Worn Hand

[Steven Dempsey]

I wanted a gritty looking hand but my own are not exactly what you would call weather beaten. I decided that I liked the look of my hand anyway but needed to gritty it up a little. I found some chocolate powder in my pantry and mixed it with a little water. I then pasted it all over my hand and let it dry. I massaged the dry chocolate around on my hand until it looked right. The color didn't matter so long as it was dark because this was to be a black and white shot.

I then turned on the lights above the stove and let that be my only light source. I am using a Nikon 55mm f2.8 macro but because I'm using it on my Canon camera via an adapter ring, it's manual focus all the way. I found a good composition, held out my hand until it was in focus (using live view on the camera) and then clicked the shutter with the other hand.

I processed it in Photoshop and Nik Software's SilverEfx Pro.

So yeah, it's my hand and it doesn't look like that at all in real life.

[Athas_orm]

This is really cool and shows a lot of thought beforehand. I don't think my hands are right for this anyway though

[ororockcrawler]

great job, great thinking

[estir_bune]

very cool! great idea and I bet your hand smelled fabulous!

[evader]

very cool...thanks for sharing you did it

[LeeR]

Great shot. This is a simple composition but, oh, so effective. The textures tell the whole story of a hard life of toil and trouble. Very well done.

[Pete Beverley]

Very effective... works well in B&W

[Glayva]

Hi Steven
What brilliant shot! Perfectly exposed, excellent composition and a lovely BW treatment. Yes, I too love Silver Efx Pro and think it is one of the very best plug ins. Thanks for sharing

[Steven Dempsey]

Originally Posted by Glayva

Hi Steven
What brilliant shot! Perfectly exposed, excellent composition and a lovely BW treatment. Yes, I too love Silver Efx Pro and think it is one of the very best plug ins. Thanks for sharing

Thanks Tony. I visited your web site Algarve in Colour and am really impressed with your work. Great sense of composition and color. Wonderful stuff.

[theent01]

beautiful shot, love the textures. Is it just me, or do the nails look manicured?