John W. Brown

[shawngrimes]

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shawngrimes/2273876196/" title="John W. Brown by ShawnGrimes, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2386/2273876196_d76c3365d3.jpg" width="235" height="500" alt="John W. Brown" /></a>

Exif:
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Exposure: 4 sec (4)
Aperture: f/9
Focal Length: 28 mm

When I walked into this room on the ship, I saw the flag hanging and dimly lit from a small light bulb above. I was really moved by it but I'm not sure how well I captured it here. I laid on the floor and fired my flash manually up to the podium to light up the plaque. Then I dodged and burned the flag a little to fade the colors.

Does the lighting on the plaque take away from the picture, or conflict heavily with the lighting of the flag? Is the PP too much on the flag or look too fake? Do you think trying the shot from a lower angle looking up would have been a better composition?

[Nathan deGargoyle]

I'll leave the technical stuff to the experts but, from a laymans POV the flag looks great but the plaque is too brightly lit and looks like a later add-on.

Great to celebrate the Liberty Ships though. Without them I'd probably be posting in German. Thanks guys!

[geotography]

Yes, I would agree with the previous post. The frag has a wonderful, dramatic lighting. The flag by itself would have been enough of a compositional statement. Podium and plague detract.

[peeperita]

good presentation, shawn.....and a perfect example of asking specific enough questions to encourage critique....

yes, i think the plaque detracts from the scene.....although i can appreciate what you went through to ensure it's inclusion into your image.....without it......and i'm a happer viewer.....


i like the desaturated flag......nice work with that......there's one area that keeps bugging me though and i'm not sure if it's a shadow in the original or post work.....it's right where the lower edge of the star field meets the stripes.....did you darken it?

peeper

[shawngrimes]

i like the desaturated flag......nice work with that......there's one area that keeps bugging me though and i'm not sure if it's a shadow in the original or post work.....it's right where the lower edge of the star field meets the stripes.....did you darken it?

peeper

I did darken that area in PP. I wanted to add a little more depth to the flag but that was one spot where I felt like i might have gone a little too far. Thanks for calling me out on it and providing very valuable feedback.

I have another version of the shot where the flag is cropped out by itself and rotated: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shawngrimes/2273876406/ I wish I could find a way to incorporate the plaque though because I was trying to convey the ships relationship to our country and its impact.

[peeperita]

your image of just the flag is striking......but, i so want you to achieve what you're looking for.....

i fiddled around with it with marginal success and i suggest that you try floating the plaque in a selection over the flag only image and then reducing it's opacity......letting the flag bleed through.....

it's a thought....repost if you find what you're looking for......

peeper

[Nathan deGargoyle]

I did darken that area in PP. I wanted to add a little more depth to the flag but that was one spot where I felt like i might have gone a little too far. Thanks for calling me out on it and providing very valuable feedback.


I did wonder about that but the stars looked like a seperate panel. I thought that maybe, as New States were still being created (only 48 stars on the flag) maybe it was an economy measure (ther was a war on you know) and for each new state you only had to change the panel and not the whole flag. ;)