Shot in the Wisconsin Veteran's Museum in Madison. This is a wax mannequin in a helicopter about 15 feet above the museum floor, a Vietnam-era exhibit, I believe. Tripod based, no flash allowed in the museum. Slight USM, convert to BW via lightness channel, perimeter radial blur, adjust brightness via curves.
I was going for the dramatic combat feel, and of course, trying to play off the proximity of this challenge to Veteran's Day.
Statistics
Place: 10 out of 90 Avg (all users): 6.3111 Avg (commenters): 8.2000 Avg (participants): 6.0968 Avg (non-participants): 6.3926 Views since voting: 1826 Views during voting: 413 Votes: 225 Comments: 19 Favorites: 2 (view)
I had no clue this was a mannequin! Excellent job! I really liked the feel of the shot. It make me think for an instant that I was in Vietnam. Very, very well done. I gave it a 7 during the challenge.
Congratulations on your 10th placing. At dinner I told my wife about this image. I believe it should have ribboned because it is in the grit of reality with that facial expression. Regardless, a very outstanding image.
Excellent shot--I like added effect of the the motion blur too. Was this being shot for a movie (guessing from the black background and studio style lighting!)
I really love this entry - black and white was a good choice here. I find myself returning to it again and again. At first I was not sure about the motion blur in the lower right hand corner, but have come to the conclusion that it works because it seems to reinforce the theme. In any event, the shot really made me stop and think (and appreciate) the sacrifices made by servicemen to serve their country. Great job!
This is very realistic. (I realize it might be real!) The motion depiction adds an appropriate amount of tension, in my opinion, and outweighs the couple of highlights that were blown out.
His expression looks a bit goofy, but this shot is still one of the best, the blurring around the edges and whatever you did to make it look like B&W nightvision really work. - 10
Wow. I've never even personally been to war. but this image touches me as if I had. It's challenging to decide whether any war in general is heroric or not of course, but the personal sacrifice by each and every soldier, onboth sides, has to be heroric in nature. Surely?! This gets a nine from me because it's so well composed and so emotively stimulating. Well done!
My favorite in this challenge. It looks like you captured this guy in an authentic moment; the sense of movement around the edges of the photo really add to that feeling.
The gun does 2 things. It obviously adds to the picture in that context is further extablished. It also IMO takes away from the hero aura. Soldiers are heroes because they fight and would die for freedom etc. Not because they killed or would kill for it. Anyways, as for the picture. I love it. I think it has trememdous impact. The b&w, even the centered composition doesn't bother me. The focus is great, and like I said, the composition is excellent. Best of the challenge thus far.
Very nice shot. His expression on his face is excellent and I would have liked to see it even closer. I think I would have cropped it a little closer and maybe not so centered. I'm personally not wild about the blur either. Good luck. I bet you'll do well with this.
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