Voodoo is pretty well-known around the globe (albeit by different names and spellings), so I thought it would be a good idea to run with. I wanted to do the shot so bad that I ended up making my own voodoo doll after not being able to track one down. :)
One piece of burlap, some spanish moss, a little hemp string, and two sticks - wallah! Voodoo doll! :D I tried to make it as authentic as possible to match a New Orleans variety of doll (and not the poppet-style dolls of Europe). This was the trial run of my new macro lens, so hopefully I'll get some good feedback. :)
Raw adjustments. Adjustment layers for Levels, Hue/Saturation, and Brightness/Contrast. Cropped and resized down with Bicubic Sharper.
Statistics
Place: 13 out of 97 Avg (all users): 6.2597 Avg (commenters): 7.6522 Avg (participants): 5.9565 Avg (non-participants): 6.3038 Views since voting: 1794 Views during voting: 558 Votes: 362 Comments: 30 Favorites: 2 (view)
First off - this is a very strong image as evident by the 6+ score. Technically very good. Rather than go through the exposure, composition, technique issues, let me try to tell you what would have kicked this score up into the top 10 or higher.
When I first saw this image I didn't get the heart thing. I don't always read the title although I should. My feeling is if you have to rely on the title too much you're probably not going to score very high.
The heart thing along with the voodoo is an excellent idea. Titling the voodoo doll up a bit would accomplish 2 things:
1. The viewers could make out the heart shape of the pins better,
2. The DOF would not be as shallow.
I like the shallow DOF, but I think it is distracting from the image here instead of enhancing it. Positioning the camera a little higher and s little more on top would have the same effect as tilting the doll up a bit.
Again, I think this is one of the stronger images in the challenge. These are just my ideas to improve the placement. Congrats on a top 20 placement!
I hope this was helpful. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
One of my top three picks for this challenge. I love the DOF, and I love how the heart (not a central piece as far as meeting the challenge goes, you could take it or leave it really) is not entirely obvious at first - inspires a second look.
Great shot. I wish the pins were a little more front on, so we could see the heart shape. However, the bokeh is fabulous, and the focus is sharp. Wonderful work.
Yikes! Hope you never get angry with me!!! ;^) Fun concept and well executed. Well positioned composition. DOF is right on for this image and does a nice job of bleeding out the bg.
Very fun dof on this image. with the red pins and single black also very fun. but, maybe a more humoniod shape L()L. but its fun. But, its not really a superstition or a Urban legend, more of a religion.
Bravo. Finally a decent image. The best one I've seen so far. GREAT dof and interesting subject. I like the way you did a tight crop. The red head pins really give it pop. Good job.
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