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Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes
Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes
snaffles


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Paul Simon Lyrics (Advanced Editing VII)
Camera: Canon EOS-20D
Lens: Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
Location: Chateau Snaffles
Date: Dec 30, 2009
Aperture: f8.0
ISO: 400
Shutter: 1/10
Galleries: Emotive, Self Portrait
Date Uploaded: Jan 3, 2010

 The title of a classic rich-girl, poor-boy ballad.

First I painted the soles of my long-suffering 3'in heels with matte black craft paint. Then bought several packets of rhinestones from a craft store, only to find they fell off too easily, and the loonie-store version worked much better and stayed put!

Then the fun part, reading the lyrics and trying to get a feel for the song without ever hearing it. Knew exactly the kind of effect I wanted to get, a worm's-eye view of the diamonds sparkling against an otherwise monochromatic street scene.

But it was too cold to shoot outdoors, so I enlisted Ryan's help for indoor shoots. I set the settings, and he shot at my direction (and in the general direction of my feet :-) Even so, I kept trying to get the shot I really wanted to enter, but was unable to get it, so entered this shot.

pp: RAW-TIFF conversion, rotate, minor cloning, shadow/highlights, brightness/contrast, saturation, desat, resize, usm, sharpen, save for web

_______________________________________

Thanks for all the comments, very happy with how the shot placed. Thanks Ryan for showing me how much fun can be had with a simple star filter!

ETA: Believe it or not it's still possible to walk in these shoes, so I'll probably just leave the *diamonds* in place :-)

Statistics
Place: 31 out of 151
Avg (all users): 6.1752
Avg (commenters): 6.3333
Avg (participants): 5.9375
Avg (non-participants): 6.3836
Views since voting: 3205
Views during voting: 311
Votes: 137
Comments: 15
Favorites: 0

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AuthorThread
Sigma DP1x
01/19/2010 06:47:17 PM
Great tune and a beautifully rendered photograph of it.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Ricoh GR III
Pentax DA 18-135mm F3.5-5.6ED AL [IF] WR DC
 01/11/2010 07:11:05 PM
Yes!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS
 01/11/2010 03:39:18 PM
Clever use of the star filter, and a really good job with the crafty bit to get the "diamonds" on the shoes. I'll agree that maybe a closer crop might have more impact, but leaving in the upper legs gives the context that a close crop might not (ie the feet just sorta hanging there). A good literal interpretation which was rewarded with a very good score! (By the way, I saw him perform this song live - you really ought to listen to it!)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-6D
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 L Macro IS USM
 01/11/2010 03:09:57 PM
:)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-5D Mark II
Canon EF 500mm f/4.0 L IS USM
 01/11/2010 12:06:34 AM
Great job Snaffles!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
Canon EOS-40D
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II
 01/10/2010 05:53:05 PM
You win best diamonds on the soles of her shoes image. Well done.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon Z8
Nikon NIKKOR Z 28-400mm f/4-8
 01/10/2010 04:46:03 PM
Love the starry effect.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Apple iPhone 6s+
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
 01/09/2010 03:18:31 PM
The star filter works nicely here. I think it would be more effective if it were cropped down to a square. The thighs don't add anything for me, and the snagged stockings are distracting.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D80
Nikon AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f2.8D
 01/08/2010 11:45:55 PM
If this had been cropped to the bottom half, removing the distracting snags in the hosiery, it would have had much more impact in my opinion.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D700
Nikon AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 28-70mm f/2.8D IF-ED
 01/07/2010 08:15:57 PM
Ahh, this is my favorite of the Paul Simon songs. You did a terrific job lighting this image. I presume a really high F-stop to get those star effects on the diamonds. Nicely done!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/06/2010 07:32:29 PM
Okay.
Canon EOS-5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM
 01/05/2010 07:45:51 PM
I really like the star effect of the "diamonds". However, I think a crop below the model's knees would have kept the focus on the shoes and off the legs. I would have given this a higher rating if not for the lines that lead the eye off the picture.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi
Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
 01/05/2010 03:29:24 PM
love the starbursts 7
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D2X
Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DL Macro for Nikon
 01/04/2010 10:28:10 AM
Hope these shoes doesn't have to be used any more :) The sparkle is great
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-5D Mark II
Canon EF 500mm f/4.0 L IS USM
 01/04/2010 12:02:52 AM
Stands out well! Your going to get a great score on this one!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
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