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Ominous
Ominous
Alex_Petrini


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Masters' Free Study III (Advanced Editing VII*)
Collection: Portfolio
Camera: Nikon D800
Lens: Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G
Location: Rocca Calascio - Italy
Date: Jan 24, 2014
Date Uploaded: Jan 24, 2014
[Feb. 1st, 2014 05:55:31 PM]

"Hyella was a land of endless winter. 101 people lived in the cold village alongside the eternal blue ice of the lagoon, and equally endless fog was a fact of life for them. Even the old Stasya couldn't remember a day of his long life when the sun had shone bright in the sky. Hyella was a world unto itself. No one walked away. Over the years some had tried, but they all had been found dead in the snow, slaughtered by no one knew who or what.

So life dragged on slowly and immutably. The fog forced the villagers to do some things as a cohesive group: hunting, for instance, required that they link hands and form a huge snake to walk through the fog. One end of it remained anchored in the village while the other end roved the impenetrable fog seeking food. It was a hard and vital task which required the cooperation of all the villagers, even the oldest and youngest, to succeed.

Now Stasya was dying, a 105 year-old woman who had never spent a day of her life in the warmth of the sun. She remembered the old saying: "When the eldest pass away and in the village five times twenty remain, the time will come, and with it the sun." She was the oldest and she was about to die in her bed. Beside her, her granddaughter Olga was crying. She knew what was going to happen. And as soon as Stasya passed away some feeble rays of light entered the room through the window.

All the village gathered outside Stasya's house. Now voices were becoming louder and louder and meanwhile the rising sun showed Olga the path she had to follow. Hyella's villagers had finally been given a chance to escape from that natural prison. But the old saying also said: "There's only a woman who should catch the light, or at least she might." So Olga wiped away her tears and began walking towards the sun. Hyella was screaming, they whole village acclaiming her as she set out on her journey.

Olga walked and walked and walked. She knew she was the hope of the entire village; she couldn't fail. She didn't even realize she had begun running, running towards the sun, her eyes wide open. Then she stopped and took a deep breath. Suddenly sun was fading and fog was real and thick once again. She was lost and that was an ominous sign.

But she felt different: she could move fog with her arms. So she began dancing and laughing. And then she realized she could see her old village, Hyella, from above. She was huge compared with it. So she could finally blow the fog away and save it… but she didn't. She covered it once again with fog. She was become a goddess, and always the gods have been unpredictable and ominous".

Thanks to Robert (Bear Music) for helping me editing this story in English, I hope you liked the reading.

Statistics
Place: 21 out of 98
Avg (all users): 6.4830
Avg (commenters): 7.2667
Avg (participants): 6.4603
Avg (non-participants): 6.4956
Views since voting: 831
Views during voting: 418
Votes: 176
Comments: 19
Favorites: 0

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AuthorThread
Nikon D750
Nikon AF-S Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED
 02/03/2014 01:36:34 AM
So basically, she's a tease?

Congrats, Alessandro. I never fail, do I...??? LOL
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max
 02/03/2014 12:49:51 AM
ha you tricked me! very nice work alex
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max
 02/02/2014 06:51:02 PM
please please please play more often, this is just a tease!
(PS i love it)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Leica SL
Voigtlander Ultron 35mm f/1.7 Aspherical MF Wide Angle - Black
 02/02/2014 05:56:55 PM
Well constructed and presented. Communicates a mood.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II
Olympus 60mm f/2.8 Macro M.Zuiko Digital ED
 02/01/2014 08:41:45 AM
She looks more cold than "Ominous".
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-D60
Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
 01/30/2014 08:12:54 PM
On Wednesdays, we wear black...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Olympus OM-D E-M1
Olympus 75-300mm f/4.8-6.7 II M.Zuiko ED
 01/30/2014 04:24:01 PM
Love the mood and sharpness on her. Very Heida style.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Fujifilm XF 35mm f/2 R WR
 01/30/2014 11:57:28 AM
Very interesting image in which indistinct landscape is used to set off a shallow depth of field foreground. The central character, who looks like she's floating, is subtly framed by patches of vegetation. I like it, though the atmosphere seems more pensive than ominous.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-40D
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II
 01/29/2014 05:11:25 PM
the narrow depth of field reduces the overall interest of the photo by subordinating the background too much. the less background you have, the less interaction between foreground and background you have. The less interaction you have, the less energy and interest you have. The trick is to keep the interaction from being a distraction. Eliminating it is too easy an answer.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D7200
Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G
 01/29/2014 02:53:39 PM
Gorgeous.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D800
Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6G
 01/29/2014 12:01:58 PM
Good for a thriller book cover, great job !
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-6D Mark II
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS
 01/29/2014 03:50:31 AM
Ominous and fantabulous. 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS
 01/29/2014 01:21:36 AM
She almost looks as though she's floating when you first see it, as though she's been pasted into the background - probably a result of how dark/sharp her cape is against the OOF background. Love the wee bits of foliage to the left, and would guess she looks less pasted in if seen in a larger size.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-5D Mark III
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L II
 01/28/2014 06:59:33 PM
Beautiful image, really like her expression and the fade to fog.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS R6
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 L Macro IS USM
 01/28/2014 04:48:02 PM
Something about the fog in this really turns up the photo to another level.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D750
Nikon AF-S Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED
 01/28/2014 02:48:16 PM
Loving that fog, and the cold, Alessandro :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon Z8
Nikon NIKKOR Z 24-120 f/4 S
 01/28/2014 10:55:30 AM
almost three dimensional...she seems to float rather than stand
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Fujifilm X-Pro 1
Fujifilm XF 18mm f/2 Lens X-Pro1
 01/28/2014 12:49:12 AM
Lovely, she appears to be levitating...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D300
Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED
 01/27/2014 01:49:52 PM
I like the mood of this and the story behind it....
  Photographer found comment helpful.
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