The original concept I had for this challenge was completely different, but I was having a difficult time trying to represent my idea the way I wanted. I ended up taking this shot on a whim while walking along the edge of a lake with some friends late one night and decided that the simplicity and tonality of the image was more in line with what I really wanted to share than my original attemps were.
It's a 50 second exposure shot at ISO100. The light illuminating the low bank of clouds is not the sun but actually a prison on the other side of the mountain ridge. I had my friend shine his flashlight on the trunk of the tree to give it separation from the otherwise engulfing darkness.
After the challenge:
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Thanks to everyone who took the time to comment on my image - this was my first challenge entry and the process was very interesting.
I fully understand those who felt the image was too dark - aside from the fact I've found it does look different on different monitors, I do accept that art is subjective. :) I tried adjusting the levels a bit before I made my final submission, but I just felt that making it any brighter sapped all of the feeling from the photograph. Ironically, I didn't do much post work to it - just bumped the saturation a little and cloned out some branches I found distracting - most of the vinetting was not me going crazy with a black paintbrush but rather a simple result of the fact that it was shot in near complete darkness. The shutter was a long 50 seconds, and the result was what you see here.
I feel the picture really represents a feeling I wanted to express at the time, and I'm glad that some people were able to share in that. Interestingly, the shot that took the blue ribbon has a very similar approach, though certainly the style and emotion is much different. I am honored to have averaged over 6 on my first challenge photo and the start of my DPC journey!
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Place: 46 out of 251 Avg (all users): 6.0195 Avg (commenters): 6.2381 Avg (participants): 5.8085 Avg (non-participants): 6.1982 Views since voting: 1634 Views during voting: 309 Votes: 205 Comments: 27 Favorites: 1 (view)
you've closed it off quite a bit, but what's left is interesting to look at. the part I like the best is flat that just has a little color and the whispy grass silhouette. hope your not getting killed with this photo.
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