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The long lonely walk
The long lonely walk
Silent-Shooter


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Lonely Shoes In Black and White (Basic Editing)
Camera: Canon EOS-450D Rebel XSi
Lens: Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS
Location: Cradle of Mankind - Maropeng South Africa
Date: Feb 19, 2011
Aperture: f22
ISO: 100
Shutter: 0.6 sec
Galleries: Landscape, Black and White
Date Uploaded: Feb 20, 2011

 I know there is some debate in the forum about if it had to depict one or more shoes and also if it had to convey that the shoes were lonely.

Somehow this idea came to me that instead of seing someone walk into the distance of a long road, if you had their shoes there as a figurative depiction of their steps then it would convey the same message.

So I took a drive out into the countryside near my house. Taken on a road that I knew wouldnt have too many cars. I had to arrange the shoes with an ever increasing distance between them to get the look of them dissapearing into the distance. The first shoes were about 2-3 maters apart, then 4-5, then at the end it was about 50 meters apart so it was a long walk to lay out, go back to shoot, go back to pick up, go back to the car...

Open RAW, adjust exposure and saturation/luminosity export to PS, Remove 2 sensor dust spots, using adjustment layers, curves, B&W, levels, color balance. Remove noise from blue channel a few times, sharpen with smart sharpen and resize, SFW.

I'm happy with how it turned out considering its basic editing. Guess the score will be about 5.7 as it i not the standard DPC eye candy. I wanted a shot that made the viewer think a bit about the meaning behind the shot.

Statistics
Place: 7 out of 196
Avg (all users): 6.2819
Avg (commenters): 8.2857
Avg (participants): 5.9885
Avg (non-participants): 6.5347
Views since voting: 2113
Views during voting: 351
Votes: 188
Comments: 21
Favorites: 1 (view)

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AuthorThread
Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi
Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS
 03/05/2011 11:47:22 PM
Great IDEA!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2
Panasonic Lumix 20mm f1.7 ASPH
 03/03/2011 11:27:14 AM
Quite creative. Well composed, and good b/w tonality.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Sony Alpha a1 II
Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS
 03/03/2011 09:05:43 AM
What a creative idea. Congrats on the top 10!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max
Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 Di II LD Aspherical (IF) for Nikon
 03/02/2011 11:02:23 PM
Congrats on top 10! Thanks for sharing that about how you spaced the shoes out. Very interesting.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-7D
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II
 03/02/2011 08:35:54 AM
Well done, Steve....good shot! Representing South Africa well!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-5D Mark III
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro
 03/02/2011 12:56:39 AM
And we have a top 10 finish!!! Great going meneer. The ribbon and top 5 is winking at you
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
Canon EOS-5D Mark III
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro
 03/01/2011 06:14:54 AM
Finally another pic that gets the message accross to the viewer. Looking at the pic now the sky does seem a bit soft as well as the mountain. The mood in this picture however does allot with all the elements and the series of shoes allone is a strong plus. The road, the soltairy feeling with the long black line disappearing into the distance, line formed by grass on left despite movement is fine by me. Great job 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS
 02/28/2011 02:10:21 AM
Run out of shoes to meet the next crest? A lovely setup!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Apple iPhone Xr
 02/27/2011 09:19:59 PM
This one is different and eye catching. I like how the shoes are a leading line along with the road. Feels like a story to be told... Cool shoe pic.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D7200
Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G
 02/26/2011 05:53:12 PM
This is interesting.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/24/2011 06:34:15 PM
Very cool idea!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Fujifilm X30
Custom Made Pinhole
 02/24/2011 04:04:55 PM
I like the feeling i get from this. There is a sense of loneliness.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-7D
Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
 02/24/2011 03:15:01 PM
Very creative.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-20D
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM
 02/24/2011 02:11:44 PM
Very original! Well done
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-450D Rebel XSi
Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6
 02/24/2011 07:17:43 AM
Nice idea, great composition. Nice detail in the front shoe and the texture in the road. Good contrast of white shoes on the dark road. Well done. Nice clouds...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon Canon 1d x Mark II
Sigma 85mm f/1.4 FG HSM Art
 02/23/2011 11:54:15 PM
Too cool.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM
 02/23/2011 04:43:13 PM
Great composition and b&w!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D3000
 02/23/2011 01:53:09 PM
Very nice perspective. Love the composition of this.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D40
Nikon AF-S DX Zoom Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6G IF-ED VR
 02/23/2011 01:38:26 PM
Now that's pretty cool! I like it :-)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Fujifilm X-T30
Fujifilm XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4 OIS
 02/23/2011 11:57:25 AM
Great title, good representation. Too bad you could not continue a little more with the lonely steps. 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D750
Nikon AF-S Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED
 02/23/2011 01:32:35 AM
Quite a setup. Gorgeous stretch of road, marvelous textures and tonal range.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
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