Challenge:Hope (Basic Editing I) Camera:Olympus E-10 Location: Kate Sessions Park, San Diego, CA Date: Aug 22, 2004 Aperture: F5.0 ISO: 80 Shutter: 1/100 Galleries:Emotive, Black and White Date Uploaded: Aug 18, 2004
Taken at Kate Sessions Park in San Diego (La Jolla).
Basic PP:
Arbitrary rotation (1.91 degrees - we were on a hill), crop, adjusted levels, converted to Greyscale, Duotone, RGB, USM applied to lightness channel, minor adjustments to Black, Neutral & White levels, contrast & brightness adjustements. Save for web.
A special thanks to my niece for putting up with her Uncle on a Sunday afternoon!
Statistics
Place: 1 out of 285 Avg (all users): 7.4983 Avg (commenters): 8.8200 Avg (participants): 7.2632 Avg (non-participants): 7.6867 Views since voting: 11874 Views during voting: 543 Votes: 299 Comments: 101 Favorites: 56 (view)
This is as close to a perfect shot as I've ever seen. The combination of youthful hope, the optimism of watering that small tree, and the birdhouse waiting to be put up. Just spectacular.
It also resonates with me personally. We have two small trees in our front yard: a dogwood we planted at about 6' high that 10 years later that's now twice as high and a "volunteer" japanese maple that planted itself and was so small I used to joke about not mowing it over. It's now about 4 feet high.
When I think about how to tell a story with a photo, this will be my model!
Nice shot. This image has a deafening stillness about it that feels quite tangible. It reminds me of the work of a famous producer of pop videos (Gerard De Thame - he did a video for a band called Black, 'Wonderful life') - lovely.
i like the starkness of the black and white better, although, believe me, the color one is wonderful, too. the sky is unbelievable! :) congratulations!!
This one deserved the blue ribbon.
After looking at the color version
I wonder if you didn't have a hard time choosing which one to submit?
Hi Arngrimur,
Trust me I did. As much as I liked the original color version (which was not PP by the way, just Neat Imaged for noise), when I did the Tritone, something emotionally hit deeper with the B & W version.
Regards,
Congrats! I knew I had no chance at the Blue after I saw this shot! I think I like the color version even more. The top two in both current challenges are B & W. I don't think that has ever happened before! Great job.
Thanks for the mountain of comments during this
challenge - it means a lot.
I almost met my personal challenge of topping the sites'
highest score with an E-10 (that day will come). I'm
jazzed with a second & fourth in that department, and
even more jazzed with my second Blue. (47) 10's and
(47) 9's - WOW! (now who voted the 1??)
Thanks again all!
OK feet, you can now resume your position actually touching the floor!
Hey brad: Congratulations. This is a stunning image. Your blue is very well deserved. I was unable to give this challenge enough attention because I was under the heat of a rush project. It was my first cursory vote and unable to come back and make final adjustments. Great image, great work.
Nice rendition indeed. Brilliant whites and deep blacks with a superb range in between. The use of the bird house and its position is great. Crop some from the left to make it even stronger.
It's a hopeful little sapling. The only thing I find disconcerting is the lack of background. It's like you took the picture at the edge of the universe.
Great pic.....I really don't like the birdhouse though....love the open sky...I have been trying to find an area around me to take pics like this with no luck
This is another of very few entries that stand out to me as really conveying the theme to the viewer. I like the high contrast approach. The lack of any detail in the background adds a really surreal touch for me because I can't imagine where she could be that there would be nothing whatsoever in the backdrop. Very nice.
This is maybe the winner photo for this challenge imo. It is very well done, great lighting condition, great tones and contrast, good composition (a little more space above the girl's head would make it great), great idea that conveys the challenge's theme very well. I'll be disappointed if this will not have a ribbon at least. good luck!
A truly exceptional shot. The way you've desaturated has created a sky with beautiful dark tones that contrasts perfectly with the model's bright sunlit clothes and hat. This is nearly perfect. My absolute favorite for the challenge. Bumping to 10.
I liked your composition, tone, subject matter, focus, and more. I'd love to know how you got such a clear background with basic editing! I'm a little show, I guess, but it took me a while to figure out the birdhouse. 9
I absolutely love this photograph - it's one of my favorites from this challenge. But I have to wonder why you went with B&W. It looks great like this, but it seems like it would look better in color. Regardless, this is a great shot.
Excellent composition and angle. I love the idea - watering a new, tiny tree - and the birdhouse sitting by waiting adds to it. I also like the negative space of the clear sky. I would have liked a little less shadow on the girl's face, so we could see her expression better. - 8
I was toying with the idea of a similar image, only we've had very nasty weather lately, which stopped me. I *love* the lighting in this shot. *very* good job. So far, my favorite. You get a 9
The Sapling
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