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Digging to China
dsidwell


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Dirt (Advanced Editing V)
Collection: Portfolio
Camera: Sony DSC-F828
Location: River Heights, UT USA
Date: Dec 10, 2006
Aperture: f 4.0
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/125
Galleries: Humorous, Black and White
Date Uploaded: Dec 10, 2006

 This is my son, Owen. For years, my kids refused to pose for me because of DPC overkill (my wife and I were constantly asking our kids to pose for us). But now they're warming up to it again. Except in this case he was in about 20 degree weather with no shirt--oh the abuse!

This is a real wildcard and I have no idea how it will do.

To those who say it is overprocessed, no offense, but as I used to say as a kid: "No duh." I wanted a slight post-apoctalyptic feel to it, just for fun, so I chose the high-contrast, grainy approach.

PP: I selected the face with a very large feather and converted to b/w using mostly the blue channel in the channel mixer, which brought out the freckles and made him look dirtier. Then I inversed the selection and used the red channel for the sky and background. This eliminated the need for lots of burning. Then I added contrast via unsharp mask at a HUGE pixel radius and a medium percentage. This gave the image a more processed look, but what you're seeing is just sharpening over a larger feathered distance. Lastly, I used the highlight/shadow feature to bring out more detail in the darker areas below and used it again on the lighter areas above. I then resized for web, sharpened again, and added another light highlight/shadow again to lift it a little.

Statistics
Place: 16 out of 144
Avg (all users): 6.4745
Avg (commenters): 8.4444
Avg (participants): 6.5000
Avg (non-participants): 6.4597
Views since voting: 1747
Views during voting: 407
Votes: 196
Comments: 26
Favorites: 8 (view)

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AuthorThread
 12/18/2006 11:24:07 PM
So that's what a frozen smile looks like? :)
It's great that your photography is becoming a family thing again.
Top 2 in "dirt" for me. Excellent effect with this pic.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/18/2006 02:28:00 PM
Glad you got your kids back to modeling for you, this one is a natural :) what fun shot!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/18/2006 06:36:32 AM
awesome image David...he looks like he's having a ball! I thought this would be a top 5 image...well done on 16th in any case...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/18/2006 03:04:10 AM
Great shot David... Great to have such beautiful models hanging around :o) Congrats on the score and top 20...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/18/2006 02:06:44 AM
that boys got a hollywood face! looks like mad magazine guy. great shot!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/18/2006 12:36:49 AM
A wonderful and fun image with a super model. Love that expression! Congratulations on your top 20 finish
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/18/2006 12:35:40 AM
this was my favorite of the challenge and the only 10 i gave. such a fun shot! nice work, David...congrats on top 20! :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
12/17/2006 05:59:06 PM
HA!! I love this shot. Great model and the goggles just clinch it! Back to bump you up to 9.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/17/2006 04:01:35 PM
There's a delightful whimsy about this.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/14/2006 01:51:00 PM
LOL!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/13/2006 11:52:51 PM
he's up to his neck in dirt, good. - 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/13/2006 10:18:46 PM
This photo makes a lot of connections with the past for me, including the title. Thanks for the effort to post it. B&W is good in this one too.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/12/2006 11:49:08 PM
This is of course a 10 and my personal blue ribbon. I mean, come on.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/12/2006 10:33:50 PM
Hilarious and adorable at the same time. Love the expression. Great job with the black and white. Lighting is great and background really works well. Making it a fav!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/12/2006 10:24:14 PM
this is really really well done. love it.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/12/2006 10:22:52 PM
Fantastic!! My pick of the litter.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/12/2006 08:30:52 PM
Excellent job. I really like the processing on this. 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/12/2006 08:04:33 PM
This is hilarious! Love it. Love the title and the goggles and the expression. Something seems a touch off with the PP. The dirt in the bangs seem fake. Not sure what it is.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/12/2006 04:05:48 PM
A child buried this time. I've got you neck and neck with the older gentleman. ;) Nice job.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/11/2006 09:24:06 PM
Yeah, sure. Good luck! :)))) Love it, good entry, great title. The goggles are a wonderful touch. And that grin is fantastic. ~9
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/11/2006 07:31:08 PM
Cool! I'll bet he had a blast doing this shot! :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/11/2006 06:23:43 PM
Funny shot, well done. Nice work on this shot.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/11/2006 12:06:08 PM
Cute idea. I like it. 7 for now.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/11/2006 12:44:16 AM
omg! this is soooooooooo fabulous!!!!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/11/2006 12:43:45 AM
LOL. Wonderful, weird, far out idea. 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/11/2006 12:07:39 AM
hillarious, well done...love the pose and the reflection on the glasses...hope this does well for you
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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