Memorials

BEST VIEWED LARGER. This is a composite of three images. The first

is of the Veterans Memorial Wall, a one point perspective leading up

to the Washington Monument, which I shot in early spring of this year.

The second was of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial – Three Soldiers,

which is about 100 yards away, near the Wall, which I shot the same

day. So there are three monuments (or memorials) in this image, the

Wall, the Washington Monument and the Three Soldiers. It was pouring

rain the day I took those images, which created the opportunity for

reflections along the walkway and in the Wall itself. I composited

the Three Soldiers onto the sidewalk next to the Wall in such a way so

that it would appear as if they were looking at the Wall. In doing

so, I had to create their reflections on the sidewalk and in the Wall

itself. What is particularly special to me about this image is the

little girl. Her eyes are so beautiful and haunting. I used Vanishing

Point to blend her eyes and a rough outline of her face into the wall

so that the Three Soldiers would be looking directly at her, and she

at them. For me, she is symbolic of the many children who died in

that war, surely far more in number than the names on the Wall. I

created this image for a project in the SVA Masters Program for

Digital Photography, and I thought I would share it here. My

instructor of the Photo Illustration course for which I created this

image, Mark Beckelman, died a few weeks ago of cancer. Without Mark’s

expertise, I would have had no idea how to create an image like this.

I dedicate this image to Mark.

David...  Extremely well done and a poignant reminder.  Your blending skills are superb, however, I may have missed the little girl if you hadn't mentioned her.  Once seeing her though, she is very obvious.  Mike

Thanks, Michael. The orientation of the soldiers along the central perspective of the image was meant to present the question of what they were looking at.  (After all, they moved about 300 yards to take a look.)  The names on the Wall perhaps?  I think the little girl.  Her presence needed to be very subtle, in part to match the mood of the day and in part to give her the appearance of an apparition from within the Wall.  I did not want her visage to appear too prominent.  Although central to the image, she is only part of the larger image and theme.  When viewed larger, she becomes more apparent.  Thanks again.  David

Powerful touching image

Remarkable work! You should be very proud of this one. It is a beautiful image and a very touching tribute - to the vets, to the families of vets, to the victims of the war, to all those who lost loved ones, and to your instructor. Wonderful! Thank you for sharing.

Quite  a job! The only nit pick might be the reflection of the three posts in front of the soldiers, which should be blocked by their bodies. Well done.

G

Indeed!  Thanks.  Didn't see that. I'm new to compositing work.  I inverted a picture of my son, and someone had to point out to me that the lettering on his shirt was inverted.  I hadn't noticed.  David

This is cool...very nicely done. 

Thanks for the kind words, everyone.  I removed the shadows from the bars per your comment, Gregory.  Thanks for pointing that out. The resulting shadow still needs work, but at least that major problem has been resolved.  David

David, I believe this to be theVERY BEST image I've ever seen, the combinitation of the 3 images makes the overall image amazingly powerful. I have been to the Wall nearly 22 times, now in future I will imagine this image as part of that which I am really looking at. Great theme, imagination and originality I rate this image a 7/7. I would like if when you make a poster from this image to be notified. I really would like to hang this in my living room. Failing that chance, are you selling framed 11 x 14 or 16 x 20  prints?

Again as a TET wounded combat vet, thanks! Your work here definitely rocks!