Started with an image of the Purple Heart medal sitting under a clear, glass plate. Filled plate with water and suspended a picture of our American flag over the image of the medal. Used a 500W halogen light from Home Depot. Played with composition until I had a good reflection off the water while focusing on the medal.
Shot in RAW, cropped, resized, adjusted levels, and USM.
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Place: 66 out of 278 Avg (all users): 5.6103 Avg (commenters): 6.6250 Avg (participants): 5.1260 Avg (non-participants): 5.9877 Views since voting: 1197 Views during voting: 411 Votes: 290 Comments: 17 Favorites: 2 (view)
I didn't recognize it as a purple heart - I thought it was just a trinket and you meant something about George Washington. Perhaps this is an image where you relied to heavily on the subject. Without a knowledge of what it is, the message loses it's punch. The image feels off center and off balance.
I'm looking forward to seeing how you did this shot. It's very US centric even without the flag. The Purple Heart feels a bit 2d in this shot, and with the US flag, it gives a feeling tha tthe shot is out of focus. The left edge of the medal also looks a bit oversharp? Not sure if that's an optical trick or not. 8 for having the rare well executed Patriotic shot. :)
I really really want to like this photo. This truly does meet the extraordinary part of the challenge. The subject is exceptional, however in saying this, the actual layout leaves a little to be desired. The purple heart seems to not be as brilliant a purple as it should be. Include the entire ribbon in the picture and not crop a piece of it off to the left. Probably my biggest problem in looking at the picture is the white space to the top right. I would have almost liked to see the reflection of the flag covering the entire photo (or at least would like to see if it would make a difference or not)
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