My first idea involved 2 and a half kids. Wasn't sure how to make a 1/2 a kid properly. So I went with my second idea. IMO - Aimee nails this shot. Her look is just so danged close to that of the original its almost creepy. I had originally wanted our white minivan in the pic, but to get the proper placemnt of us in the composition meant it had to go along with the roof of the house and sky. There were a couple of things I would have changed had I the energy and desire to go back and setup again to shoot. The door and window would have been centered in the shot, my hand would have been lower on the weed eater, and my lips would have been pursed together a bit tighter. I need to find some of the outtakes. We had a bit of fun with this one.
Anyways - Sunday night about an hour before rollover and I am sitting on a 6.75 with 34 comments and 3 faves. Didnt expect this to have the impact it did. I just knew I didnt want to shoot a straightforward picture of my neighborhood (no knock on those that did - there were some great ones). Besides, I must admit that I find a small bit of enjoyment making angry those people that despise seeing my face in any entry. You know who you are and I am winking at you. ;)
[Oct. 19th, 2008 11:34:18 PM]
Just some silly outtakes from the shoot.
Have I ever mentioned how much I love my wife and the fun that we have together?
Lighting details -
I used 3 speedlites all together with this shot. 580exII is on camera as the master only, 430 ex off silver umbrella camera left as the main light and another 430 camera left and behind as a rim light. It was getting a bit dark out, but I needed to wait for the sun to drop down far enough that we didnt have it right in our eyes. So the flashes light us up and the longer shutter speed (1/8 of a second - which is long for me and my portrait shoots as I would normally shoot at 1/250) allowed my background to be as bright as it is (since we were so far away from the house).
Statistics
Place: 1 out of 74 Avg (all users): 6.7697 Avg (commenters): 7.7333 Avg (participants): 6.8333 Avg (non-participants): 6.7535 Views since voting: 10965 Views during voting: 599 Votes: 178 Comments: 82 Favorites: 12 (view)
An excellent current day rendition of Grant Wood's American Gothic and very well portrayed. I noticed you even got your expressions pretty close to the original! Congrats on your first place win, it is well deserved!
Great photo. I recently wanted to do this, but in my head, the original painting was skewed. I thought they both were golding something and I didn't know the pitchfork was in the middle. I wish I would have tried to find the original on my phone before doing my shot.
I do have a question...what extra lighting did you use for this, if any?
I guess I am the only one that thinks this is just a Good shot. Above average, but not a ribbon winner. Sorry, This is an example of a shot being overated because of members recognizing you. You are very very talented and produce outstanding work. This is just average work based on what your capable of.
Same shot with different subject doesn't make top ten. Sorry.
Now who would hate seeing your handsome mug in photos. Whoever they are. . .nanny nanny boo-boo with the blue ribbon, right :) (There must not be that many of them tho)
Congratulations! This is very clever for suburbia!
Do not fret young Padawan. Keep on the path you are on and your SP's will garner the strength of the force as well. (besides you have more SP's than I in the last 10 challenges - well done!)
Tim
I think this would have been a lot more exciting if you could have got one of the kids to hold the trigger on the weedtrimmer so that it was going at full speed.
I gave you a 9 during voting, but that would bought you a 10...and likely a trip to the emergency room.
Oh!! Fabulous image! I love that your images make me laugh! Congrats on another Blue! Now if you have any control over the 'little woman' ...who frankly scares the ...bejeepwers... outta me, with that stare! Maybe she could track down and take care of those two voters that thought it was worth a 1!
PS: I can't wait to see what you do with your idea of doing an image with the two and a half children.....:)
For me, the best thing about this whole shot was your statement right at the end, Have I ever mentioned how much I love my wife and the fun that we have together? Now that makes the shot even more excellent.
This is one of the ones I looked at during the voting period (didn't vote, though). My only criticism would be that it doesn't show the top of the house and some sky, as in the original, but it doesn't really matter.
The modern tool is a good touch - we call them Whipper-snippers in Australia. Definitely it looks much better without the guard.
Congratulations Tim, I thought (well, it wasn't too hard to guess) it was you - fantastic shot, its perfect for the challenge. I love your sentiments about your wife!
I like it. I was thinking American Gothic before I scrolled down to the title. Well done. I just Googled the painting and you did pretty well emulating it.
Tim, I'll only comment as it's so obviously you and Aimee but I just want to say this is a fabulous image and sooo perfect for the challenge. Good luck with it.
American Gothic Redux
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