Halloween 2008 - 2 (original post below)

Another rework of an old image shot in 2001. Added a few crows and a grim reaper with scarecrow shadow.

Are the crows well placed? How about the grim reaper and her shadow?

What is your overall impression?

Very nice...or not nice....I mean creepy and well done. It seems to me that there should be some balance on the darkside (left) of the image. Maybe a figure over there? I am not sure about the shadow on the windmill. It seems like there is too much going on on the right side of the image. Although the ravens are perfect.

Thanks, Tiffany. The idea was that the descending ravens will turn into grim reapers, although I have to admit even that isn't well communicated. I also agree with the left empty space but can't think of anything suitable - back to the drawing board! :-)

Less can sometimes be more. How's this?

I prefer the version with the person in white on the left. Very charming. In the first picture, inmy opinion, the shadow of the grim reaper on the mill is a little too dark, in respect of the shadow of the blade.

 

Yours is a great great portfolio.

 

Marzio

Thank you for the comment, Marzio, and I agree with your observation. The white/blue figure is the little girl in my "Young Lady" folder, and I thought the contrast will highlight her presence shown in such small scale.

To be honest, I didn't even notice the grim reaper until I read your comments, but sometimes that makes it a more interesting shot because you can discover things the more you look. I like the overall darkness of the original and find the figure in your added post to be a little TOO bright for the image. Just my two cents...

I have a collection of antique art prints where the figure of death is the central subject. Images that depict death as the grim reaper are those that are most appealing to me and as such I have been enjoying your variations of the old windmill with the reaper being included. I love them all for the most part and this one is quite nice.

Yes...love the white figure to balance the light...but I miss the birds of the first one. Another interesting insert might be a sweet feminine figure with a dark menacing shadow.

I agree completely ..... sol

It doesn't get much more menacing than that, Ken.

 

Michael, these are all beautifully done. You are playing with us, but we must like it or we would leave.

 

--Lannie

Kim, Shawn, and Tiffany, I'm still diddling with the picture with consideration to your insights and will post when ready. Thanks you for the comments!

 

Ken! Good to see you and hope to see more of your humor, but to be honest, I don't find Tina Fey to be the least bit menacing. :-)

 

I love Halloween, Lannie. It's a time to play, learn new technique, and have a bit of fun expressing what little dark sides are within us.

I like the version with a little girl in white the best. brrr... scary

 

By the way I wonder how Ken could keep himself away for so long from posting attachments with whimsical humor. His fingers may have been itching quite a while.

Kay, I think Ken may be preoccupied with more interesting activities than PN; like having a life! :-)

Original post shown here. The replacement image will take up to 24 hours to show up.

I'd gladly remove the crow that's at the extreme right, on the wind mill itself... I don't think it adds anything, and it could be interpreted as "too much", a cliché basically... Besides that this image is overall very interesting, and so was the other one with Death walking around... I guss my personal choice would still be this one, but perhaps it could be interesting to have this woman and 1 Death caracter only (why are more than 1 needed in the other one, by the way ?), with Death walking behind her - following her... She could then be in front of the Windmill, with the light from the house lighting her gown just right, and Death could be at left... What do you think of this idea ?

 

Btw, thanks for your interesting comment earlier today. I've just replied to you, asking for a clarification and proposing another version. Thanks again ! Cheers.

Brilliant suggestion Marc! Many thanks. I will try that later.

 

These kinds of photos (if we can even call it a photo any more) are fun to make given the Halloween occasion. I gather it's not celebrated in France. Anyhow, much obliged for the idea!

:-) Nope, we don't celebrate Death here... Since 1789, we celebrate freedom - which happens to have caused a lot more Deaths than all Halloweens counted together....! :-)))

Okay Marc, I simply added a Grim Reaper behind the young lady and removed the crow. Oh, and added a little surprise on the top-left corner. The positioning is mostly to fill the left empty space and also because the front of the mill would be too dark for the reaper to be visible in a meaningful way.

 

As for your question about why so many grim reapers in the other image, I can only say that I toggled between one and many; many looked better. :-) By the way, I can rather easily modify this image so further comments are most welcome. :-)

This is great stuff Michael. But I think if you put in 3 clowns playing banjo in front of an empty grocery cart...you would have yourself a masterpiece (>8

Alright, Tiffany, point taken. :-)

 

It's too late for this year. Next year, I will rig up one of these (be sure to watch the video) with a spare computers which will also serve as my year-round Majordomo. Guests will love being greeted by preprogrammed phrases!

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I can't believe this, Ken. And you shot this when you were how old?! :-)

OMG...I'm dyin' here!