This actually is my Nana's sideboard and I used to hide under there when we went to visit her. Usually because her dog, Jigs, had gone there to hide from me and I followed him. Good thing he was a patient dog. The fact that I used to hide under there is why I decided to adopt this particular piece of furniture when we were cleaning out Nana's house. It does bring back good memories.
I wanted an old-fashioned look so I decided on sepia and some noise for processing. I usually get rotten scores when I go outide my box so I'm not expecting much from this. Also intentionally took it at an angle like I was looking up and out from my hiding place. Used the timer and guessed at the angle; liked this shot best because the movement came out just as I wanted it. Nana is long gone, after all, so her memory should be a little faded.
PP - converted from RAW 2x (light and normal), overlaid the lighter version and erased all but the sideboard, merged inverse of multiply mode, 2nd layer with Gaussian blur and increased brightness, merged in multiply mode, levels, cropped, dodged around and on "Nana's" legs (and she was a grandmother at my age so I made a reasonable stand-in), dodged/burnt detail on sideboard, burnt reflection on floor some, gradient filter on upper right to darken it some more, blurred most of the background more on the right, added noise, duotone, added border, resized, sharpened, added some more noise so it would look intentional (though I bet I still get a few "too noisy" comments!
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Post-challenge: WOW! I really wasn't expecting much from this, but it was authentic to me and I'm thrilled it connected with so many people. And posthumous, too! Awesome :-)
Thanks, everybody!!
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To get a high score and a Posthumous blue is a true indication of a fabulous image. You nailed the challenge with the dated look -- the shoes, skirt, and sepia tone, together with the 40's style pose. Great job. Congratulations.
Personally, I can't believe this didn't take the blue by a mile. In my opinion, it's far and away the best entry photographically and also meets the challenge "better", or at least more viscerally, than anybody else did. Nevertheless, killer finish!
Wow, are you on a roll lately. Congrats big time! Just a fantastic photo, so rich with meaning. Thanks for sharing your memory with us. As I looked at it, I thought "boy, I hope posthumous saw this." So congrats on winning that blue! You're probably making Don squirm - he doesn't usually like the ones that do well overall. *grin*
For a moment you tricked me, the image has the almost perfect look to be a first memory. But, after paying a bit of attention, I thought: can the first memory be dynamic? I mean, here's this lovely lady walking and she'll pass pretty soon. So, how will this image be imprinted on a kid's mind and stay there for so long? I think this is a reconstruction of several first memories. And, a perfect one at that, a very good telling of a story. Even her dress, the chairs, the table, remind me of my aunt, and that's really pushing my memories way back.
Grain, light and toning used to brilliant effect, plus the fuzziness in the legs providing movement. Really beautiful shot and genuinely evocative of yesteryear childhood memories - even to the detail of her skirt and shoes. Absolutely brilliant interpretation and execution.
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