So I was doing the dishes this morning. Light is nice in my kitchen in the morning. Liked the reflection on the back of the spoons in the dishwasher (which I use as a drying rack - wash by hand.) Took everything else back out of the dishwasher, shot the spoons. Thought "hmmm - maybe add some color?". Got the red posterboard, stuck it underneath the rack, got a yellowish dishtowel thingie, stuck it behind the rack. Shot again. Liked what I got.
Post processing: ARGHH! Thought I'd fixed the History log - hadn't. Well, what I think I did - used the clone tool to clone a whitish blob thingie a little; duplicate layer for curves, set to (I think) soft light blending mode and faded; cropped; resized; a bit of Neat Image (don't remember why); and a bit of sharpening, but not a lot. I think there was a bit of increase in contrast, too. And if you've read this far, you get a cookie!
Post challenge - this is probably my favorite challenge entry in a long time, as far as meeting the challenge and hopes of being DPC-friendly. Plus I really like it! And a below 50% finish. Whatcha gonna do?
Outtake:
Statistics
Place: 77 out of 149 Avg (all users): 5.6760 Avg (commenters): 7.5000 Avg (participants): 5.8000 Avg (non-participants): 5.6210 Views since voting: 1251 Views during voting: 332 Votes: 179 Comments: 25 Favorites: 4 (view)
Deb, if this image tells you anything, it's to keep trying different ideas and using what you've learned. A 7.5 average from commenters during the challenge and a raft of VERY positive comments since, 3 favorites ... I mean, people would kill for that kind of reaction.
Speaking of which, I think it's terrific! Your composition, choice of color and how you used it, all combined to create a wonderful image of a mundane object.
I think this was one of the better thought out ideas in the challenge. Yes, simple spoons but done in a way that really works. The colors and "shinyness" of the photo are excellent.
Positives: A lovely, lovely abstract. Colors and technical quality are its strength. Use of depth of field is exceptional. Generally a pleasing treatment to the subject. The simplicity of the composition is a strength.
Technicals: Not a lot to say. This is a top notch technical treatment to this subject. Color is exceptional. The sharpness to this subject is slightly soft but perfect for the composition. Offset positioning of the spoons works well.
The Challenge: Fits the challenge exceptionally well, including the background inside of a dishwasher. You scored only slightly above average for the challenge and only about .3 above the DPC average.
Chances are good that your lower score compared to the quality of the image was because voters did not think abstract was a good choice for the challenge. Please, please... don't ever let that restrict your thinking. Yours is a great image. I did not vote this challenge but wished I had so I could have given this a 10.
Suggestions: I'd like to to be intellectual enough to make smart suggestions for improvement, but I'm not.
Oooooh. . .I like it too! You are so versatile in your photography. You take wonderful street photos, landscapes, animals -- and your abstracts ALWAYS appeal to me -- even tho abstracts aren't my favorite kind of photo, I always love yours!!!
When I first looked at this in the challenge, I thought you had captured two glass eggs reflecting some sunlight. The macro, DOF, and arrangement on this is awesome!
Too bad you couldn't get the spoons to stand up without that plastic rack. I think the white rack is very distracting, but the rest of the image is fabulous. The reflection in the spoons is beautiful and interesting.
I love the reflection in teh spoon and the clarity of them. I just have some trouble working out the context - I'm left thinking what's going on in this photo. 6
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