Again a trip to the Renaissance Festival was a plethora of subject matter, I never feel short changed after being there for a day. This day on my way out I found Merlin the Magician on a hill side just enjoying the day. What a topic for D&L the Destiny of King Arthur and the Legacy of Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table.
Only slight levels and small cloning to blur out some litter and a slight blur of Merlin’s costume and there you have it. Enjoy
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Damon had some good points in his post about this image, I thought I would share with all of you what I wrote him. Thank you everyone for your comments.
Hello Damon,
First let me say thanks for commenting on my image of Merlin the Magician in the D&L Challenge. I am sorry this took so long but I have been really busy lately and that is a good thing. (Getting paid to photograph people.)
You mention in your critique on my image “you should leave room for your subject's gaze in a picture like this without a strong overriding reason for doing otherwise.” I completely agree. See the strong overriding reason for Merlin to be looking out to the right like that had to do with the title of the image.
My D&L was Destiny and Legacy. If you are familiar with the story of Merlin, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, you know that before Arthur the land was dead and after he came the land thrived. So notice in the image all the dark to the left, that was my idea of the dark and dismal past before Arthur and as your eyes move to the right it brightens up until you see Merlin who knows the future (you don’t) so Merlin is forcing you to wonder what comes next. As Merlin is the only person looking outside the image he also is the only person who can predict the future. The Destiny of the kingdom.
I did that shot just like that; it was not cropped or shifted in anyway to make him be looking out of the frame to what we can only guess about. Maybe it is too much to ask to force a reaction from people by doing that. What can I say? I know very well of the rule you are talking about, if you noticed my “God Save the Queen image I did just what you are talking about.
Thanks again and never fear commenting on my images I like yours as well and you said many nice things about my work. Love sharing that’s why I joined. Be well.
You know, I'm looking at this picture here... and I'm thinking, boy, all the pieces are really cool, but they just don't fit together quite right! The blue/green/brown color scheme is great, the textures and lighting in the trees are great, and the Merlin dude looks quite the part. The only problem is... he's looking the wrong way! There's a tacit compositional rule that you should leave room for your subject's gaze in a picture like this without a strong overriding reason for doing otherwise. If Merlin were looking the other way, this photo would instantly be much more balanced. Your ability to take good pictures is clear from this example... just a few minor tweaks are necessary!
The direction that your model is facing makes this image feel unbalanced. I'd rather see this framed to place him on the other side of the frame of have him turn and face the other direction.
My eyes keep looking where the wizzard is looking and that leads me right out of the photograph, and I don't really even look at the left hand side of the photo. I do like the coloring and think it's a good concept, however.
I love medieval , but the subject seem alittle overdressed for the scenery, maybe if you had moved in closer and put more emphasis on the character I would have liked this one much more., Still it has many good aspects.
How fun...great costume and setting. A bit bright; would like to see more enhancement of the greens and perhaps some gaussian blur to make it a bit more dreamy. :)
Is that Willie Nelson in that wizard's costume? LOL I'd bring up the green tones a bit and maybe play with curves for a richer feeling. Fairy tale like, eh? I go for it!!!
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