* Edit: Holy crap! Ribbons two weeks in a row?! I could get used to this. ;) Thanks to everyone for the awesome comments. :D
Knowing a Marine that may be pulled back into active duty in Iraq soon, this was an emotional challenge for me to shoot. I thought it would make a great silhouette though and convey the true pain that comes with war. No matter what your political stance is, troops are dying and that is a national tragedy...
I took this photo in the hills of Beaumont, CA in a large area of land set aside for housing development. The "soldier" is my roommate, Tom. We created the cross from two pieces of spare board and got the props from a local miltary supply store. I had to pick the angle of the shot VERY carefully, as the surrounding hills had several power lines and were very distracting. Also, there were numerous weeds along the entire top of the hill. We spent a good hour shoveling and clearing away brush. I also had to up my ISO and aperture for a faster shutter speed to deal with the fact that the wind was blowing around the dog tags.
This was taken near sunset as the sun had almost disappeared behind the hills. Security for the housing developer came by and told us we were trespassing and he would call the police if we weren't gone in half an hour. Light in the sky wasn't right yet half an hour later... So we stayed longer anyway as security returned and watched us. Finished the shot up before the police arrived. It's truly astounding how the power-trip, security type don't understand the need for perfect twilight colors... You know, sometimes you just NEED that shot. May all the troops return home safely to their families...
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Place: 3 out of 352 Avg (all users): 7.1524 Avg (commenters): 8.3667 Avg (participants): 6.9333 Avg (non-participants): 7.2927 Views since voting: 12249 Views during voting: 424 Votes: 269 Comments: 77 Favorites: 52 (view)
would still like to see a bit of info on any possible followthrough for this one... especially any possible reaction from your local authorities if you had a word with them about the situation... might pave the road a bit for the next time you have an issue... might even net a business card too... There's nothing like having a cop's business card in your wallet when buddy security guard starts pestering you about your artistic photography.
this is an amazing shot. i can't pick out anything wrong with it.
it reminds me of some words said by Lao Tzu in his book "Tao Te Ching" which holds teachings of Taoism written in poems and phrases
Hey dude... as one who as been serving for 18 years, your photo hit me pretty hard. It's not often I get a twinge of emotion from a photo here, but you did me in!! Good job and safe travels to your roommate.
Two ribbons in two weeks, and I'm supposed to critique this? Talk about intimidating.....
Technically this picture is about flawless. Focus is razor sharp, contrast is great, color, saturation and hue work well to lend the right mood to the piece. Artistically, this picture has real punch and you have taken a sihouette and told quite a story.
Is there anything that could be improved here? If there was anything at all, and this would be the absolutely smallest of things, perhaps the border. And even then I'm not sure what I would want to see different. I've noticed on several of the silhoutte shots, the border seems to run into the silhouette. This border is thinner, so the effect is just about un-noticeable.
So, what would it take to make this picture #1? Perhaps better relations between the USA and the rest of the world. People from all different countries vote in these challenges, so anything that is political, or patriotic, runs the risk of getting some lower votes from people who aren't quite so impressed with the good old US of A.
Congratulations on taking a risky subject, making a statement, and turning it into an amazing photo and a ribbon winner. No small feat indeed.
This should have won first to me, congrats on the ribbon this is truely an awesome photo. At first I thought it was a monument you shot. The gold colored background is really makes the image pop. The way he is postioned with the shovel, helmet and dog tags is what makes the image a winner to me.
Excellent question, Christopher. I'm not actually 100% sure whether security finally called the police or not. However, I do know that they watched us for awhile and then sped away in a big huff after realizing that we weren't in a hurry to finish up the shoot. Your guess is as good as mine as to whether they actually made good on their threat to call the cops or not... :)
Excellent shot. I also thoroughly enjoyed the story behind it - you're absolutely right though, this would not have had nearly the same impact without that sky behind it. Now, did the security guard actually call the police or was he just looming over you two while you were waiting for the perfect lighting?
I cannot believe that some people gave you 2s 3s and 4s. I mean even if they did not like it because of the political/religous (the cross) it does not deserve that low of a score.
Yeah...even if the cops came it'd be likely you'd be asked to go and nothing more. And they'd likely look down at the security guy with an attitude of "You bothered us about this? These guys are shooting a artistic tribute photo to our soldiers!"
Cops tend to be very supportive of such things, perhaps because in their own way, the good cops tend to be a bit of local soldier. And also because so many cops tend to be Veterans who made it back with their bodies and minds somewhat intact. And many have friends lying beneath such crosses and many more have friends who's minds did not come back so intact.
It's good to see that DPC isn't just an escape from reality but an analysis and reflection of humanity ... you've help stir some emotions with this excellent image. Nicely done and Congrats on the 2 yellahs!
I'm not much for the war, but this is one hell of a shot.
I like so many things about it. The subtle blades of grass, the rhythm of the shadows being carefully balanced, the placement of each specific identifiable element, the pose of the 'digger', the small imperfection in the base of the cross, the smoothness of the colors and gradients.
Very, VERY nice.
VERY slightly oversharpened, but I think it works. It's easily possible that this is a result of being resized.
I think you should print this shot in 8x10 and take it down to the security office to show them what you did with it. Thank them for allowing you to take a picture even though they were uncomfortable about the circumstances. Of course, I wouldn't leave the print with them, but you could maybe bring a few business cards instead and let them know how much you would sell them a print for. ;)
As a mother of a Marine I totally relate to your image and the need to create it. You spent alot of time setting this up and it paid off.
Just beautiful. Congrats on the ribbon. Well earned.
I really like the idea, and the execution. The one thing that spoils the picture is the model's pose - it looks very contrived. The model seems more intent on separating the tags from his body than on conveying the despair of burying a friend. That kills what could have been a 10.
This is in the top 5 for sure. Great colour. The detail that is maintained while still achieving a perfect silhouette is great. I like the fact that you can clearly see the dog tags and even the strap on the helmet. It is these details that made this photo stand out. Great work.
The Last Goodbye
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