Just me and my white sheet on the salt flats of the Great Salt Lake. Boy did the people there think I was weird! The sheet kept blowing away in the back, revealing my jeans, or the sheet just wouldn't look right with the wind. After 79 shots, this was the last one. Whew!
I do not mean to emulate any specific religion or belief system here. I just thought that the white wasteland of the salt desert combined with the white of a penitent might make a good shot. Thanks for looking!
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Place: 3 out of 197 Avg (all users): 6.8846 Avg (commenters): 8.2703 Avg (participants): 6.6636 Avg (non-participants): 7.0392 Views since voting: 8383 Votes: 260 Comments: 68 Favorites: 33 (view)
I've been meaning to comment on your shot for a few days now... I just haven't found the right words! You have created a truly powerful, emotionally evocative shot here. FANTASTIC!!!
Wow...now THAT'S what I'm talkin about! Bra-vo! You didn't just passively sit back and rationalize why your 150th flower shot from the last 3 challenges also fit 'grace'...you grabbed the bull by the horns, took control, and worked your butt off almost 80 times to make it happen. Way to create the scene! My hero for the week!
I think this is an awesome shot, and I'm glad to see it with a ribbon! One funny thing, though. Every time I see the thumbnail, to me it looks like a groundhog with a shadow behind it. Is it obvious that I'm originally from Punxsutawney, PA???
David, I love it! The last time I was there the brine flies were killing me. I thought I was a die-hard photographer! LOL. Actually, in my mind, this doesn't represent any religion, just a complete humbling before God. Very, very nice.
Very emotive and evocative. Being my only willing model I understand how exhausting and frustrating it can be trying to "act" and "direct" simultaneously.
Congrats on another green :)
Edit: it seems I was a little premature with the green...Congrats on your yellow!
Thanks for your kind comments, everyone. For the record, I tried this using the rule of thirds, and it just didn't work. For the mythic effects I was aiming for, centered was really the only choice. As you can imagine, I took about a hundred or more shots (oops--hyperbole there!) of this until I got it right. I had intended to have more ground, with the horizon in the upper third, but alas, I could not get the camera 12 feet into the air for this effect--I kept sinking into the salty mud as it was! I think Zeuszen's and dr. Rick's comments below sum up what I was trying to do.
Many congrats David! Your hard work did indeed pay off as this is definitely an outstanding piece. While I mean no disrespect to the top three positions, fine entries all, I had so hoped to see your photo there.
This shot absolutely deserved to get a ribbon, this was the only 10 I gave in this challenge. It is a great shot and absolutely a great fit to the challenge. Your effort paid off in a wonderful picture.
addition : Congrats on your upgrade to yellow. Although I now have been upgarde to blue, it would have been fully o.k. with me to let you go first, can't express in words how wonderful and fitting this image is.
wow, impressed with the lengths u went for dp. and for dealing with the stares of others. u left them with an unforgettable image. they'll tell all their friends that crazies hang out there. heheh. :oP
that said, love the dramatic effects. and the clouds.
What I love about this image, is that its openly evangelical overtures are matched, if not exceeded by such electrifying and inescapable drama that only one made of stone or plastic could withstand it.
I cannot imagine a more conducive stage than the one you have chosen to dazzle us with. Give my regards to Utah. Her expanse, really, is something else.
I am so sorry you did'nt get the extra bit for the ribbon. I will say again I love this shot!! It is/was IMO the one best representing the topic. Excellent work David!
If possible I'd have tried it aimed a little to the left, so your subject isn't so centered. Could also try cropping to a square, starting at the right edge of the shadow.
I like this image but with the subject in the middle of the frame, I wish the background was more symmetrical. Maybe even if the point of view was moved more to the left to eliminate the mountains in the background. But in any case this is still a nice image and a good potrayal for the challenge.
One of the best photos in not just this challenge but all the challenges I've seen here so far! A perfect 10 and a sure winner. The composition and tonal scale are just amazing.
Wonderful. One of my two favorites - this one is so emotionally and visually compelling. The guestures of the figure, the billowing robes that stand out from the bright sand, suspeniding the arms and focusing the viewer on their gesture appealing to the line of the horizon - the lines of clouds give such a feeling of distance and size of the world yet are simple anough to bring our eyes back to the figure and wonder how he fits in. 10 As much as I like my other favorite - this one is SO compelling, it HAS to win. Good Luck!
A nearly centered horizon tends to split an image in half, and this is no exception. But it works here because the split emphasizes the difference between God and man. Similarly, centering the subject doesn't give it as much attention as following the rule of thirds would. But that works here too because you want the center of attention to be God, which you can't depict directly. But the model's raised arms direct the viewer's attention that way. So I think the composition is very effective even though you broke two "rules".
Not a textbook composition (near-central, minimally left-tilted horizon, central subject in wide format, somewhat tightly cropped cloud swaths), but a glorious and powerful biblical image, given the spectacular scape and conditions (light, breeze etc). Pose and billowing white gown are striking and dramatically credible in this setting. The pure white, particularly, provides both a focal point within the changing tonalities of the ground and a convincing symbolism.
Both title and border are appropiate extensions of this image. Excellent, beautiful, visionary.
This is a very good idea and the feeling of grace is well expressed. I really like your idea, would perhaps have moved the man a bit out of center, but that's all. I was thinking of shooting from a lower point of view, but the horizon would have been disturbing on the body. Did you tried? Very nice and well realized shot (and good b/w choice)
Awe inspiring. A truly magnificent image. The lonliness of the landscape - the the feeling of contriteness in this man - the hills to the far right - even the beautiful clouds - bespeak Grace. And technically it's close to perfect. Congratulations! I know this will win you a ribbon.
looking forward to finding out where this was taken. black and white working well here, and the posture of your subject is fitting. i'm sure you'll have people telling you they would prefer the placement of your subject towards a corner rather than centered, but i disagree, you've placed him perfectly! good luck 10
for such a sparsely populate image, it is bursting with action. i can almost here the sky as it is filled with the torment of this mans spirit. nicely done
Wow, the emptyness, the thin clouds in the sky, the figure in white robe, the arms, the soft contrast, it all fits together very well. Absolute top in this challenge. 10 from me.
My only ten so far this challenge, a truly magnificent photo as well as topical. I love the vastness and the white sheet is a great detail. What landscape is this is it a beach? desert?
I think this subject is very convincing and that he has gotten what he seeks. I think you must know something personally about this topic to have portrayed it so well in this shot. Excellent work.
If the man was not in the center of the photo it might have a bit more power. Also the horizon seems to be centered rather than following the rule of thirds.
Seeking Forgiveness
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