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Perfectly Poised
Perfectly Poised
L1


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Balance (Advanced Editing II)
Camera: Kodak DX6490
Location: Greenville TX
Date: Jul 17, 2004
Aperture: 2.8
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/8
Galleries: Still Life, Studio
Date Uploaded: Jul 18, 2004

Little wooden man (we call him Woody around the house)...and let me tell those of you who don't have one of these guys - you've got to get one. But it was HECK trying to get him into the various poses I tried, and then to get just the right "balance" to maintain this one. But once I got him into the right position, it worked well. I used black posterboard, a white strip of paper...60 watt incandescent desk lamp. Post included cropping, brightness/contrast adjustment, levels adjustment, curves adjustment, cloned out dust spots and distractions on posterboard, dodge/burn on legs and arms to bring out highlights and tone down bright spots, resize, USM. Special thanks to BP for the great idea! :o)

File: - C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Desktop\balance\000_0491.JPG

Make - EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY
Model - KODAK DX6490 ZOOM DIGITAL CAMERA
Orientation - Top left
XResolution - 230
YResolution - 230
ResolutionUnit - Inch
YCbCrPositioning - Centered
ExifOffset - 506
ExposureTime - 1/8 seconds
FNumber - 2.80
ExposureProgram - Aperture priority
ExifVersion - 220
DateTimeOriginal - 2004:07:17 21:14:55
DateTimeDigitized - 2004:07:17 21:14:55
ComponentsConfiguration - YCbCr
ShutterSpeedValue - 1/8 seconds
ApertureValue - F 2.83
ExposureBiasValue - 0.00
MaxApertureValue - F 2.83
MeteringMode - Multi-segment
LightSource - Auto
Flash - Not fired, compulsory flash mode
FocalLength - 6.30 mm
FlashPixVersion - 010
ColorSpace - sRGB
ExifImageWidth - 2304
ExifImageHeight - 1536
InteroperabilityOffset - 2404
ExposureIndex - 100
SensingMethod - One-chip color area sensor
FileSource - Other
SceneType - Other
CustomRendered - Normal process
ExposureMode - Auto
WhiteBalance - Auto
DigitalZoomRatio - 0.00 x
FocalLengthIn35mmFilm - 38 mm
SceneCaptureType - Standard
GainControl - None
Contrast - Normal
Saturation - Normal
Sharpness - Normal
SubjectDistanceRange - Unknown

Statistics
Place: 32 out of 139
Avg (all users): 5.9239
Avg (commenters): 6.6000
Avg (participants): 5.8161
Avg (non-participants): 6.0206
Views since voting: 4699
Views during voting: 341
Votes: 184
Comments: 13
Favorites: 3 (view)


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AuthorThread
07/27/2004 11:31:14 AM
Greetings from the Critique Club...

Hi Laurie...

I have always been fascinated by the wooden mannequins. I think they provide us with some unique photograph opportunities. Since they are human in form, they seem to easily offer 'life' where there is none. This in itself, can be fascinating :) I believe that Man Ray may have been one of the first photographers to use these as photo props. Some of his photos using these as props may have been done as early as 1926. There is a series called "Mr. and Mrs. Woodman" and another called "La Television" that I'm aware of. These are worth taking a look at if you are interested... search the web and see what you come up with. I have photographed a few of these myself and it is quite entertaining :)

I think your photograph here meets the challenge nicely. Your creative lighting also adds to the image. There are lots of opportunities for creative use of light here. This is one of those situations where you have to try a lot of different options and see what works best. If I was setting this up, I would try lots of different lighting scenarios before I started shooting. I find it interesting to simply observe how light interacts with a subject and how I can change that interaction by moving the light. This particular image would be quite intriguing if the mannequin was back-lit also. Back lighting could possible silhouette the mannequin and create a highlight border around it. The shapes and textures of this mannequin create some excellent shadow/highlight detail.

Another element that I would look at in a little more detail here is 'depth'. You chose to photograph this mannequin from a perspective that is fairly flat. Try some experimentations with different camera angles that create the sense of depth with this subject. With photography, that dimension of depth can be very powerful.

You received one comment here that I agree would be worth examination. Keegbow's comment about the crop... I also feel that some elements of this composition are dangerously close to the edge/corners of the frame. Filling the frame with your subject is usually a good idea, but you have to leave some amount of breathing room as well. The upper right corner is where this is most dominant in your photo.

Cheers and good luck in future challenges :)

John Setzler
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/26/2004 08:59:29 PM
Very simple and straight to the point. I liked the lighting and pose, gave this an 8 :)

Good luck...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/26/2004 05:57:01 AM
Clap clap clap...
Simple, effective & well lit.

:)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
07/25/2004 10:48:32 PM
Great idea and composition, but the splotchy red on the back of the head is out of place
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/25/2004 09:17:56 PM
I voted a few days ago:
Very good lighting and composition. Virtually flawless.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/24/2004 10:22:51 PM
This needs just a little more light. Neat pose, and you setting (whatever that line is) is a grat idea.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/23/2004 10:44:36 AM
The key to these figure shots is the lighting. This is pretty good. I think you could've added a little drama by lighting it with a spotlight and having a lighted spot on the floor with the shadow of the figure near the center of it. Not that it NEEDS it, but just a thought.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/23/2004 09:56:28 AM
i like the lighting on this
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/23/2004 06:06:18 AM
I like this, shows balance and has good lighting only downside is i feel it is cropped a little tight.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/21/2004 11:27:07 PM
Good image that fits the challenge well. Good technical photograph. Guess I'm a little worn out with "Woody," which pulled my vote down somewhat.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/20/2004 09:40:38 PM
perfect shot (10)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/20/2004 11:27:22 AM
Great use of lighting on this shot!
Simplistic, interesting theme & good composition/posing on the figure.
A well-deserved ((8))
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/19/2004 12:37:20 AM
BEAUTIFUL! The lighting and composition are great.
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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