[manntax]

Theme that I selected is made up of 'Sharp' and 'Emotions'.

I can see from the submission already posted that the very humane emotional side of theme has already been selected by some. And no surprises there as we, the humans are designed to feel deep, emotional sensations that are the underlying reason of our doing for the most part. This emotionality is a blessing and a curse at the same time causing us the great deal of joy but also giving a lot of distress. Planning and taking this photo I wanted to touch in a storytelling way the paradox of how emotions , so subtle and elusive yet can become sharper and deadlier than a blade...

Just to help the viewers a bit in exploring the photo ( I am not uncovering everything here ) let me mention that this particular spot on the staircase was selected because of the tiny plant growing there which I incorporated as a prop open to YOUR interpretations.... Is there still a hope for the suicide as hinted by the plant leaning towards him?.. or the death and failure of one becomes a chance to the others as the plant will feed on the blood that soaks into the ground? ... Or the struggle and despair he was in was too much for him to bear.. .as it certainly will be the same for this tiny fragile plant to survive on that staircase ? Feel free to interpret that in your personal way.. there are others I haven't mentioned so go creative and share your thoughts

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From the technical side of things the photo I had in mind was for me about challenging myself. It was first time ever I attempted to shoot something planned and arranged. It also was first time that I went out shooting with flash(es), tripod and more gear than the camera itself - which is my usual way of taking shots. And it was first time I ever saw and tried to use the artificial blood :P

The shot was taken yesterday ( Sunday ), with the Pentax K-01 and the manual lens Carl Zeiss Flektogon 65mm which I picked for the superb rendering and just exactly the field of view I needed. The location is an old , concrete stairs with wooden steps leading up on the abandoned bridge at one of the London's canals. I specifically selected this location for the textures of the wood of the steps and the sense of a gloomy solitary place, which someone in a great distress could look for.
The lighting was created with 3 old Sunpak flashes and a gold reflector made of a carbon base from a layer cake that we ate 3 weeks ago :P and I kept the bottom, round part of the box for it's amazing gold reflective surface :P
My son was modelling patiently with his hand and it took me about 2 hours of playing with flashes and reflector to get the shot I wanted. Also be warned that the artificial blood will stain your clothes permanently - should you try and attempt anything with it playing an active role :P
The post processing was done in Lightroom 5.5 and involved usual playing with sliders and brushes. For those who are sensitive about it - no, the Photoshop wasn't used and the photo is basically uncropped - this is the shot I framed.

I will appreciate your comments and thoughts. Thanks for watching !
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'>' manntax

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Last edited by manntax; 06-28-2014 at 02:39 AM. Reason: added some hints on interpretating the tiny plant incorporated as a prop there

[fuzzyfelt30]

Nice idea...and your son's patience definitely paid off!

[Usuqa]

nicely thought out and planned although a little dark for my taste , good work though and glad to see you out with the lights, tripods and the like.. I love setting up shots and using lights as it lets you do much more than just press a shutter as you can create a look or mood for an image and it can take time.. more time than some people would realize

I've used fake blood for some shoots and video stuff before and its a nightmare, I try to keep away from it :P

Also bonus points for using non photographic stuff for photographic purposes, I love doing that and as a photographer we are also problem solvers

[manntax]

Nice idea...and your son's patience definitely paid off!

nicely thought out and planned although a little dark for my taste , good work though and glad to see you out with the lights, tripods and the like.. I love setting up shots and using lights as it lets you do much more than just press a shutter as you can create a look or mood for an image and it can take time.. more time than some people would realize I've used fake blood for some shoots and video stuff before and its a nightmare, I try to keep away from it :P Also bonus points for using non photographic stuff for photographic purposes, I love doing that and as a photographer we are also problem solvers Last edited by Usuqa; Today at 10:52 PM.

Thanks guys for your appreciation and the comments. I have to say that on my calibrated Xerox the shot looks just right - there is loads of detail in the darker areas and the mood simple clicks in for me. But I have to admit that on my IMac 21.5'' screen it does look a bit too dark to my taste - I generally don't consider that screen as a good one - as a matter of fact I think my settings are way too contrasty hence the overall darkening applied. This would be very frustrating though, if my intention and vision that I tried to share might have been spoiled by simple variation in the screen brightness and contrast at the viewer's end. I think I will have to ask others to step in and share their impressions before time runs out so I could possible have it exchanged with brighter version.

And I definitely agree about planning out the shooting and so on - this competition has sparked my creativity and made me see the world and the photography much better. I think I stepped up in my development as a photographer quite a bit only because of this contest - so I call it a big win , no matter the end result for my entries
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'>' manntax

[Usuqa]

Thanks guys for your appreciation and the comments. I have to say that on my calibrated Xerox the shot looks just right - there is loads of detail in the darker areas and the mood simple clicks in for me. But I have to admit that on my IMac 21.5'' screen it does look a bit too dark to my taste - I generally don't consider that screen as a good one - as a matter of fact I think my settings are way too contrasty hence the overall darkening applied. This would be very frustrating though, if my intention and vision that I tried to share might have been spoiled by simple variation in the screen brightness and contrast at the viewer's end. I think I will have to ask others to step in and share their impressions before time runs out so I could possible have it exchanged with brighter version.

And I definitely agree about planning out the shooting and so on - this competition has sparked my creativity and made me see the world and the photography much better. I think I stepped up in my development as a photographer quite a bit only because of this contest - so I call it a big win , no matter the end result for my entries
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'>' manntax

I meant dark as in.. well the subject the photo is nicely done

And yes, I too went out of my way to be creative and combine a few different techniques I've learned over the years to try make something special for this comp but what I did seemed to make a debate on what is and isnt a photograph or a photographer. Anyway I agree its a big win either way as we have both pushed ourselfs... for me its always great seeing other photographers out there, using lights and creating an image from their mind

[manntax]

I meant dark as in.. well the subject the photo is nicely done And yes, I too went out of my way to be creative and combine a few different techniques I've learned over the years to try make something special for this comp but what I did seemed to make a debate on what is and isnt a photograph or a photographer. Anyway I agree its a big win either way as we have both pushed ourselfs... for me its always great seeing other photographers out there, using lights and creating an image from their mind

Ha ha ! Ok I got you now - yeah the subject touches a very dark matter indeed - I had several other ideas for different themes as the brainstorming process went off through my head I sort of naturally inclined more to this dark theme - only time will tell whether it was a good choice or not.

I had a look at your entry and also saw the comments - not sure why people can't get over the fact that photography isn't what it used to be. I grew up on film and manual cameras, learned shooting without the light meter and was often learning on wasted rolls ( which were out of my budged for the best part of my life ) - now in digital age I simple adapt to new equipment and techniques and I admire people and their efforts in order to bring to life what they have envisioned - this is what I call Art - a creative process that transfers an idea or vision from artist's head right in front of viewer's eyes - that's a miracle of art and we can only be glad to have so many amazing tools and techniques helping us along the way.

Your photo is very beautifully made, and although I am not a fan of the theme ( or this particual realissation of it, as it feels a bit overdone ) - I clearly can see how skilful and hardworking you are. Well done !
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'>' manntax

[Usuqa]

Ha ha ! Ok I got you now - yeah the subject touches a very dark matter indeed - I had several other ideas for different themes as the brainstorming process went off through my head I sort of naturally inclined more to this dark theme - only time will tell whether it was a good choice or not.

I had a look at your entry and also saw the comments - not sure why people can't get over the fact that photography isn't what it used to be. I grew up on film and manual cameras, learned shooting without the light meter and was often learning on wasted rolls ( which were out of my budged for the best part of my life ) - now in digital age I simple adapt to new equipment and techniques and I admire people and their efforts in order to bring to life what they have envisioned - this is what I call Art - a creative process that transfers an idea or vision from artist's head right in front of viewer's eyes - that's a miracle of art and we can only be glad to have so many amazing tools and techniques helping us along the way.

Your photo is very beautifully made, and although I am not a fan of the theme ( or this particual realissation of it, as it feels a bit overdone ) - I clearly can see how skilful and hardworking you are. Well done !
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'>' manntax

Thank you.

I've spent the last while shooting models for hair stylists, other people's kids and even some animals so I thought it would be nice to do something with one of my own kids.

In the past Dawn has been a zombie, a mad bat swinging family member or a creepy kid (both in stills and video) and lastly a ninja so I thought it was only nice to capture something nice and fluffy this time around .

I agrer with you, its nice to be able to push yourself and use the tools we have to get creative and bring ideas to life... I can't paint to save myself but my camera gives me a way to be creative.

[wallygoots]

Like you, I tried many new things and was quite inspired by this competition. Your concept translated really really well to this photo.

[manntax]

In the past Dawn has been a zombie, a mad bat swinging family member or a creepy kid (both in stills and video) and lastly a ninja so I thought it was only nice to capture something nice and fluffy this time around .

Yeah, I saw them on your flicks account. To be honest with you I am not a huge fan of those fantasized ( particularly hate zombies X) themes , and naturally lean towards more human side of creative expressiveness, so yeah definitely your contest photo is among my favoured ones from your set, and much more how do I put it.. 'readable' ? 'digestible' ? for me for it's humane, emotional charge so to speak.

I agrer with you, its nice to be able to push yourself and use the tools we have to get creative and bring ideas to life... I can't paint to save myself but my camera gives me a way to be creative.

Like you, I tried many new things and was quite inspired by this competition.

I agree guys. I think we all are really benefiting from this contest. It is actually my first time I ever entered my photography anywhere and I was literally struck hard by the amount of positive energy that came out of that! Particularly the round 2, and theme selecting part was so inspiring that I still shake my head in an amazement.

Your concept translated really really well to this photo.

Thanks for the kind words.. yeah I hoped ti to become quite complex in meaning but still directly fit the theme selected, so very glad to hear that I actually might have done that. I tried to make it full of meanings and possible ways of interpretation so in order to help the viewers I added actually a note about some hints on the possible interpretations of that tiny plant growing so you might want to take a look to my opening post ).
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'>' manntax

[tkj365]

Well done. I too think it is a little "dark" in theme for my taste, but the execution is well done.

[manntax]

Well done. I too think it is a little "dark" in theme for my taste, but the execution is well done.

Thanks a lot for your appreciation ! I agree the subject touched is a dark part of this sad place we called 'Earth' - it is part of the life and so I decided to not avoiding it. Instead of going for something abstract that barely someone could understand or associate with - I decided to go for a strong, memorable subject that people would stop at and think about and somehow connect with.

Thanks for your kind words.
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'>' manntax