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1982 - The first Rubik's Cube World Championships
3rd Place1982 - The first Rubik's Cube World Championships
cutlassdude70


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: The Year You Were Born (Basic Editing)
Camera: Canon EOS-20D
Lens: Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6
Location: Uncle's House - Highland, CA
Date: Nov 19, 2006
Aperture: f/16
ISO: 1600
Shutter: 1/15 sec
Galleries: Humorous
Date Uploaded: Nov 20, 2006

 * Post-challenge: Thanks to everyone for the awesome comments! I had a blast shooting it, so I'm glad all of you can enjoy some of my inner-geekdom. :D


At first I was really stumped as far as what to do for this challenge. I decided to do the first thing I almost always do - consult Wikipedia! ;) I scanned through all the events of 1982, but none of them jumped out at me - until... "June 5 - The first Rubik's Cube World Championships is held in Budapest, Hungary." Bing bing bing - we have a winner!

So I borrowed a Rubik's Cube from a co-worker, tracked down the right type of frames for the glasses, taped up the bridge, and threw on the nerdiest 80s shirt I could find. :D I used a black backdrop and draped a piece of black velvet over a small table. I actually had three lights set up for this shot. All three were cheap clamp-on shop lights with daylight bulbs to help the white balance. One close light from left of frame and above, one light from right of frame and almost level, then one light actually clamped to leg of tripod and pointed downwards enough to spill JUST enough light onto my hands and the Rubik's Cube. Shot by myself with timer setting.

I shot this at ISO 1600 not only because my lighting wasn't very intense, but also because I wanted the shot to have a kinda gritty look to it - like a bad 80s game show. :)

Post-processing included:
-------------------------
* Shadows adjustment in RAW
* Adjustment layer for Levels
* Adjustment layer for Brightness/Contrast
* Adjustment layer for Hue/Saturation to slightly desaturate closer to 80s TV look
* Cropped
* Resized with Bicubic Sharper
* Added color-matching border
* Save for Web

I had a fun time bringing out my full inner-nerd for this challenge. Hopefully a few of you will get a laugh out of it. :)

Statistics
Place: 3 out of 102
Avg (all users): 6.7079
Avg (commenters): 7.5882
Avg (participants): 6.6071
Avg (non-participants): 6.7297
Views since voting: 8942
Views during voting: 528
Votes: 315
Comments: 59
Favorites: 8 (view)

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AuthorThread
 12/03/2006 06:45:07 PM
Ah, yes. Very well executed. Congratulations on your Yellow!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/03/2006 06:42:59 PM
just awesome man. thats all i can say
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/03/2006 10:33:52 AM
Love the tape on the glasses, and the look! Congratulations!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/02/2006 09:35:06 AM
This is a classic!! Most excellent work!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/02/2006 07:00:12 AM
Very good shot, congrats on your ribbon!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/30/2006 03:52:57 PM
Funny, congrats on winning the yellow ribbon!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/29/2006 05:43:59 PM
What a hoot! I love the picture - brings back some scary memories. I actually was one of those geeky guys that could do the stupid thing in under 45 seconds. Spent a whole day at a big competition at some mall in suburban Chicago - yikes!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/29/2006 08:26:08 AM
Congrats on the ribbon!!! This is an awesome shot - brought back many memories!!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/29/2006 07:38:39 AM
Great shot all the way 'round, Sean!!!

The only thing that scares me a little is how well you pulled off the look!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/29/2006 04:44:34 AM
I'm so glad this ribboned! I just love this shot. Congrats!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/29/2006 12:43:23 AM
Fantastic shot!! very cool. congrats
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/28/2006 09:55:29 PM
Excellent shot, congrats to your next well deserved ribbon!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/28/2006 09:13:36 PM
Haha great shot and congrats on the ribbon :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/28/2006 08:57:15 PM
Congrats! I'm so glad you won because I really love this pic!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/28/2006 08:28:45 PM
Most Excellent! Congrats, Nerd! :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/28/2006 08:15:28 PM
This is priceless. Congrats!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/28/2006 07:58:44 PM
Great job and congratulations on the ribbon. :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/28/2006 07:50:27 PM
Classic...love the glasses!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/28/2006 07:48:41 PM
Sean, you are on a roll! So proud, so impressed! Great job.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/28/2006 07:15:39 PM
You are rockin! Congratulations AGAIN!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/28/2006 07:14:52 PM
Nice, Sean - have a pint on me!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/28/2006 07:13:43 PM
Hilarious!! :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/28/2006 07:09:04 PM
Congrats on your nerdy picture! :P
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
11/28/2006 06:46:22 PM
Now ya know ya had me laughing with those glasses.. but did ya have to go out on the intire shot! Perfect 10!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/28/2006 04:50:28 PM
I like the multi-colored border and the tape on the glasses and the tongue are great extra touches.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/28/2006 01:45:31 PM
The tape is a great touch!! Good background and perspective.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/28/2006 01:21:59 PM
I will have to tell my daughter, also born that year. She'll be thrilled ;-) Like the composition for the subject and the taped glasses are a nice touch.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/28/2006 11:20:54 AM
Ha! Never could complete it! Good perspective. Possibly I would have liked richer colors of the cube.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/27/2006 12:35:49 PM
lol, even the border fits this photo :) great expression and the wide angle works here. 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/27/2006 05:44:03 AM
Dig the wide angle distortion on the hands, really draws the eye towards the cube, nice work.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/26/2006 04:29:27 PM
..interesting use of perspective..
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/26/2006 09:30:18 AM
This entry also captures the time and society in a simple iconic image.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/25/2006 07:21:45 PM
Great setup, especially noting the glasses and perfect expression - well done!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/25/2006 02:33:59 PM
Marvelous perspective for this portrait, most impressive use of a border to enhance an image, very "nerdy" indeed.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/25/2006 05:29:07 AM
I dont think i have ever maneged to get on of those right :P nice picture to 7
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/24/2006 07:21:54 PM
Fun stuff. The expression, including the tongue and tape, is wonderful. You've really gotten the details down. Technically, I'd like to see a sharper focus throughout, and a less harsh lighting in the face. Very nice. 6
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/24/2006 02:09:05 PM
Hilarious and such a fun border. Back to bump you up to 8.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/24/2006 08:08:44 AM
Not only is this a great shot, it is the year I was born! I smell a ribbon on this one. I say 9. ahhh screw it, make that a 10. I don't give out enough of em.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/24/2006 06:19:34 AM
fun aspect!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/24/2006 02:32:26 AM
Excellent: how funny!! I remember this look and phase so well...Great interpretation
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/23/2006 01:40:29 PM
Excellent!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/23/2006 08:10:22 AM
real nice composition, i like the matching border as well.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/23/2006 07:25:40 AM
love the funny expression...the tape on your glasses is just awesome.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/23/2006 12:12:30 AM
Clever...very clever
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/22/2006 05:26:51 PM
LOL. This has got to be one of the best of challenge. 10.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/22/2006 02:41:14 PM
If you'd just held it a little lower, we could see the pocket protector! I like the composition of this one, and the intense look on his face. Very well done.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/22/2006 11:03:20 AM
Bottom of arms/hand -1. Nice idea! 6
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/22/2006 09:16:27 AM
good one.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/22/2006 08:51:24 AM
Great shot! One of the better entries I've seen so far. Like the colors on the border! :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/22/2006 07:46:05 AM
nice perspective ;)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/22/2006 05:11:03 AM
good crop, composition and sharpness, great work, even the border fits here.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/22/2006 04:34:44 AM
Nice balance and use of color. I really like the border, ties it up nicely. I don't really like the tape on the glasses and I'm unsure on the head cropping, but it is balanced.......
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/22/2006 03:22:47 AM
Great idea. I remember when I was addicted to that damn toy. 7
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/22/2006 01:22:11 AM
GREAT!! the expression, the nerdie look! only missing the 4th finger though.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/21/2006 11:46:10 PM
I don't like the colored frame and the magenta dominant on the skin but, the concept and pose is great...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/21/2006 09:07:44 PM
This is great! I love the geek tape and the expression. This is one of my top 3 for this challenge. Great composition for a difficult challenge topic. It was hard to keep this challenge interesting. You managed to pull it off with flying colors.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/21/2006 08:30:30 PM
LOL. OutSTANDING! 10. :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/21/2006 07:40:25 PM
Cute. Nice border.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/21/2006 07:16:14 PM
Neeeeerdy!
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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