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Dawn of the dead
1st PlaceDawn of the dead
Alex_Petrini


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Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Free Study 2011-08 (Advanced Editing VII)
Collection: Landscapes and People
Camera: Nikon D7000
Lens: Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM for Nikon
Location: Pineto (TE) - Italy
Date: Aug 20, 2011
Aperture: f/13
ISO: 100
Shutter: 4 seconds
Galleries: Emotive, Seascapes
Date Uploaded: Aug 21, 2011

 What a wonderful awakening this morning guys!!!

Thank you all for your votes and great comments - if my shot can be mistaken for a Leo's or Christophe's shot, well, I'm really honoured!

For the first time I entered a shot in the free study with a real hope to be able to win.

I had been thinking of this shot for 1 year. In the summer of 2010 I made a shot in a nice location, something like a pier, and there I thought - Why not placing here someone dressed like the grim reaper? My idea was to shoot it at dawn when no one was there and the light was better. So I got in touch with a friend of mine and asked him if he wanted to be that character. He enthusiastically accepted.

But we had the problem about the dress. My friend Riccardo (the grim reaper) told me that he could get it since a girl he knew wanted to sew it for him.

So the dress was ok and we used it in May to shoot this videoclip (the singer was another guy, Giuliano) that I directed:

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJee8o1qlbQ

In the meantime I changed my mind about the place where I wanted to shoot the photo and I didn't want the grim reaper alone: the scene musn't be empty - I wanted something that hit the viewer - I wanted something like a crowd scene. Many movies came to mind to inspire me. I had never seen the army of the undead coming from the water at dawn. The idea impressed me very much.

At the beginning I wanted a real crowd, dozens of people, but I knew it was almost impossible to get it. But I was confident about having at least 10-12 persons, and I've been lucky because it was the perfect number.

Then the first thing that came to my mind was that I had to search for a stunning location, but the rocky beaches are at 60-70 kms from here. No problems about going there, but I knew that it would be hard to carry many people there at dawn.

So I decided that I needed a completely empty one. In my town there are sand beaches but there are also rocky barriers at 50 metres from the coast so I was sure they could spoil the silhouettes, so I chose this other beach at 15 kms from here. This is a beautiful place with an ancient tower used for scientific research... maybe one day I'll use it in a photo :)

And now the biggest problem: people. I knew I have very smart friends, but it wasn't easy to convince them to awake at 4 a.m. in the morning - the gathering was at 5 a.m. under my house. I created an event on Facebook, but I knew it was hard even if some people knew very well and appreciated my photos.

That's why I have to thank Edmondo (he brought 3 people - Ivan, Francesco and Alessia - thank you guys!), Marco (he brought the sickle), my nephew and Giulia, his girlfriend. Mariangela, she's the singer in my metal band Absently. Srecko - no one would say he is a well respected University professor in Croatia. Riccardo - the grim reaper and the one who never refuses a proposal concerning arts. Last but not least my beatiful wife, Loredana - she hates to wake up early in the morning but she did it for me... that's why I love her!

About the shot: the idea was perfectly clear in my mind and I needed very few shots (my letter 'C' entry was just a try before the real shot - Yo_Spiff you were extremely right and you made me laugh a lot with your comment here!). We stayed there until sunrise but the images with the sun, even if they were good, aren't at the same level of this one.

In the end I was very satisfied and we went to have breakfast all together (it was my round to offer a breakfast!). The best part of the story IMHO is that they enjoyed very much their time and asked me for a next time.

Well, I'm a lucky guy!

P.s: with this challenge I almost reached all my goals for 2011 here on DPC!

Statistics
Place: 1 out of 324
Avg (all users): 7.4444
Avg (commenters): 8.6667
Avg (participants): 7.4404
Avg (non-participants): 7.4545
Views since voting: 6015
Views during voting: 296
Votes: 153
Comments: 65
Favorites: 25 (view)

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AuthorThread
 11/04/2011 06:08:35 AM
This is sooo cool! I love this idea!!! Very, very, very well done!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/12/2011 02:27:22 PM
Wow! I have no skills or advice to give you, all I can offer is WELL DONE!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/11/2011 11:28:30 AM
Excellent shot, congrats!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/10/2011 03:15:22 AM
just love this, very talented and a great reward for your early start!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/09/2011 07:22:28 AM
creative talent and friends that appreciate it- WOW!
More often than not, my creative challenges involve me being alone -- so it is so amazing to see that your friends went for this. Congrats! =)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/08/2011 07:19:15 PM
Very emotional shot. Well done.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/08/2011 07:11:23 PM
Well done, and congrats.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/08/2011 02:22:15 PM
Superb image, Alex!! Much well deserved ribbon, congratulations!!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/08/2011 02:09:41 PM
Congrats on the blue!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/08/2011 11:03:55 AM
Incredible work and huge congrats!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/08/2011 10:26:36 AM
COngrats on your planning and shooting paying off with your BLUE ribbon in a FS!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/08/2011 10:18:52 AM
So so great. Congrats.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/08/2011 09:13:58 AM
Congrats Alex!...awesome shot!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/08/2011 07:36:47 AM
Love the story - thank you for sharing it! Congratulations on the ribbon as well.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/08/2011 06:43:57 AM
Really well done Alex. I love the story behind the photo. Helps to appreciate the effort that goes into making a shot like this. Winning a FS is incredibly difficult! There are so many good things about the image,it deserved to win for sure!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/08/2011 05:27:55 AM
Congratulations on pulling off the whole scene and for the blue. I appreciate you posting the story of the process...good reading.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/08/2011 05:27:14 AM
Great stuff Alessandro, congrats on the blue!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/08/2011 05:24:44 AM
I really enjoyed your story, a huge congrats on your win with this enormous effort, you totally deserve it.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/08/2011 04:24:43 AM
Superb,you deserve every bit of that ribbon,Congrats.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/08/2011 03:40:30 AM
It's slightly creepy and yet really fascinating. What a very interesting shot. Congrats on the blue!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/08/2011 01:37:37 AM
Stunning!! Congrats. :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/08/2011 12:52:02 AM
Absolut impressive! The examples on your website are great too !
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/08/2011 12:33:32 AM
thank you alex =) Edmondo
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/07/2011 09:55:16 PM
I knew this would do well. Congrats on a sweet shot!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/07/2011 09:27:22 PM
Spectacular! Congrats on such a deserving blue. I'm so blown away. Would love to get some photog notes on this!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/07/2011 09:12:36 PM
I'm very happy to see that a photo with a creative concept and a story actually won this one :-) Congratulations! Great idea, great execution, absolutely deserved ribbon.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/07/2011 09:02:18 PM
Alessandro the great!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/07/2011 09:02:17 PM
WD on your ribbon! Unique. 9
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/07/2011 08:48:13 PM
Congratulations, iconic image. Nice friends you got there ;)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/07/2011 08:43:50 PM
Not surprised it ribboned.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/07/2011 08:40:35 PM
Now this is an image that get's what it deserves. Great work Alex. I'm really glad for you and can see many more ribbons coming your way.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/07/2011 08:24:40 PM
I knew it I knew it... well except for mistaken you for Leo or Christophe And take that as a total Compliment!!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/07/2011 08:03:28 PM
Congratulations on the awesome shot and a FS blue!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/07/2011 08:02:59 PM
Hey...is this a picture of pictures? Just kidding !!! Good Job !
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/07/2011 08:02:13 PM
Congratulations! Description...puuhhleeze!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/07/2011 08:01:56 PM
...Like I JUST SAID... LOL. congrats!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
09/07/2011 07:58:00 PM
Wow.. with such a powerful set-up, I think you could go for a ribbon. Great, great concept.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/07/2011 07:44:48 PM
The grim reaper, wow scarey scarey shot, front page.

Message edited by author 2011-09-08 00:43:35.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/07/2011 06:27:10 PM
My first thought was, "How did the models manage to hold so still?" Very well done!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/07/2011 05:32:51 PM
Scary. Beautiful. What a setup. Well done. Fave.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/07/2011 04:49:13 PM
Now this is incredibly unique. Love the grim reaper.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/07/2011 04:00:54 PM
What wonderful friends have you! Incredible. Looks like it's going to be a pretty bad day.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/07/2011 02:19:49 PM
heh heh nice...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/07/2011 12:59:48 PM
And the winner is...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/07/2011 07:39:53 AM
Creative! I adore just how creepy and wonderful this is.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/07/2011 04:31:20 AM
great image. works on many levels. you should have saved this for a challenge, i hope is doesn't get lost in the free study.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/06/2011 08:28:02 PM
Your work paid off here, very cool
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/06/2011 09:03:59 AM
Zombie cyborgs?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/05/2011 05:09:38 PM
Creepy and lovely at the same time. Gorgeous light, nice job of your models holding poses to get the smooth water long exposure.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/04/2011 10:42:08 PM
absolutely darkness!!!! very good
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/04/2011 04:14:54 AM
Fabulous concept image, shot, pose, lighting. I can't wax lyrical about what I think you were trying to (or did) achieve. Walking dead? New arrivals in hell? The image will spark many of those. I like it with out having to decipher it.
Should be front page.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/04/2011 03:07:46 AM
I,m really liking this image.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/04/2011 01:42:03 AM
Seems that you've enrolled a big part of your family for this one. And it pays of because I find it a great picture
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/03/2011 09:01:31 AM
i rarely ever give 10s, but this is certainly one of them.
bizarre, creative, creepy, and intriguing all at the same time.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/02/2011 08:17:01 PM
A masterpiece!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/02/2011 02:35:43 PM
Oh wow! How in the world did you convince so many to pose for you as zombies? :)
Very very nice. Could actually be a movie poster! Wonderful lighting, minimalistic setting and fabulous silhouettes. Love it!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/01/2011 06:47:07 PM
Is this that art display where statues of people stand in the water or did you set all of this up? Either way, this is fantastically photographed in every single way. The reaper adds drama, the silhouettes add drama, the lighting adds drama. Just everything is perfect in my opinion. A 10 and a fav from me. I hope you do well!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/01/2011 03:27:59 PM
wowwee... eerie!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/01/2011 10:58:46 AM
Well now... that's CREEPY!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/01/2011 10:50:37 AM
Fascinating (and well taken) shot
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/01/2011 03:30:18 AM
wow - that's really cool and unique, love it
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/01/2011 02:13:33 AM
Great organizational skills!
And a great shot too
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 08/31/2011 09:18:39 PM
OMG this has to be LVicari or gyaban and if it's not then All's I can say is FREAKIN WOWZA Love Love Love this!!!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 08/31/2011 09:09:59 PM
well planned and taken.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 08/31/2011 08:27:42 PM
WOW...awesome execution...10
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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