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1st PlaceUnfinished
SherwinJames


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Half (Advanced Editing V)
Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f2.8D
Location: NJ, USA
Date: Sep 29, 2007
Aperture: f/4
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/40 sec
Galleries: Portraiture, Black and White
Date Uploaded: Sep 29, 2007

 Thanks all for the fantanstic comments, and the voting and the views.

For those interested, here's how I did it:

The effect primarly came from the use of white face makeup and lots of light. While setting up for my Free Study shot , I came up with the idea for this shot.

- I applied a thick coat of white face paint to half of my face, keeping th dividing line fairly uneven (light the progression of a sketch).
- I used a lot of lighting:
> one medium size soft-box in front of, and a little above, the subject (me).
> one translucent umbrella in front of, and a little below, the subject.
> one smalller, but strong, light to the right of the subject (the viewer's left). This helped to really whiten the white makeup, while keeping the other half more natural looking.
- I used a sharp lense (Nikon Micro 60mm f2.8). This lense has served me well.
- I had my wife stoop down below, and extend here hand up (with a sketching pencil) as though she were sketching my right eye.
- Post processing was fairly straight forward:
> Bumped up the contrast in order to flatten the whites a bit more.
> Dodged a few minor not-so-white spots left over
> Minor USM sharpening and very minor noise reduction.
> Framed with simple black border and converted to JPEG.

That's it.

Statistics
Place: 1 out of 184
Avg (all users): 7.5669
Avg (commenters): 9.3750
Avg (participants): 7.5192
Avg (non-participants): 7.6000
Views since voting: 9981
Views during voting: 398
Votes: 127
Comments: 51
Favorites: 25 (view)

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AuthorThread
 10/11/2007 04:09:50 PM
Very cool idea and execution...looks great! Congratulations on winning the blue ribbon!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/10/2007 02:33:18 PM
I just wish that I could come up with ideas like this. Wonderful job and the lighting is perfect
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/10/2007 12:56:27 AM
Great photo, technique and thought process
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/09/2007 02:41:15 PM
Congrats on the ribbon, not really digging the lighting on the hand, both the lighting in general and the shadow from the brush but the rest is all top notch, a well deserved win.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/09/2007 12:15:12 PM
Very creative artwork. Congratulations on your blue ribbon!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/08/2007 05:18:56 PM
Wow, thanks for sharing the setup. Seeing all the creativity and effort that went into this shot I appreciate it even more now. DPC is so inspiring and fun particularly thanks to people like you. Thank you!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/08/2007 10:25:23 AM
this shot belongs on a wall a really big wall!!!!!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/08/2007 09:47:34 AM
I see a blue for you too!!! Great job and fantastic setup. Your control of lighting on this one is very well demonstrated to create an image that is thought provoking on many levels! I love it!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/08/2007 08:56:31 AM
Very creative. Congrats on the awesome finish.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/08/2007 05:47:56 AM
Congrats. So glad this did well!!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/08/2007 05:13:58 AM
Congratulations on your first place ribbon, very well deserved and very creative and well done. :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/08/2007 01:41:21 AM
The best of this challenge and my favourite. Really amazing, congrats :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/08/2007 01:39:00 AM
hey, this is such a cool idea! love it, and very well executed. congrats on your well deserved ribbon!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/08/2007 01:07:25 AM
brilliant. Now how did u do it please?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/08/2007 12:19:11 AM
well done/congrats
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/07/2007 11:30:10 PM
Excellent - Nicely done...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/07/2007 11:11:42 PM
Congrats on your well deserved blue, very creative and well executed shot!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/07/2007 09:20:30 PM
stunning!!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/07/2007 08:48:02 PM
Sherwin! Congratulations! This is so incredibly creative and beautiful. What a privlege to be congratulating two such powerful photos on the same day!

  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/07/2007 08:45:53 PM
Had a feeling this excellent shot would win (and deservedly so). Huge congrats on your blue ribbon, Sherwin.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/07/2007 08:23:58 PM
Cool shot. Congrats! Please do share your setup!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/07/2007 08:17:23 PM
Yep, I thought this would place at the top. Congratulations, it's a great piece of work. ;-Þ
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/07/2007 08:15:27 PM
Congratulations! This is amazing. Well deserved ribbon. LOVE IT!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/07/2007 08:06:32 PM
Congrats! Ribbon as I predicted! :D
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
10/06/2007 04:43:39 PM
So very imaginative and visually striking.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/06/2007 02:28:39 PM
Amazing. 10!!!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/06/2007 12:44:52 AM
Exceptional on a number of levels.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/05/2007 07:28:21 PM
very clever, deserves a ribbon.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/05/2007 06:04:48 AM
Winner?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/05/2007 05:06:35 AM
Wonderful!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/04/2007 04:09:13 PM
Very nicely executed.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/04/2007 06:05:06 AM
My first ten given ever! I love this and it is perfect for the challenge.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/03/2007 03:12:18 PM
Love it, very nice. The two halves mach perfectly. I hope you didn't violate any rules...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/03/2007 11:55:00 AM
Extremely Creative. Well Done. Should get a blue ribbon in my opinion.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/03/2007 09:47:16 AM
Way cool!!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/03/2007 09:17:44 AM
Very unique! 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/03/2007 08:19:46 AM
very creative idea! I like that the hand is in color while the person is in black + white. (no pun intended)
Will be a high scorer!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/02/2007 02:49:19 PM
really nice-good imagination
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/02/2007 10:05:40 AM
Cool someone has mastered photoshop techniques. psart 9
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/02/2007 04:52:31 AM
Bumping to 10 and my pick for a Ribbon. well done!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/02/2007 12:30:25 AM
For sure the most original of the "half portraits". My only regret is that the top left part of the hand is a bit blown out. But very nice, well composed and executed. Should be on or close the home page.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/01/2007 11:28:54 PM
Amazing idea and a brilliant execution. This suis the challenge so well and i am sure it'll be a contender for the 1st page finish 10
 10/01/2007 06:41:46 PM
This is one of the best I've seen. Definitely worth a 10.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/01/2007 06:14:07 PM
sweet shot. Im predicting this getting a BLUE! Good Luck~ 10!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/01/2007 01:42:04 PM
very good! 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/01/2007 12:55:35 PM
Excellent idea and execution :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/01/2007 08:47:36 AM
clever idea, love it! 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/01/2007 06:44:42 AM
Now THAT is fantastic. WOW
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/30/2007 09:01:27 PM
Ribbon! Very creative and very well executed idea!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/30/2007 08:55:21 PM
Top five I'm going to predict...Definitely a favorite! Really cool concept and execution!!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/30/2007 08:27:23 PM
Ok I have seen the winner, guess I still need to vote 20% 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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