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Portal to Lifes Sweeter Path
Portal to Lifes Sweeter Path
espy2


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Fantasy (Advanced Editing IV)
Camera: Fujifilm FinePix 3800
Location: Florida
Date: Jan 20, 2006
Aperture: f/8.3
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/676
Galleries: Abstract, Persuasive
Date Uploaded: Jan 17, 2006

*cloned out small area of bottom left gumdrop bush and small leaf on top of frame in sky
*selective dodge & burn (dodged to even out sugar in front inside frame, dodged clouds and sugar shadows, and burn on desaturated area and in between ivy leaves and around bushes and gumdrops)
*push tool on small and larger stick holding up frame, part of gumdrop bush on left, and to even out frame body and sugar
*selective sat, desat, and sharpen.
*crop
*border

This wasn't exactly my actual vision. I really wanted more detail and more "stuff" on this path. Maybe even a house, etc. But, I will take it, given all I went through to get it done! Story below.

Supplies:

1. 5 bags of gumdrops
2. 2 boxes of toothpicks
3. 4 small cylinder foam forms
4. 10 lbs sugar
5. 8x10 picture frame
6. Two fake ivy plants
7. 1/4" dowels (2)
8. A long wreck tangle open-top cardboard box (cut on an angle on the edge to contain sugar)

First, I spent an evening just carving the foam forms in the shape of bushes, and using sharp toothpicks to place each gum drop into them, watching each color was carefully placed. Not an easy process. Was going to do 8 bushes, but just doing four made my fingers sore.

Once those were done, I wanted to do a house, but I didn't have any old toy or anything to use to glue gumdrops too, so I thought of the path idea. Boringggggg, so I got the idea for the portal to make it interesting.

Waited for the proper sky I wanted. NOW, off to find a very steep hill to get only the sky in the background and no other trees, grass, or after ground to the sugared path. WELL, I found one. Almost a complete 90 degree angle. Still there were street telephone wires in my way, so I had to strategically do the set up to avoid the large black ones.

So, here I am, still battling the flu, and carrying 10lbs of sugar, four gumdrop bushes, a knife in case I need to carve the foam bottoms to fit the scene, a small cardboard box to lay the sugar in, two ivy branches, two long dowels, a frame, and a large sheet to lay on while I take the shot (fire ants are not nice in Florida *smile*), along with extra gumdrops in a large tub - up the steepest hill I could find. Thankfully it was in an obscure area of the park, so no one was really watching this crazy person as my sugar rolled back DOWN the hill, along with other supplies, not to mention myself and nearly my camera at one point.

So, now to lay out the sheet. I needed that for leverage and protection from fire ants and other tropical creatures that don't take kindly to be sat on. Of course, I also now felt the urge to use the bathroom, but simply HAD to do the shot first. I couldn't make this trip again up this hill. I had already nearly pulled every muscle in both legs. I was feeling the "burn". LOL...

Sheet laid out, and a stick here and there in place stopped things from getting away from me. (Scalvert would be proud had he been watching this shot take place. LOL)

Bathroom still calling me! I had to move quick!

I had just the right sky and clouds I wanted, and that changes quick around here. So, down went the cardboard, and the bushes. Bushes started rolling, so got the knife and carved the bottoms on an angle and replaced them, along with a piece of dowel in each to stab into the ground on either side of the cardboard box, making sure they didn't get away from me again. I got the sugar and dumped about 5 lbs of it in the box and moved it around the bottoms of the bushes and then I evened out the path line. Opened up the gumdrop tub and laid out a path, trying to make it look like it tapered off to one side giving the illusion the path continued on. As you can see, I was in a BIG hurry, so the tapered end of the path that got covered by the sugar later on, I didn't notice. :(

Like an idiot, I did a test shot and noticed (duhhhh) a huge mound of grass still showing from the top of this steep hill beyond the sugared area. I hadn't gone up the hill far enough, but if I had, I would have been near main traffic. FORGET THAT! SO out came those ivy branches. They were meant to go on either side of the frame in the front, BUT they now became the backdrop for the path instead, to hide the upper half of the hill. Kindof giving it a new type of dimension in the b/g to separate it from the desaturated area and normal looking area of ground.

After ivy was in place, I dumped out the rest of the 5lbs of sugar on top of the ivy to make it look like the ivy was coated and part of the "sweet world", but little of it can be seen, as it blew off or fell off from the angle. UGHHH. LOL...(Still holding in that bathroom call!)

Now to place the frame. I thought I could hold it up from the back originally, but the angle was SO steep, I had to actually have it held from the front so it wouldn't fall forward. Well, that sucked, because I didn't paint the dowels as they were originally to go in back, and they stuck out in the shot like a sore thumb. I didn't think I could clone them out cause they were now major elements as they stood out so much in the shot being natural wood in color. SO, instead I grabbed some natural twigs in my area and used one small one on the right and one larger one on the left. Blending in well with the frame and colors in the shot now, I was able to just use a push tool to rid of them.

Ok, so a test shot was done. (Still dying for a bathroom and getting worse! I'm also feeling even more ill now, and my legs are killing me from the climb and still trying to hold myself up on this angle!)

The test shot revealed too much spill off of sugar to each side of the frame! OH NO! "Think Rose, THINK"! Ok, so I yanked some weeds and grass from around me, carefully watching for creatures..LOL..and laid them over the sugar that was seen on either side of the frame and in front of the frame as it started to slide down that darn hill. It worked great! All sugar hidden.

NOW, I was ready to shoot. Sun went in and out and in and out. I was losing my clouds and sky, so I just shot and shot and shot. I got off about 30 shots and looked in the LCD monitor to see if ANYTHING was working. I could barely see anything I was shooting from the angle I was on so had to count on the LCD this time round. I could see I had enough to work with. GREAT! So, I was outa here!

I threw everything I could back in my two plastic bags, grabbed the sheet, held onto my camera for dear life, and left the sugar behind (obviously). I am sure the ants and birds will have a field day with 10lbs of sugar to play with, and the rain soon to come will wash it away. Now, back down the hill and to that bathroom, QUICK, before I leave something else behind other than sugar! LOL…

OH MY GAWD! LOL...I had forgotten going down would be harder than going up! I nearly fainted when I looked down. The thirty feet or so seemed like 300 feet! I was actually dizzy from the steepness of the incline, and from being sick. My eyes felt like they were rolling in my head from the angle I was on and trying to see through my viewfinder as often as I could at that angle when taking the shots. I was tired, sick, hot, crosseyed, and hurting. YIKES! I wish there really WAS such a portal at that point!

I decided the easiest way was to side step it down the hill, and just go as slow as possible. Praying I wouldn't faint before I got to even ground OR lose my need for the bathroom any longer. I made it! Thank goodness!!

My car was another 100' away or so, and I made it to the car! I threw everything in the back seat and high tailed my ass to the park bathroom, blasted my air conditioning in my car not to pass out from the events and being ill, and couldn't wait to get home and post process so I could get this freaking entry IN.

Some may ask why I didn't wait till I felt better to do this shot as I still had a few more days. Reason being I wanted a blue sky with a few white clouds to be captured inside the portal area (or, the frame). In Florida, unless its around 7am when you do shots, it is hard to find any day where there is a "white" cloud in the sky. Most times your not even lucky enough then to get a cloud. If you want that kind of a sky, you have to work fast when it happens. It did today, and I couldn't guarantee it would again by the 22nd. I had everything ready to go at a moments notice for my sky. So sick or not, off I went.

I wish the image had come out better focal wise, and color wise, so I didn't have to PP that in later, but I am not really complaining too much about that considering I shot this image blindly. I hope to hell it scores well - that's all I know. *smile*. This was not what I would call one of my more fun excursions for a shooting and an entry, and the hardest shot I have taken for any site to date. I hope it was all worth it in the end.

Rose

Statistics
Place: 23 out of 109
Avg (all users): 6.2607
Avg (commenters): 8.3636
Avg (participants): 5.8261
Avg (non-participants): 6.4028
Views since voting: 1474
Views during voting: 467
Votes: 280
Comments: 17
Favorites: 1 (view)


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AuthorThread
03/31/2006 12:58:48 PM
Thanks guys!! I type very fast, so from my brain to my keyboard, hence the long renditions. :) I am glad some enjoyed the photo!!
03/02/2006 03:24:24 PM
LOL what a story!! You're quite priceless *g*
Wonderful idea and execution, love it!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/30/2006 01:44:53 AM
Well done Rose, talk about short and sweet explanation! LOL You are amazing!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/30/2006 01:06:14 AM
I've never seen such a long explanation in my entire life!!! I thought I was verbose. Congrats on top 25!!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/30/2006 12:27:36 AM
I really like this shot Rose ... I think that it just puts out some of the true fantasies that people have :) I love the story once again :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
01/29/2006 05:05:06 PM
Lovely work
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/29/2006 02:45:17 PM
VEry clever and nicely set up!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/28/2006 02:40:08 AM
Wow, awesome!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/26/2006 11:19:04 PM
Nice!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/26/2006 06:35:59 PM
I had this dream when I was a kid. Love it! Nothing bad to say about this photo at all. VERY creative fit to challenge. I like the desat of the background, which really enhancecs the saturated color in the portal. Good job!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/26/2006 12:09:51 AM
EXCELLENT!!!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/25/2006 05:40:07 AM
Clear, sharp, and very cleverly done.....
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/25/2006 01:40:29 AM
Really great idea and great follow through! The whole shot comes together very nicely :-)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/24/2006 10:28:04 PM
hehe a fantasy I have had a few times.... lots of color, the use of the frame really works,especially as there is so little color outside of the frame, great focussing, a great photo
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/23/2006 02:30:25 AM
great PS work and excellent photography...you should do very well with this
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/23/2006 12:57:12 AM
CUTE! Just like a fairy tale of sorts. Interesting. I like your imagination. 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/23/2006 12:17:40 AM
hum...i would love that path!!!! 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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