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A Strange Quest
1st PlaceA Strange Quest
gyaban


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: April Fool (Advanced Editing VII*)
Camera: Canon EOS-5D Mark II
Lens: Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM
Date: Apr 12, 2014
Date Uploaded: Apr 12, 2014


[Apr. 19th, 2014 07:52:17 PM]

When I saw the challenge topic, I immediately remembered that one, for which was also needed a rubber ducky and some other peculiar items. Since my entry used the ducky as a central component back then, I decided to make the potato the hero this time.

From there, it was quite obvious to create a little being riding the ducky, seeking for adventure. But what kind of goals could a potato-man be after? This is how that potato masher came to mind. I decided to construct some kind of mountain, which would symbolize the knight's aim. During the afternoon, I took my wheelbarrow to the river next to my house, and transported some rocks back into my home-studio. I spent the evening arranging them, and added some old roots among them, to make the edifice look like it was an old construction.

The day after, I tried to create the potato-knight himself, but quickly ran into a proportion problem. The ducky I had was way too small, compared to the toothbrush, the watch, or even the coffee cup! In expert editing this would have been trivial to fix, but in advanced I had no choice but go to the toy store, where I finally found a bigger version that was much more suitable for my project.

Shooting the scene went smoothly: a main softbox from the upper left (to support the direction of the knight's look), a strobe from behind the rocks for some backlighting, a cobra pointing to the masher for drama, and a last softbox from behind/right at mid power, just for rim light. Some smoke for good measure, and that was it. On the computer, I spent a few hours carefully masking each portion of the photo, in order to be able to adjust colors independently (turned the background to green, the ducky to white, the toothbrush to red, etc.), which permitted to enforce the mysterious atmosphere I wanted for that shot.

Thank you for the kind votes and comments!

Statistics
Place: 1 out of 28
Avg (all users): 7.8312
Avg (commenters): 9.5333
Avg (participants): 7.9167
Avg (non-participants): 7.8154
Views since voting: 2491
Views during voting: 388
Votes: 77
Comments: 26
Favorites: 1 (view)


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AuthorThread
04/24/2014 11:07:50 AM
Such exceptional creativity and implementation. You've crafted a wonderful story from mundane objects. Thanks.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/21/2014 06:54:03 AM
Congrats on the blue, Christophe!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/21/2014 01:07:17 AM
Archive Collection - Food Faces & Edible Effigy
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/20/2014 05:37:39 PM
Definitely not a surprise this got the blue. Congrats Christophe.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/20/2014 12:18:29 PM
Back where you belong... Congrats once more!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/20/2014 10:15:02 AM
cool!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/20/2014 09:36:35 AM
Congratulations! Brilliant!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/20/2014 08:13:38 AM
Originally posted by SandyP:

How fun it must be at your house... and how fun it would be to be in side your brilliantly creative head for an hour or so! Congratulations! This is wonderful!


this.

well done
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/20/2014 07:47:07 AM
Congratulations! Well deserved. Its fun sharing the front page with you ;-)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/20/2014 01:28:19 AM
How fun it must be at your house... and how fun it would be to be in side your brilliantly creative head for an hour or so! Congratulations! This is wonderful!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
04/19/2014 11:38:47 PM
I love everything about this photo... Nice work!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/19/2014 07:51:36 PM
Wow what a composition
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/18/2014 09:28:35 PM
Tragic, quixotic image of innocent adventurer thinking he's attained the Holy Grail, just to stumble upon Mt. Potato Soup. Co-favorite.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/18/2014 03:11:59 PM
Must be a Christophe -- Truly incredible!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/17/2014 09:32:34 PM
Absolutely fantastic. Great concept and execution.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/17/2014 12:25:57 AM
I know who this is.... :-)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/15/2014 10:01:07 AM
very artsy.. great rendering
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/15/2014 08:55:59 AM
Best in show award, congrats
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/13/2014 05:10:17 PM
brilliant and perfectly executed!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/13/2014 04:16:43 PM
ha! Love it
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/13/2014 01:20:32 PM
This is awesome.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/13/2014 11:43:01 AM
Best in the Challenge! Christophe?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/13/2014 11:33:56 AM
Ha! what a cute little story!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/13/2014 12:16:08 AM
wow, i had the same concept, but you rocked this , 10 !!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/13/2014 12:14:16 AM
Very well done!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/13/2014 12:03:17 AM
Ribbon. amazing!


(commenting only)
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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