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February - The Grand Marriage Proposal
February - The Grand Marriage Proposal
CNovack


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Calendar II (Advanced Editing VII)
Camera: Olympus C-8080
Location: Makeshift studio in Garage
Date: Feb 21, 2009
Aperture: 8
ISO: 50
Shutter: 1/3
Galleries: Emotive, Portraiture
Date Uploaded: Feb 22, 2009

 466157.jpg

He has had time to fix the hole in his heart and now he found love. The time has come for a grand proposal.

Some might recognize my husband from an earlier photo shoot back for the Beatles Challenge titled, Fixing A Hole Where The Rain Gets In. The Calendar II challenge is the perfect way to announce that yes a 2010 calendar is in the works...and this will be one of twelve different images with an umbrella theme to unify it.

BACKGROUND INFO
Let me just say the amount of time and effort that I put into this photo that I have two requests : I want a bloody photo studio and Weta Workshop (LOTR's movies) to do the damn builds. If I can't get Weta then the Mythbuster's build crew might do but they are more experienced in blowing things up so that might be a problem:-)

The set-up was truly frustrating as the first idea to secure the handle to the umbrella DID not work. The solution was to glue gun and superglue the handle PLUS secure it by hanging it from the garage ceiling. After I did that, I realized that there was no way the umbrella would support the weight or stay level with many empty Valentine's Heart Boxes in it. I am soooooo glad that I picked up some heart shaped Post-It notes back in Jan. for I just taped them onto the umbrella. The next frustration is that the white tablecloth was wide enough but not tall enough (my husband's hand holding the box would not have been on a white backdrop). So I had to gerryrig and tie another tablecloth to the first one hanging from the ceiling. I had the work lights behind the sheet and one smaller one with some reflectors in front and I used fill flash...still I relied on the natural light to flood into the garage to help overexpose the backdrop. I fired off test shots to get the aperture, ISO, and shutter speed just right. When we were ready to shoot what happens?????

You guessed it. The sun decided to hide behind some clouds....ARGH!!!! The next frustration after that is that one of the tines holding the glass diamond in place fell off so we had to be very careful when my husband took up the pose that it would not fall out.

I have been itching to use that diamond ring paperweight for years now. The jewelry box was a decorative box from Michael's Arts & Crafts with styrofoam to hold the ring in place. I used the black velvet cloth and some white cloth to line the inside. My husband's only complaint about the ring is that after several takes it got really heavy pretty quickly. I love my husband and am truly grateful that he puts up with my artistic madness .

Oh and the funny thing is....my husband did propose to me on Valentine's Day. You see he could not make it till May when I graduated Collage because everytime I walked past where he had the ring hid, the pit in his stomache grew larger:-)




Statistics
Place: 24 out of 182
Avg (all users): 6.2349
Avg (commenters): 7.7500
Avg (participants): 6.1563
Avg (non-participants): 6.2941
Views since voting: 1551
Views during voting: 326
Votes: 149
Comments: 13
Favorites: 0

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AuthorThread
 03/02/2009 07:08:01 PM
I loved this shot - sorry it didn't ribbon for you.... I thought for sure it would. Moreover, I love the story behind it. Nice work!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/02/2009 10:31:52 AM
I dont agree with the comments you were given at all. Most photos of men in tux and tails carry umbrellas so I never gave the thought at all that the umbrella was out of place or distracting. To me it fit perfectly as the right filler. The composition is great and so is the concept. I thought for sure this would get you a ribbon.

I sure understand your frustration about no studio. I was going to buy one this week. I had the money but my husband really wanted a camcorder. I made the money myself just for the studio lighting so he never thought to ask me for it but I was watching him eye camcorders for over a month. I decided to tell him I was going to use the money to get him a camcorder. I love him and he puts up with a lot of my artistic madness to. hahaha. My recent entry in the "Silence" challenge shows he is even willing to go to jail for me. Hahahah. He deserved to have the camcorder.

Lighting? I have always used the outdoors and just put the idea away of doing indoor studio stuff on a grand scale for a while longer. Someday I will get my own studio but its fun to do without it to. It makes a challenge more challenging sometimes. hahah.

PS: What I do for big white backgrounds is use the sky and desaturate it and then dodge. It works really good!

Message edited by author 2009-03-02 10:34:22.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
02/28/2009 12:52:39 PM
great shot 9
 02/27/2009 05:47:57 PM
nice shot
 02/27/2009 11:24:30 AM
I'm not sure what exactly is going on in this photo and i don't understand the umbrella, I think it would have helped to use some sort of grayscale.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/27/2009 11:20:40 AM
I like the idea of the photo, but it is too plain.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/26/2009 06:52:57 PM
adorable and well executed
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/26/2009 12:44:28 PM
Very unusual and cool. 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/26/2009 09:35:49 AM
Nice set-up and good composition. Thought provoking and sharp. Looks good on the white background. 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/25/2009 05:24:13 PM
Dang, is that a wedding ring or a wedding bracelet?? Interesting idea but I'm not really sure I like the composition. Perhaps if his arm were extended a little more?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/23/2009 09:08:55 PM
Absolutely wonderful! Very clever and original.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/23/2009 04:56:27 PM
This is quite cute, nice sharp focus, clean lines
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/23/2009 12:18:55 AM
Great picture - umbrellas not straight - distracting.


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