You sure nailed this one Mike with the warrior returning home safely from the battlefield. That smoky atmosphere adds to the drama of this top photojournalistic image. Must be on the podium this week.
Fantastic!!! Should be a posterboard. You nailed this one and without a doubt, make the finals if not the winner. This sets the bar high in my opinion.
This is a strong image - one that evokes emotion and tells a powerful story. My only criticism pertains to the crop, which cuts off at the knees, but other than that it is perfect.
Thank you all for the nice comments and CC. To answer the question.. Yes, it is an action figure and a flag I bought to shoot for this WA. I was not sure it would work at all. The idea felt strong and I knew the message I wanted to send but as we know the execution can be difficult. I'm glad you guys CC'ed on the crop. I had a full body shot but it felt weak with to much negative space. I felt this caused the flag to feel more like a message with a "Go America" attitude rather than the soldier returning home as the main focus. I opted for the lesser of two evils and cropped in tight. I have a framed/bordered version in my gallery here on Fred's, which may secure the crop appearance some. Perhaps a re-shoot is in order. Thanks guys. I appreciate the input.
I thought I'd attach the set up shot. I think they are fun to look at.
You are so good!!! Just fabulous! I love the message, just wish it were tens of thousands of them--returning with all of their body parts, even so their psyche's may be fragile forever. Wonderful, thanks for posting. Makes me not want to post anything else
Jane
Thank you so very much Jane, I hear you and your welcome.
Jane, You know I will be waiting to see what you post. I love your work and I admire your talent. It is the inspiration from everyone here, from the simplest to the most complex of idea and techniques that makes me enjoy shooting again after putting my camera away three years ago.
I love the shot but I have to admit that I wasn't sure of the message. After reading other comments now I get it, brilliant shot. And I think the crop is perfect.
I do have a couple of quibbles. I don't like the dark line that is directly above the soldiers head. I realize that it is the transition from stars to stripes but it looks a bit darker than the surrounding and coming straight out of his head I find it a bit distracting.
Second, (and this may be just my cheap monitor) The area just to the left of his head between the two stars seems to show some posterization.
Mike! You've done it again! I love this concept, and the image. Especially glad you shared your set up......I LOVE seeing what other members do to create their entries.
Great emotion, super idea......very well executed. It's a winner for sure!!
Al, hh, Philly, Thank you for the nice comments. I appreciate it very much.
Kevin, Thank you very much. I had my reservations about letting on it was not a real person, not that it can't be "figured" out, but so the viewer could just take it for what it is and come to their own conclusion. It was more for our fellow photogs here to share the makeup of the image. How I would have loved to shoot this real world.
Hi Marc, thanks for the CC. Good point, I think I relied on the title "Home" to speak the message more than the image itself. I know I need to work on that in my WA's, Thanks. I don't see the artifacting left of the head but I do agree about the line above the head. I am going to try to clean it up a bit. Thanks for pointing that out. Much appreciated!
I love your work and I admire your talent. It is the inspiration from everyone here, from the simplest to the most complex of idea and techniques that makes me enjoy shooting again after putting my camera away three years ago. 