This was sooooo frustrating. I was so excited because I borrowed the lighting system at my work to go out to this spot and use this thing i have that plugs into the cigarette lighter in my car to power the lights....only to find out it doesn't have enough power! AAHHHH! So I had to completely change what I was going to do with this challenge. I was REALLY lucky to get this when the sun was showing because tihs took about 30-45 minutes of experimenting with how to light it and how to compose it before I got my 8 minute window between when the sun came out from behind the clouds and went behind the trees. It was REALLY difficult to get it so where my head was bellow the reflection of the mountain in the water so that i would have the orange hallow around my head....I actually had to balance my tripod on three round rocks to get my camera high enough to get it positioned that way. (this is a self portrait) Then I would CAREFULLY set the timer on the camera so as not to knock my camera into the water....really nerve wracking...and then run to the rock and pose myself. I basically had 5 tries at this and was really lucky to get it. I really like this photo, and its nice to finally do a self portrait again.
Post processing:
I originally shot the picture with a much less contrast and brighter in order to preserve the color and detail in my shirt and to avoid noise. I then when in and upped the contrast where I wanted it and used burning and dodging the sky. I also did selective color to bring out the reds in the sky. The wet spot on my shirt is from falling in the water about 10 minutes before so i used the brush tool to brush it out and i cloned out minor stuff in the water. I also cloned out my foot because I thought only being able to see one of my feet was too unbalanced
If anyone is wondering about the giant yellow burst to the left is, it is not another sun ( my parents thought i photoshopped in an extra sun) i am thinking that the darker part between the two bright spots is where it was raining so you couldnt see through the rain, but it wasnt raining on the left so it gets bright there....
POST CHALLENGE
YAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
:-D
Thanks so much for all the great comments. About the ripples, when I showed my dad this photo it drove him CRAZY that there weren't ripples like he was convinced that I cloned them out, but in reality there are some ripples but the water was only about 4 inches deep there so I guess they dispersed easily. Also, my timer was 10 seconds and so that was just enough time to RUN to the rock and then spend the rest of my time adjusting myself so that gave time for the ripples to go away. It was funny because even though the water was so shallow I still had to balance the tripod on rocks to give me that extra 2-3 inches that completely made the difference with the composition of the photograph because it made the curve of the reflection of the mountain reach above my head, well anyways. I knew I wanted to do a self portrait for a change because my parents were tired of me sending them beautiful pictures of people they don't know and wanted to see a picture of me. I am glad it turned out so well :-D thanks so much everyone!
Here is the original:
Statistics
Place: 2 out of 381 Avg (all users): 7.2617 Avg (commenters): 8.5600 Avg (participants): 7.1860 Avg (non-participants): 7.3651 Views since voting: 26364 Views during voting: 666 Votes: 149 Comments: 91 Favorites: 63 (view)
What a FANTASTIC shot and so much effort to get it. I love the feeling this image gives, the peace, the sun, the water and the composition. You deserve that ribbon.
Not only is this an awesome shot, just purely beautiful, but I read every single word of your trials and tribulations of taking this. You did an amazing job and dare i say deserve probably even better than a red? At age 19, you are already a genius with a camera, very very talented!! You paid so much attention to getting this shot and getting it right, you've impressed me for sure!
Great shot! Well deserving of a ribbon. I love the way the shape of the hills is reflected in the water, then echoed once again in your arms. It makes a nice rhythm that combines with the warm colors of the sunset to create a photo with a nice peaceful feeling.
The cloudy sky is anything but placid! And bright cool colors normally attract attention away from dark warm ones. But for some reason that doesn't happen here; I don't find my gaze distracted by the sky. Interesting. I speculate that two factors combine to make this work: First, the clouds take almost exactly half of the photo, splitting the photo in two. This should normally be avoided, but breaking that "rule" of composition is very effective here. The bottom half is the more interesting, so the eye just ignores the top half. Second, your outfit is bright and cool, in constrast to the rest of the bottom half of the photo. This pulls attention right to you, which is where it should be.
I downloaded the photo and tried a couple of alternative crops just to see what would happen. First, I cropped enough off the top to put you on a "thirds" intersection. That doesn't work well at all; the clouds that remain at the top then grab attention and really ruins the balance. Then I tried cropping off all of the clouds and part of the bottom to balance it out and, again, put you on a thirds intersection. That gives it a horizontal format and makes for a very pleasant and placid image. Too placid! Almost boring.
So I really appreciate the composition you chose here. The bright, dynamic sky provides an exciting contrast to the tranquility of the bottom half, enhancing the overall feeling. The photo gives a message of placid in the face of chaos. Very nice! And though I appreciated this message at first glance (as did most voters), it took some analysis to understand just why this works so well.
Great work technically. The sky is slightly overexposed, but it isn't serious and I don't know if it could even have been avoided. Perfect focus and a good job of postprocessing. The trouble you had getting your camera to the right height really paid off. Wonderful pose. And you got the sun just right. Again, a wonderful photo!
Absolutely beautiful. Almost too perfect, you better frame that picture or put it somewhere around your house, it would be a shame to have it in some hidden folder on your computer.
About the non-matching clothes.. I think it kinda does match with the cloud tones, in a way, but no worries, it's not like it spoils the picture. I personally think if you had chosen another colour for the outfit, your back (which is the main subject) wouldn't have been so eye-catching.
Shame I didn't vote, I would have given it another 10/10
Hi, JClaire!
I really loved your photos.Words would simply spoil what I felt. Wonderful! Marvellous! It's impossible to describe with fidelity the inner feelings they arise in us. WOW! Please, go on rewardind us with many more, will you? Regards,
Luiz
Congratulations Claire. I have this picked for a ribbon. Amazig colours. This get me interested to the rest of your work and I can see a lot of potential. You are very talented. I can see you winning more ribbons. Clap clap clap....
What a great photo. The light is balanced perfectly. Your shape is excellent. I noticed your right arm being a little lower than your left, but to me that makes this image even stronger. Excellent photo! Congrats BTW.
This really is a very unique and beautiful shot. The contrast between the sky and the water to your very outfit all fits together rather nicely. I love the colors and the compositon is right on. A def. well deserved ribbon, especially after reading all the work that was involved. Congrats.
A self portrait? My God this so amazing. Your description takes me there and I feel that pain you had. I was also looking for the ripples. Good luck with your camera.
I can't believe you accomplished this after reading your description -- the fact that it is a self-portrait amazes me. Congratulations on your well-deserved ribbon. I hope your camera recovers!
Wowee Zowee !
I like it.
I even like it more after having read it was a self portrait.
Brilliantly executed.
I wonder what unknowing passers-by would have thought ;-)
Must have been an exciting picture to do.
Claire having read about you trials and tribulations over the weekend how fantastic that you got the consolation of a ribbon for this wonderful shot. I just hope that you are managing to find the inner calm per the image!!!!
Then I would CAREFULLY set the timer on the camera so as not to knock my camera into the water....really nerve wracking...
Glad you got this one before you actually did end up dropping the camera in the drink. :( You see what happens when you tempt fate too many times. ;-) This is awesome though - congrats!
gorgeous shot, fantastic pose, tremendous effort. No doubt this is a shot you will be proud of for a long time to come. I hope this goes up on your wall.
if i were to change the color of the shirt, I would go with changing the cyan to a nice blue to match the water.
Beautiful!! I love the story behind this and am SO glad that it paid off for you with your first ribbon and a new personal best! I'm sure it's not the last ribbon we'll see from you. Hopefully it takes a bit of the sting out of your camera falling in the water - you're very brave to do such a thing, but it sure worked nicely!!
Did you leap from shore to rock? With a 0.6sec shutter it's amazing you didn't splash up enough ripples to disturb your reflection while walking from camera to perch. Very nice.
The color, lighting and composition of this are just amazing. It is almost like her meditation is chasing off the clouds and bringing out the beautiful sunset.
winner of the challenge rightttt here. if not then ill be seriously shocked and disappointed! gorgeous lighting, i hope you explain the editing or setup on this one, its trully breathtaking!
Placid
Add photograph to your favorites
Add photographer to your favorites
Photographer found comment helpful.
