Taken about an hour before sunset, but only about 10 minutes before a huge thunderstorm rolled in on top of us! My kiddos, in overalls, with watermelon next to a fence/farm near our town. We had to hurry not only for the storm, but due to the large "No Trespassing" sign on the gate! :o) In addition to selective desat, in post I adjusted the levels, cropped, resized, and applied USM.
File: - C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Desktop\DPChallenge Originals\25 selective desaturization.JPG
Make - EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY
Model - KODAK DX6490 ZOOM DIGITAL CAMERA
Orientation - Top left
XResolution - 230
YResolution - 230
ResolutionUnit - Inch
YCbCrPositioning - Centered
ExifOffset - 506
ExposureTime - 1/90 seconds
FNumber - 3.60
ExposureProgram - Aperture priority
ExifVersion - 220
DateTimeOriginal - 2004:06:18 18:19:05
DateTimeDigitized - 2004:06:18 18:19:05
ComponentsConfiguration - YCbCr
ShutterSpeedValue - 1/91 seconds
ApertureValue - F 3.48
ExposureBiasValue - 0.00
MaxApertureValue - F 3.25
MeteringMode - Multi-segment
LightSource - Auto
Flash - Not fired, compulsory flash mode
FocalLength - 21.20 mm
FlashPixVersion - 010
ColorSpace - sRGB
ExifImageWidth - 2304
ExifImageHeight - 1536
InteroperabilityOffset - 2404
ExposureIndex - 100
SensingMethod - One-chip color area sensor
FileSource - Other
SceneType - Other
CustomRendered - Normal process
ExposureMode - Auto
WhiteBalance - Auto
DigitalZoomRatio - 0.00 x
FocalLengthIn35mmFilm - 128 mm
SceneCaptureType - Standard
GainControl - None
Contrast - Normal
Saturation - Normal
Sharpness - Normal
SubjectDistanceRange - Unknown
Statistics
Place: 1 out of 227 Avg (all users): 7.2598 Avg (commenters): 8.9143 Avg (participants): 7.3571 Avg (non-participants): 7.1026 Views since voting: 14563 Votes: 204 Comments: 105 Favorites: 90 (view)
I only have very few photos in my favorites. I usually wait until something really hits me to put it in there. I just added this one as a favorite. I saw your outtakes, but I'm glad you chose this one. The boys are sharing this watermelon, which makes it look even more like it is a rare summer treat for them. The overalls make this shot even greater. Great job on the desaturation, nice contrast, and wonderful colors in the watermelon. A well-deserved blue ribbon.
Laurie, better late than never - GONGRATULATIONS A truly great shot and worthy of such a large margin in the voting. I take it you are going to update your profile after 2 ribbons in 4 weeks? Am sure it will not just be seen on your (and your relatives walls). Hey, just noticed, the fence isn't straight ;)
I know what you mean about the storm!
My wife and I have been working on landscaping our backyard for the last month and creating a Butterfly/Hummingbird/Bird feeding area and it has been raining a lot for Texas.
Congratulations, Laurie, this is a wonderful image! And congratulations on your very first ribbon. May you get many more.
The colors of the melon are outstanding and I like that there is no distracting background. Perfect amount of depth too.
I am going to go out right now and get me a watermelon. First one of the year for your family. :-) And to think I have to see this all week long. I am sure there will be more watermelon sales.
While enjoying some cool watermelon on a sultry summer afternoon may not be a universal experience, I think this photo does an excellent job of conveying what that experience might feel like, even (especially?) to those who haven't experienced it themselves.
Laurie, Congratulations!!! This is a very fine image, and such cute subjects. :-) Btw, are they twins?
No, but they are 13 months apart...to the day and hour. They might as well be...one is 1 1/2 inches taller and 3 1/2 pounds heavier. They're 4 and 5 now. They're a hoot, but boy do they wear me out!!! LOL :o)
This is outstanding photography. Laurie I am so happy for you, that it won the challenge. The quality of this photograph cannot be overstated. It is my all time favorite picture at DPC.
I hope to see many more of your photographs, all of them thus far have been spectacular.
Sweet, honey, I knew that this was a winner! I loved this shot. I'm in Nashville with Taterbug right now and he also says 'Great Job!' Damn glad I didn't jinx ya hon!
TC & Taterbug
This image has everything (almost) going foir it! Great subjects, perfect desaturization, and it does indeed say "Summer at the Farm" in a Norman Rockwell style.
Having said all that - why in the heck didn't you move the guys away from that fence? The background should not draw attention from the subject - but this one does. (That's my only complaint and it includes the object behind the shoulder / neck boy on the right.)
Ribbonsville is just ahead. Your train stops there.
Excellent picture to select for this challenge! Awesome workmanship skill separating the kids from the watermellon. Colors in the watermellon are astounding. Very well done.
There are a lot of really outstanding shots in this challenge, but this is my personal favorite. You picked a perfect photo for the challenge and did an amazing job with the desaturation. Very nice!
This is the first of all the desat shots I've seen in this challenge that made me stop and say 'Wow!' It seems to have a reason. It tells a story! I can taste and the mellon and feel the joy! Kudo's and good luck in the challenge. I'm gonna jinx ya and say top five!
TC
Smooth. I love the milky, luminescent skin tones. At first glance, I thought the watermelon saturation might have been boosted a little too much, but it really does manage to jump off the screen while still looking totally natural in his hands. This is one of my top picks for the challenge. Would love to find out your B/W workflow for this shot after the challenge.
This was the first shot I opened in the challenge and I know this one will do well!
I really like this shot, it's exactly what I thought would be entered into the challenge. The expressions on the boys faces are brilliant, the colours in the watermelon are amazing, so vivid. I even like the wire mesh in the background, it seems to bring the subject closer. The exposure is perfect, the skins tones are brilliant, even looking at the darker areas of the boys clothes I can still see them clearly.
Only one thing I would have liked changed is the hoses behind the boy on the right hand side, but that'e me just being a picky bugger.
Excellent shot, full marks and I hope you've printed this out for the boys to keep! :-)
Really nice picture..one that will be kept for posterity I would assume.
Might have cropped just a touch off the left..but that`s me being picky.
Nice work
One of my immediate favorites. Great candid image. Cute subjects. Nice use of selective color -- and color that looks natural and not glaringly artificial compared to the desaturated background.
Wish the crop was not quite so tight, cutting off the tops of the boys' heads. Still a nice photograph though.
Summer at the Farm
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