would of worked better, the table the fruit is on detracts from the overall feel though.. v good idea.

Beetle

06/19/2006 01:26:48 PM · #3

Considering your very good score, I doubt that many people "missed" it.

I gave you a 7..... 2 of those were for the effort you made, the photo as such has a few too many problems in my opinion.

Melethia

Canon EOS-80D

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

06/19/2006 01:27:01 PM · #4

Originally posted by ltsimring:

Saw it, loved it, showed it to all my relatives while I was on vacation, who also saw it immediately and thought it ever so clever! Nice work, Lev. Then again, most of your stuff is a fair bit above shabby to begin with. Just remind me not to take you on in head to head challenges.... :-)

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

06/19/2006 01:32:17 PM · #5

I liked it a lot, and "got it" pretty easily, though I think maybe you could have been even less subtle in your title ... I think making the literary reference more obvious might have helped, perhaps like

Le Morte d'Flora (based on Mallory's Le Morte d'Arthur)

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

06/19/2006 01:32:25 PM · #6

Originally posted by Beetle:

Considering your very good score, I doubt that many people "missed" it.

I gave you a 7..... 2 of those were for the effort you made, the photo as such has a few too many problems in my opinion.

thanks for your honest opinion. A few people mentioned tighter cropping, however I am not sure about that. For a "deathbed" look of the shadow it has to kinda lay low, with some empty space above it, IMO. One technical problem which I do see is a pretty harsh lighting which is not good for the still life, but I could not avoid it as I needed a point source to produce sharp shadow. What other problems do you think this photo has?

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

06/19/2006 01:36:35 PM · #7

Originally posted by ltsimring:

One technical problem which I do see is a pretty harsh lighting which is not good for the still life, but I could not avoid it as I needed a point source to produce sharp shadow. What other problems do you think this photo has?

A diffused lighting source above the fruit and pointed away from the wall might have softened the appearance of the fruit while retaining the sharpness of the shadow. The solution to most difficult lighting problems seems to be multiple light sources ...

digitalpins

Canon EOS-60D

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

06/19/2006 01:36:46 PM · #8

I left you a comment I love this shot

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

06/19/2006 01:44:17 PM · #9

Originally posted by GeneralE:

Originally posted by ltsimring:
One technical problem which I do see is a pretty harsh lighting which is not good for the still life, but I could not avoid it as I needed a point source to produce sharp shadow. What other problems do you think this photo has?

A diffused lighting source above the fruit and pointed away from the wall might have softened the appearance of the fruit while retaining the sharpness of the shadow. The solution to most difficult lighting problems seems to be multiple light sources ...

General,
I tried to do this with a softbox on a strobe (see my comments below the shot), but still the direct light was overpowering if I wanted clear shadows on the background. I guess I could tone it down a bit by filtering the projector light and then amplify the shadow in photoshop, just wasn't in the mood for a lot of tweaking...

Originally posted by GeneralE:

I liked it a lot, and "got it" pretty easily, though I think maybe you could have been even less subtle in your title ... I think making the literary reference more obvious might have helped, perhaps like

Le Morte d'Flora (based on Mallory's Le Morte d'Arthur)

I thought about the title, too. I could call it something like "double nature morte" to make it more transparent, but decided to leave an element of a puzzle there.

Message edited by author 2006-06-19 13:44:40.

Jaded_Housewife

Canon EOS-5D

06/19/2006 01:51:32 PM · #10

i saw it right away. i loved it. gave it a 9. very clever and well done

obsidian

Nikon D80

Tamron AF 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di II for Nikon

06/19/2006 01:56:01 PM · #11

I did not see it right away but when I did - I liked it. Only gave it a 9 cos it was not obvious first time - sorry! :-)

kenskid

Nikon D700

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

06/19/2006 02:15:32 PM · #12

I didn't have time to vote fairly so I did not vote...However, your shot with the face in the shadow is great. I would have immediatly gave it a 7. I would have then went over all of the shots and may have moved you up to an 8.

The photo itself is worth a 5 but I would have given 7-8 on a concept that worked and NO ONE else figured out !

KS

Originally posted by ltsimring:

Katmystiry

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

06/19/2006 02:19:07 PM · #13

I did not vote on this challenge either but as soon as I saw the thumb in this thread I saw the face shadow. Very clever!!

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

06/19/2006 02:19:13 PM · #14

I caught the "metaphor" instantly, no problem there. Conceptually a great shot, in execution it suffers a little as others have pointed out. I did a quick tweak in PS (not a very good one) to explore an alternative, hope you don't mind. Note that I've also cropped from the left to get the profile off center..

This isn't great by any means, but I've tried to mute the harshness of the light and get some drama into the BG...

R.

06/19/2006 02:29:29 PM · #15

Bear,
i like your rendition a lot, I think it is a great idea to darken the background a bit and add vignetting to increase its "somberness". Darn, did not think about it :).

Beetle

06/19/2006 02:31:05 PM · #16

Originally posted by ltsimring:

What other problems do you think this photo has?

I hope you won't get mad at me. Some of these negatives are just my personal preference. Mostly they are very minor points, and you did ask :-)
Just remember I DID you give a 7, and this is only my humble opinion:

1)The overall compostion feels a bit off balance - bottom heavy
2)The lighting is harsh. I understand the need for it, but that doesn't make it any better. Different lighting might also have helped to minimize/stop the shadows on the fruit itself (from other bits of fruit).
3)I would prefer if the shadow was further away from the fruit. Again, that might make things even more difficult, but I feel it would look better.
4)I wish I couldn't see the ends of the table that the fruit is sitting on. I'd prefer it if was continuous and out of the frame.
5)The shadow line above and below the shadowhead is an almost perfectly straight line. I would have preferred more of an illusion of a bed.

After all this criticism, I must add that I don't think I could have done it any better, and that I still really like the idea and the photo.

06/19/2006 02:34:55 PM · #17

Originally posted by Beetle:

Originally posted by ltsimring:
What other problems do you think this photo has?

I hope you won't get mad at me. Some of these negatives are just my personal preference. Mostly they are very minor points, and you did ask :-)

Karin, why would I be mad at you?! I really appreciate you taking time to answer my call, and I cherish thoughfull comments like yours.

Lev

Beetle

Nikon AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 28-70mm f/2.8D IF-ED

06/19/2006 02:42:32 PM · #18

Phew :-)

caba

Nikon D800

06/19/2006 02:51:28 PM · #19

It's a lot better than my old shot a while back

, I think more people were looking for shadows this time around.

zheka

Nikon D50

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D

06/19/2006 03:08:17 PM · #20

I didn't vote, but when I looked at some photos after the challenge, I glanced at yours and didn't see it, until now. However, I'm sure that if I was voting, I would've looked more carefully.

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

06/19/2006 08:34:45 PM · #21

Originally posted by caba:

It's a lot better than my old shot a while back , I think more people were looking for shadows this time around.

Your shot amazes me a lot more than mine :). It was relatively easy for me to "assemble" a face shadow from many little fruits and veggies, but to make a good face just from four fortune cookies... now, that's pretty amazing. Was it pure luck or you knew what you were doing beforehand?

I agree that the challenge theme has made my shot a lot easier to digest.

Edit: the score you got is ridiculous...

Message edited by author 2006-06-19 20:36:00.

JRalston

Canon EOS-20D

06/19/2006 08:38:29 PM · #22

I am guessing most people 'got it.' Honestly, if your shadow wasn't done so creativly, I think the picture would have gotten a much lower score. (Because the lighting is not attractive for a still life) You got a great score and a great placement. People saw the creativity and you were rewarded :) Congrats!