I used a flashlight with a paper snoot and some kleenex stuffed into the end of the snoot to provide the light source. I took a 30 second exposure with the lights off in my basement, tracing the contours of the trophy to get the "fire" around the shadow. I was pleased with the shadow cast on a foamboard background and the angle of the shadow contrasting with the trophy shape. The shadow ended up looking devilish to me - hence the title. The only post processing was level adjustment and unsharp mask. The starry highlights are straight out of the camera.
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Place: 27 out of 120 Avg (all users): 5.8290 Avg (commenters): 7.5000 Avg (participants): 5.8375 Avg (non-participants): 5.8230 Views since voting: 2809 Votes: 193 Comments: 17 Favorites: 0
i like this picture extremely .... it's not just the picture itself. the title 'heaven & hell' really generates feelings in me ... it's a really cool picture.
Definitely one of my favorites in the challenge. I like the little star-bursts on the statue, I like the "halo" around the shadow, and I love the composition and colors. Congratulations! 10.
Excellent! The background shadow is amazing. I love how it glows. Something about the trophy throws me off a little though. Maybe a little oversharpened? Not sure, but overall very cool picture! 8
Starlight filters rarely work - but this one really has - I love it - 3 seperate images from 1 image. It has really worked. My only concern is, as you may have guessed from the amount of discussion on the forum re "painting with light" is whether it is painting with light.
Having been lucky enough to judge what is now a few hundred competitions in the last 30 years I feel I should say the first thing that happens is that they are sorted and any that do not immediatly seem to fit the category are dumped (hard but a fact). This is why so many competitions also run an "open category". Your picture, as impressive as it is, would, I feel have been rejected at this stage. "Painting with Light" has a fairly tight definition in photography but still allows a lot of lattitude for creativity.
I suspect that your scores may not reflect what the picture is worth which is a great shame. I believe if I was judging in another category I would have gone for an 8 possibly a 9 because you have managed to get those highlights working so well.
I do hope you understand my reasons for marking it down
David
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