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Head in Hand
Head in Hand
dsa157


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Hidden Gem -- 1,000th Challenge! (Advanced Editing VII*)
Camera: Nikon Coolpix 950
Location: Lake Zurich, IL
Date: Jan 21, 2003
Galleries: Humorous, Portraiture
Date Uploaded: Mar 10, 2009

 This is an old, old favorite of mine, taken with my 2MP Coolpix 950 camera flipped upside down so I could see the monitor while I took self portraits.

I was wearing a black shirt against black velvet. A single halogen shop light reflected against a large white paper flip chart provided the only lighting. The light was low to the ground, hence the low catchlight positions in the eyes. No Photoshop masking was used to achieve the effect although I did reduce the value of the levels to black out the shirt highlights. (If you slide the midtone values to the left in Photoshop, you can see the shirt).

This image helped spark my interest in digital photography and portraiture. Looking back at my DPChallenge portfolio, I see that most of my persoanl favorite images have been taken for challenges on this site. It has been my pleasure to be a member here - I have met terrific people online and offline and have grown so much in my skills through my involvement with the site. While it has been over 4 years (crap!) since I ribboned here, I still take away so many great rewards.

Congrats DPChallenge, on this terrific milestone! I am proud to be a member.


Statistics
Place: 566 out of 1129
Avg (all users): 5.5865
Avg (commenters): 6.3860
Avg (participants): 5.5714
Avg (non-participants): 5.6709
Views since voting: 701
Views during voting: 673
Votes: 520
Comments: 63
Favorites: 1 (view)

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AuthorThread
 03/19/2009 05:18:03 PM
I love this photo! The lighting is so dramatic and interesting. And I love the story that you told with it. I feel the same way about belonging to this amazing community of fellow photographers and friends :)

 Comments Made During the Challenge
03/17/2009 07:40:02 PM
Nice lighting. But why that expression? He looks so worried!Is that what you want to show?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/17/2009 10:50:09 AM
nice lighting... very cool.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/17/2009 09:19:14 AM
LOL... I love that they float in the black.

Not voting yet.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/17/2009 07:24:15 AM
Good lighting, nicely isolated but a bit disturbing with no hint of body!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/16/2009 06:33:44 PM
Ha! Had to look at this a minute, hope the speed voters didn't ding ya too badly.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/16/2009 03:26:37 PM
provocative portrait +1
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/16/2009 12:05:35 AM
very scary
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/15/2009 08:53:33 PM
nice low key portrait, and good lighting.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/15/2009 05:22:44 PM
great shot and title, well done
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/15/2009 03:26:50 PM
great detail and lighting ... well done!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/15/2009 02:43:19 PM
Excellant use of light/shadow
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/15/2009 02:39:34 PM
Nice use of lighting. Effective shot.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/15/2009 12:09:40 PM
nice illusion
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/15/2009 11:50:37 AM
Excellent portrait with very good lighting. 7
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/15/2009 08:07:03 AM
the light created a surrealistic pose, nicely done
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/15/2009 08:04:41 AM
Nice lighting, good pose. Maybe could use a bit more contrast?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/15/2009 01:41:57 AM
nice shot, could be sharper
5
brano
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/15/2009 12:22:39 AM
Fist look I see a man propping his hand under his chin, the next, I see a hand holding a head. Very well done as the lighting and neutral expression pulled this shot off. Nice work.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/14/2009 08:04:52 PM
nice detail
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/14/2009 05:59:10 PM
A head of the class for isolating the subject.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/14/2009 05:27:21 PM
Interesting effect. Nice detail & lighting.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/14/2009 11:32:08 AM
Moody, great shapes with the hand and arm
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/14/2009 08:45:42 AM
Decent lighting, feels a bit dark though.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/14/2009 05:33:13 AM
Nice composition - the lighting seems a little too strong or uneven to really nail this photo.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/14/2009 12:24:00 AM
dramatic lighting works well here , I like it , 7
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/13/2009 11:47:31 PM
Very nice portrait. I like the use of the light!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/13/2009 10:16:57 PM
What a great use of lighting. It looks like you are holding your disembodied head!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/13/2009 09:44:43 PM
I like the lighting!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/13/2009 08:36:16 PM
Well done! 7
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/13/2009 07:50:19 PM
what a funny expression - and it really looks like your title!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/13/2009 06:06:37 PM
Very nice portrait.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/13/2009 04:13:00 PM
Interesting lighting, makes it look as though his head is disembodied. Cool.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/13/2009 04:05:41 PM
great use of lighting.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/13/2009 10:19:38 AM
I really love his expression, especially his eyes.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/13/2009 08:45:51 AM
Nice pose and capture
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/13/2009 06:14:27 AM
I like this low key portrait a lot, very well done.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/12/2009 11:08:54 PM
Nice portrait. I like the hand position, makes it a fun photo.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/12/2009 07:49:54 PM
Wonderful portrait. Among best in show.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/12/2009 04:58:58 PM
Good shot. Lighting could've been a bit softer for a higher score.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/12/2009 03:17:28 PM
He doesn't seem to upset to have lost his body :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/12/2009 03:12:55 PM
funny, it does look like a head resting on a hand, cool, great job with the lighting
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/12/2009 02:59:07 PM
Very nice portrait with the one hand. Good lighting and story to the expression.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/12/2009 12:31:19 PM
This is kind of freaky because it looks like a detached floating head and a detached hand holding it up.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/12/2009 10:44:30 AM
the darkness is kind of making it look weird, like your arm and head are just floating in the air..
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/12/2009 10:20:17 AM
great portrait, great light very nice composition.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/11/2009 11:30:45 PM
I like the expression and the hard light makes it a shot with questions unanswered. very good.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/11/2009 08:12:42 PM
I like this.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/11/2009 06:32:03 PM
HAHA. this is awesome! Lighting is great.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/11/2009 04:44:18 PM
thats funny, where is his body, lol
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/11/2009 03:07:15 PM
Interesting light but not interesting portrait
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/11/2009 02:26:50 PM
Usually people try to avoid the "floating head" - but here it seems to work. :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/11/2009 12:56:55 PM
I like how your blacks work together...It is amazing to me how a person's silhouette stands out against a black background while wearing black...excellent
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/11/2009 11:30:31 AM
Interesting...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/11/2009 06:44:01 AM
Interesting lighting for this portrait
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/11/2009 06:32:15 AM
As I'm looking through the pictures I noticed that I had this exact same pose.

I like this shot. Nice lighting.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/11/2009 05:16:46 AM
Nice lighting, a bit blurry.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/11/2009 04:29:29 AM
Cool photo - perfect title :-)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/11/2009 04:21:52 AM
Your head looks like it is separated from your body.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/11/2009 01:06:55 AM
Simple and warm - a very engaging portrait of what seems to be a very friendly, caring man. I like the quiet light in this.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/10/2009 11:03:44 PM
Beautiful simplicity in the composition. A handsome fellow!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/10/2009 10:58:10 PM
Needs just a bit more punch for me
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/10/2009 09:04:27 PM
Nice illusion. Good lighting.
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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