Two days before this challenge was announced, we saw these mannequins just as you see them here, outside a country service (gas) station very near to our place. I said to Kari1 that I\'d like to capture them one day, the light was late afternoon at that stage and they were in shadow so that wasn't the time.
The very next night woohoo there was a challenge that fitted them 125%! The next morning I was sitting outside before the sun came up and started shooting as it did. I had worried about the blank and boring wall behind them but as the sun rose behind the trees, these interesting shadows started not only adding form and texture to the walls but also they framed the couple in a way that I couldn't have ever set up.
It's interesting how quickly the sun moves and how little time I had. The sun in fact rose beside one hill and 15minutes later disappeared behind another. In between it filtered its light through the trees and played just in and around the service station and the couple.
The 'couple' were bought in Hamilton NZ by the Dutch imigrant owner and his wife last year. So there the couple sit from dawn to dusk every single day, never getting older, never getting sick and never going to suffer through the death of their lifelong companion - coupled for eternity.
Post processing was some clone brushing, a little contrast and very little else.
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This is a very hard shot for me to critique because, through no fault of the photographer, it doesn't hold much interest for me... I do like the idea for the challenge though.
What I like about it: The overall concept for the challenge is interesting. It's kinda wierd how you can see something out and about and then a couple of days later there's a challenge that fits it... I like the shadow in the frame, but it looks a little off to me. Kind of a blueish cast to it that keeps drawing my attention.
What I don't like: I don't like how the bottom half of the shot (where the subject matter is) is so dark compared to the top half of the shot (the negative space so to speak). A little fill light would help that out. Perhaps as simple as some reflected light. The window in the top left corner is very distracting as well as the line just under it at the side of the frame and above the gray wall. The spot on the wall at about 1:00 at the very top draws my eye also. The subjects themselves look like they have some awesome detail work on them. However, because they are so small it's very hard to see it. Also because the primary light is coming at them so directly, it makes them look a little flat. This light also makes rather harsh shadows behind their heads.
I think that this is a very interesting scene and would love to see you revisit it at different times and different angles and see what else you can come up with. I think this would be a very cool pic if you could catch it with a bit of snow on it...
Is it odd that they aren't real? If they were real people, I think this would be a GREAT shot. Although, I probably would have cropped some of the top off.
I like the lighting here. This photo would have been better without the window in it. Hard to compose that way, unless you could move the bench about a foot to the right...
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