April 13, 2013

A Personal Photo Challenge - Simplicity


It’s time for A Personal Photo Challenge! “Simplicity” is the theme this month.


Like many photographers, I’m guilty of sometimes creating compositions that are too busy. It is a constant battle to reduce the clutter and simplify the subject matter. Posting Wordless Wednesday images here on my blog and Flickr has helped me in achieving this goal because I assign titles to my images. So here’s a tip – think of an appropriate title for your photo before clicking the shutter. It will make you think twice about your composition!

I prepared only one image for this challenge. Unfortunately, it took more time than I intended! I started off with a rather artsy image in my head. Then I attempted to recreate it with recorded pixels and Photoshop editing. I placed a small, hand-carved rabbit on a base surface of white scrapbook paper. With the camera mounted on a tripod, I moved a light source at various angles to achieve a long shadow that was also at an angle. (If I had it to do over again, I would have set up the camera with a lower perspective rather than a bird’s eye view.)

In post-processing, I darkened the shadow, removed hot spots, slightly desaturated the carving, and added overall contrast. The pattern overlay of weaved threads was added directly onto the image (not on a separate layer) with a soft light blending mode applied at reduced opacity, and a mask painted over the carving to eliminate the applied pattern. I tried this technique quite by accident and discovered that the pattern disappeared gradually in the lighter areas, as hoped.

So I made myself learn something from this exercise and kept to the “simplicity” theme. I hope you like the end result, even if I made your eyes glazed over with my explanation, LOL!




rabbit's shadow
f/13, 1/4 second, ISO 400

Now that you’ve seen my photo and read my post, I hope you will hop over to A Personal Photo Challenge blog and check out the creative efforts of other participants. Thank you so much!

21 comments:

  1. Very intriguing photo. I tend to take busy pictures because I truly like them best, but to think of a title before taking a picture is a good tip.

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  2. Donna I love this shot. Very creative.

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  3. It's like a little work of art...it gets your attention and makes you want to look at it for awhile! I'm linked up! Can't wait for you to see what I posted! Happy Saturday! HUGS!

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  4. Thank you. I love learning about photography. Fantastic play with the shadow, great work!

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  5. Donna, I love how you captured this sweet bunny - his shadow is awesome on the texture.
    How you set up the shot makes me feel guilty that I'm still set on P when using the Canon 7D, and I've never had the patience to learn a good post-editing program such as Photoshop. Your way sure isn't 'simple' but very professional...............and your final capture definitely is 'simplicity', just what today's challenge is all about.

    This WAS a fun challenge..............and now I'm excited about working on the next one. I hope I can participate on time - I'm going to be headed out on a big trip then - hopefully Internet will be available!

    Hope you enjoy my pics today - and have a great weekend.
    Hugs - Mary

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  6. What a great example of simplicity. I'm hoping over to the other now.

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  7. This is a really interesting photo Donna. You were creative and did some very nice editing. I like the long shadow and the close up of the paper's lines. Very nicely done! Pamela

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  8. Hi Donna, I do like your challenges. Thought I had left a comment but had not. I try to learn photography from any post I find that has a great teacher. I got one here, obviously.
    QMM

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  9. Fantastic composition and beautifully simple. I love the shadow and textures.

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  10. Beautifully simple and a fantastic composition. The shadow and texture are great.

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  11. You hit the jackpot with this. I love it!!

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  12. Wonderful composition and editing. Although the subject is simple, there is a lot of interest in the photo - the elongated shadow, the contrast in textures of the carved bunny and the white space. Great detail on how you edited the photo, too. Lots to learn.

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  13. I like the idea of thinking of a title first; definitely food for thought. I will sheepishly admit that I would have plopped the bunny down, bent over and snapped the shutter. Obviously one can put a lot of thought into a photo for how they want it to turn out and I've learned from your submission to take more time.
    Thanks for hosting Donna.
    Judith

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  14. Very clever Donna. Is that Marty then?
    Enjoyed the challenge, almost forgot to sign in!

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  15. It's beautiful Donna.
    I immediately thought of "The Hare with the Amber Eyes" a wonderful book!
    Now I'm thinking how cheeky I am entering this challenge.
    I will have to learn more about Pixlr now!
    You've made me think about what and how I shoot in the future - I'm way too snap happy!!!
    I really do want to learn though as I want to take better photos of my granddaughters when I go to France this year!
    Shane ♥

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  16. Perfect! I'm going to have to give this a try. The threads really add a lot to it. VERY good!

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  17. Sorry to be late! I was out of town...
    OH!! Marty!Hahaaa....Loving the shot Donna! Not sure what I'm looking at but I Love it!
    hughugs

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  18. hahahaha, I LOVE THIS rabbit shadow photo! Very cleaver and well done. Yes, that is why I have a large phone, so I can see it. The new phones that are available now are so great! ! !

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  19. VERY good. I love pictures of shadows.

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Marty, here! Donna loves comments, and I faithfully pass them on to her. Thank you so much for visiting!