My two children - natural forest pocket below Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Cape Town.
This was the most frightening "fairy tale" to me as a child, and as an adult it is equally horrifying to think that my babes could be lost and abducted (could almost be an iconic metaphoric tale for the safety of children the world over). The story for me has its value in that Gretel, against all odds, conquers the witch (always deeply satisfying to think that she was shoved into the fire), and rescues her brother and makes it back to safety.
Wanted to create a storybook illustration effect. i know that effects and selections are not favourably looked upon on DPC, but I have not mastered HDR and really wanted a dark, textured look for this...the Grimm's stories being dark and textured themselves!
Photoshop. Select: underpaint with Artistic Filter. Re-select and apply Watercolour" filter. Lighting effect - "spotlight". Upped the hue saturations and adjust Levels. Save for web.
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Place: 17 out of 82 Avg (all users): 6.3116 Avg (commenters): 7.4000 Avg (participants): 6.1944 Avg (non-participants): 6.3374 Views since voting: 2432 Views during voting: 447 Votes: 199 Comments: 17 Favorites: 1 (view)
Wonderful photo - whereas some shots had a modern twist, yours is more faithful in clothes and setting to the 1800's version, and that makes it more endearing. Love the models, also. A 10 from me.
I personally love this. You can tell the emotions of the children, the composition is fantastic. but you went the extra step, and it is fabulous. The way that you have processed the background trees gives this shot a mythical, "fairy" quality. It communicates that this is fantasy, not reality. But even better than that, you left the front alone which emphasizes the fact that the children are your subjects.
I like the way you've post processed only the background to look like a painting. It's as if the children have suddenly, inexplicably found themselves in a strange fantasy world. 7.
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