When I saw the challenge the idea of a living puppet being freed from its strings came to mind. Not having ready access to a real puppet I once again leaned on the help of my mother as model. I used black acrylic paint to make the joints.
In hindsight I wish I would have considered it reflecting the flash, however it was too late to correct. I used pieces of cotton twine tied via an elaborate knot system allowing each string to be adjusted in length. I should have taken a little more care with the wrist string as the gap is quite visible.
Black sheet as a background and a reverse aimed flash for fill lighting. It wasn't until editing that I noticed I was still at ISO 1600, thankfully it only resulted in a couple of hot pixels.
As for the title I had several ideas; To be Free, Die Free, No Strings Attached, Freedom to be ones self. Prelude to Freedom was the last title I thought of and it just really pleased me.
I had this planned but at the last minute I didn't feel like shooting it, being both tired and down about recent low scores I was afraid to put effort into something when the majority might hate it.
However I came to realize that it would have bothered me more to let the chance to enter pass by. So for better or for worse here it is, I hope you all enjoy it.
Hope this gets at least 5.7101 :)
Editing done:
Crop
Levels
Desaturate
Healing brush (to remove 2 hot pixels)
Sharpen
Resize
Sharpen
Save for Web
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Place: 24 out of 108 Avg (all users): 5.6959 Avg (commenters): 6.3636 Avg (participants): 5.4167 Avg (non-participants): 5.8049 Views since voting: 1402 Views during voting: 297 Votes: 171 Comments: 14 Favorites: 1 (view)
Nice idea for the challenge, I think it lacks a bit of impact through a bit too much negative space within the image which might have been a factor on the end result. Ever seen the film "Strings"? would recommend it if you enjoy the whole concept of puppets...
I get what those black lines are supposed to be, but since you used a real hand instead of a fake one, I think the photo might have worked better if you had played that up to make some kind of statement about people being puppets of the government or consumerism or whatever : ) It might also look a bit cleaner if you couldn't see the knots and the extra hanging bits of string. I love the concept though!
I like the creative take here, but I'm not loving the presentation. I think I would like to see the puppet hand held in a less natural way, and if the strings had not been such a bright white, I think the image might have a better flow.
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