This was so much fun to do!! I live just a few minutes away from Jamestown Settlement, but I really haven't done much shooting there. It just hasn't been my thing. But in looking through Robert Llewellyn's Jamestown work, I thought it would be a fun place to explore.
Anyway, as I was walking through the old fork area, I walked into an old building, and there was a chicken!! The most wonderful chicken! The lighting in the room was great, and the chicken was... well... wonderful!! So I took pictures of the chicken for awhile.
(no... he wasn't on the table. He was on the floor, back in the corner.)
Then I remembered the guy outside of the fort. He was wonderful, too!
I went and asked the guy if he'd come in the fort and sit at the table because I wanted him to stare at the chicken.
Well, I explained it a little bit better to him than I'm explaining it to you, but I'll keep going anyway...
So my idea was to have him sitting at the table and just having a stare down with the chicken, it was the guy that stuck out his finger like he was scolding the chicken.
It was perfect!! It was wonderful!!
I had a guy pointing at nothing in a great room with neat lighting.
And a chicken in the corner.
So he shooed the chicken out of the corner in front of the table, which was great, because the lighting was pretty much the same on the chicken on the floor as it would be on the table, and I happily went home.
I cut my chicken out, put him up on the table, and realized I had absolutely no idea how large a chicken should be!! I think he's a little larger than normal, but no one really commented on my chicken with a glandular condition, so I think I got away with it.
However...
Luckily...
after I went back to look at what a chicken shadow should look like (direction, intensity, etc...)
I realized that a chicken should have a tail!!
You see that dark part sticking up from the chicken? My chicken kinda didn't have that dark part at first... I kinda missed cutting out that part, because it blended into the original background... so he had a short, non existant type of tail.
(yes -- I know my chicken should be a she. Be he wants to be a he!)
Well, I put his tail back on, created a shadow and a bit of a reflection and started to work on the painting as a whole. There is an oil painting filter on this -- although I like it better without, and you can't really tell at 800 pixels, so I don't know why I bothered. The biggest thing was working with the lighting. The light from the window and the door just had to be brought down significantly. Each time I thought it was brought down enough, I brought it down even more. There's definitely toning on this -- but mostly just warming. It was already quite warm, but the shadows, and the light were rather blueish, so that was warmed significantly.
Ok -- that's about it. Except the fact that I really love this, and I printed out a copy to bring back for the chicken and some corn to bring back for the guy. :)
Thanks for all the comments!!
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Place: 2 out of 102 Avg (all users): 7.6695 Avg (commenters): 8.7895 Avg (participants): 7.2115 Avg (non-participants): 8.0303 Views since voting: 8046 Views during voting: 357 Votes: 118 Comments: 52 Favorites: 7 (view)
My favorite! I could stare at this picture for hours. There is a whole story behind this, that each viewer can imagine in their own minds. While mostly real, this picture is exactly like a painting. Love the colors, love the theme, love the setting. I also really enjoyed reading your "tale"!! Congrats to you, to the guy and to the chicken! I must say, I'd like to have a print of this too, and frame it!
So glad it ribboned, bc it deserved to. Love the story, you seem to have some amazing experiences happen to you whilst your taking these images, It's great being a photographer getting out there meeting people, makes you more confident I feel. What a nice man to do that for you, he looks like a nice gentleman, well done!
As for the chook you did a great job, all that mention about the shadow... I don't even look at those sorts of things, goes to show how little I know!
Congrats on the Red!!! This has all the mood, period time, and lighting (absolutely love the light) of paintings by the Old World Masters such as Rembrandt and others of that era. I also love the humor of the piece where this gent is talking down to this 'mother hen'.
I admire the use of light in this shot, to illuminate the tableau in a way that effectively counters the usual flattening effect of photography. What I mean to say: this looks just like a Old Master. And it's amusing! Good job.
Here is a Flying Pig HM for Chiaroscuro with a camera
Check out The Flying Pig thread for more.
This is an amazing photo--I hope it's not getting too many "this doesn't look like a painting" comments or lowball scores for it. I can totally see this as a painting. Bumping to 9.
I just love this scene, the lighting, the old shack, the gentleman and of course who can not love that chook. Wonderful job on the PP. My eye is drawn to the door to the right, it really looks painterly, not that the other bits don't but that part especially does. This really has the WOW factor, without over using the paint filters, which can look a little clumsy and cheapen an image.
I want to know more about the scene, look forward to the notes, has to be the winner or at least top 3. 10
Brilliant. Perfect original image and painterly application. The diaspora in this challenge is very wide. So many interpretations of the effect, tactile portrayal of paint.
The lighting here is almost like erm light painting, only those elements that needed it were lit. I'd hazard a guess this is Johanna's "Pets and their Owners" style image. Whomsoever it is it is Very Very Good.
The Dressing Down
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