I think this will be a total non-DPC type image but since I've put it this much effort in creating it (and it was fun), I'll enter it and see what happens.
This has been one of the most intensive preparations I have ever done to date. Forget the apple shot in Education with Willy the Worm. Eventhough that was gross, this was flat out filthy and dirty!
I had to sculpt "Nessie" from soft clay and "bake" her in the oven at 275 degrees fahrenheit.
Nessie came into this world weighing in at 1/2 a pound and was 6 inches tall. She was an albino too as I made the mistake of using white clay butmore on that later.
After her "birth", I had to give Nessie a bath in luke warm water and scrubbed her down with 150 grit sandpaper to smoothen and remove her rough and not-so perfect mold. She didn't even object one bit.
20 hours after Nessie's birth, her proud Papa took her down to the park for a swim. Proud Papa took some photos but Nessie was too white! She stood out against the dark, murky waters of a small pond next to the 18th hole of a golf course. Her Papa said it was illegal for them to be at that pond but he didn't care. Since Nessie was too white, her Papa took some dirty, soft mud and smeared it all over her to make her appear dark, grungy, and dirty. It worked! Nessie didn't stand out too much anymore.
On hands and knees in soft mud, proud Papa took some shots at a very low angle. The camera was literally a few inches above the ground. Papa said that it'll make for a good reflection in the pond.
Since Grandma Nessie had ripples around her when they took a candid shot of her in the one of the lakes in Scotland, Papa decided to recreate that as well. He started throwing little pebbles by Nessie's side to create the ripples in the pond. With the camera in his right hand and a pebble in the left, her Papa threw some pebbles and immediately snapped some photos.
After an hour of doing this Papa got tired and his back started to ache so he started taking sunset photos while Nessie was left behind. Poor Nessie was left behind as she saw her Papa drive away. But, 10 minutes later, she was happy to see her Papa come back and take her with him home.
After a hot bath and a quick dry, Nessie fell fast asleep... tucked away in the warmth of her Papa's props to be used again one of these days.
The end.
IMG_6482.CR2
Post Processing Converted from RAW using RSE. Using the Channels filters, I converted the image into a BW image. Adjusted Levels and Curves to darken the image. In Color Balance, I shifted the colors to Blue and Cyan to create a midnight feel to the image. Slight Noise. No NI and no Sharpening in this shot. the grain is primarily due to the high ISO used. Cropped to 470x630. 1 pixel stroke. Enlarged canvas to 640x480 and saved for web.
Disqualification Details
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Views since voting: 3841 Views during voting: 586 Comments: 48 Favorites: 1 (view)
Lovely Picture!! I like it a lot. I had been a great fan of Nessie since I was very young. (being a mystery lover) It was spectacular to see Nessie here at a DP Challenge. The story is great. Great picture too. Keep on the good work!!! Who knows when would Big Foot or Yeti would be around here? :) lol
Hahaha! I wondered whose this was when I voted on it. From your description, I think I even know what pond it's in. I've plunked a couple balls in that pond myself, sad to say...
Have been looking at this picture for a while now, trying to figure out what it is that is looking for the monster. Don´t know, but the picture is misterious and beautiful, me and my son decided on an 8... good luck.
Looks like the search is over? :) This is one of my favourites. There are plenty of little details for my eye to enjoy (such as the textures created by the weeds and ripples) and the shadows balance it nicely, but even though my eye wanders it's always drawn back to the main subject, as it should be.
Good composition, meets challenge perfectly, etc. etc. :)
Great recreation of a famous photo. Technically not a great shot, but it does conjure up a memory of the old Nessie photo that was famous for so many years.
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