Photo Challenge 6 – Temptation
January 19, 2009 by rockportrait
My journalist friend, Veena, gave us a tough theme this time. Almost everybody rose to the challenge. Almost.
I don’t think I put enough effort into mine, so don’t be afraid to get stuck in to me for that. And I haven’t heard from Ken so we’ll run with four images this time.
Temptation means one thing to most people, and many things to the rest. To creative people like us (cough) I think it can mean thousands of things, and I’m glad of that because I didn’t want to be posting five images of young hunks and spunks at the beach or the like. So, do we keep it simple and present a direct connection with the theme? Or do we go for something far more subtle, that might be a little left of centre and promote discussion?
Let’s see what we’ve done.
Steve’s submission
I struggled for two weeks to come up with something, and failed miserably. In the end I decided to portray one of my cats – Mushroom, trying so hard to resist his natural urge to explore whatever is on the other side of his fence. Watching him in live action portrays “temptation” far better than my still image ends up doing, as he prowls, stares, moans, whines and murmurs, begins to wiggle his tail in readiness to jump before turning around to pace the fence once more.
My thoughts:
The thoughts running around my head at the last moment, as I was getting some selection input from Joepi (i.e. cheating) on my final two-image shortlist follow:
I like the aesthetics of the first (the image above), but perhaps the link to the theme is too subtle and requires some creative thought. I like that he is staring directly through the gap. But if you weren’t told the theme first you could think it was simply curiosity.
The second (cat is in initial stages of a leap) is more obvious, but it could still be interpreted as something else – like escape or opportunity. He does actually jump on this attempt, so even though he is only poised at the photographic moment, it would take some prompting from me to have the viewer imagine him as being tempted, and not already have made his decision.
I don’t think temptation should be directly associated with action. As a state of mind, I think it is definitely more closely related to curiosity, so that’s the image I chose.
Katy’s submission
Katy says:
As soon as I laid my eyes on this month’s challenge, I thought of an apple – the shape the word ‘temptation’ has taken along the years, at least for me. But then I gave the theme more careful thought and came up with something a bit more original than simply placing an apple against a plain background and shooting it macro. Anyway, next thing I did was to get my spice-things-up dice out of the drawer and roll them to see what my luck was.
So get tempted…
P.S. : The word displayed on the first die is the Portuguese for ‘kiss’.
My thoughts: This is why I love having photographers from distant lands involved in this. We are treated to broad interpretations along with somewhat alien concepts and experiences. And I get to learn a new Portuguese word! The out of focus question mark on the second die is brilliant, and I love the red rich sensuality of the scene. This image makes me try harder to be more creative next time.
Mat’s submission
Mat says:
This is my good friend Max (from top Aussie rock band Asleep In The Park) posing in front of a Melbourne shoe shop. I experimented with a few different shutter speed settings to show other people as a blur while Max held perfectly still. This one at 0.6 seconds and f/22 turned out the best. I adjusted the levels and curves in Paintshop Pro and cropped to highlight the Soul Sale sign – after all, true temptation always costs us our soul!
My thoughts: Mat’s on a roll. This is a wonderful image that could well be used commercially. The blurred passers-by are exactly as they should have been treated. The composition, particularly with “Soul Sale” adding to the number of ways we can interpret this, appeals to me. The shoes and boots are well arranged, creating a space in front of Max who is playing the role of the “will I or won’t I” shopper to perfection. The entire image may seem a little claustrophobic at first – there’s a lot going on in a small space – but I kind of like that.
Joepi’s submission
Joepi says:
Temptation by my own thought is the act of wanting what is Naught.
Not yours to keep, Not yours to feel. Not yours to see and what’s Not meant to be…
Temptation by my own thought is not following what is taught.
It’s not yours yet you touch. Don’t touch yet you reach.
Close your eyes…Yet you peek.
So here’s the thought behind the image: Fishnet stockings have always been a symbol of sensuality. They have a “come hither” quality about them that is absolutely irresistible and yet their naughty taboo reputation also keeps a number of folks away (some even with raised eyebrows ;-D) This pose of seated, raised and closed yet slightly spread legs also screams “come hither.” But the notion is being waived off as the legs are closed with hands to cover and the instructions to not peek should be enough to deter you from coming closer… right.
f5.6 47mm focal length 1600ISO 1/20sec
My thoughts: I think Joepi’s image is a poster ad waiting to happen. Just have to figure out what is being sold – perhaps a new perfume called “Temptation”? Hard for me to fault this shot. Great lines and exceptional imagery. I hope it tempts you readers to weigh in with your thoughts…
Next Challenge
Hmmm, let me dig into my old calico bag of themes and see what I can drag out…
And the winner is… Sydney! No no no, wrong announcement thanks Juan Antonio! Try again.
Ok, the winner is Joepi so our next theme will be her suggestion – “Technicolor“.
Please have your photo to me by Sunday February 1st.
This should be fun, and you gotta be in it to win it.
PS – I was thinking that if this challenge thing continues to hum along nicely, I might have to introduce some incentives for you readers to submit the most thoughtful, incisive or enjoyable comments. I’ve a heap of crap in my back rooms that I could give away – books, CDs, stuffed toys, old sporting trophies etc. You know, stuff people really want. Let me know what you think…
It’s nice to see four great shots in completely different styles again and very interesting that three of us have got words as major parts of our images.
As for incentives, I’ve been happy with this challenge as an inspirational thing more than a competitive thing, but if that’s the way we go you should consider setting up a voting scheme so that the winner is chosen democratically. Maybe we all give 3 points to our favourite, 2 to 2nd, 1 to 3rd or something along those lines.
Hey Mat
I was referring to incentives for comments, not for the photographers. I agree that the only incentive we need is inspiration, and that it should definitely not become competitive. I am not a fan of photographic competitions at all, as who can really decide whether one photograph is any better than another. I give you a recent example.
Annie Liebovitz recently created an image for the Lavazza calendar, that in my opinion is not a photograph at all.
http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2008/12/the-worst-photo.html
As you will read on this page, and of course you can form your own opinion, it is headlined as The Worst Photograph Ever Made. Of course, that can’t be true in a world of cameraphones and where the digital revolution has allowed anybody with two cents to rub together to take photos BUT my point is that whether I like it or not, photography is art, and art is subjective.
Mind you – I don’t think this is the worst photograph in the world, because it’s NOT a photograph. This is digital art that was created FROM a photograph.
So, I won’t be turning the challenges into a competition.
This set was quite interesting and it’s again great to see so many different ideas come together. Thank you, Veena for your brilliant choice of theme. Now for comments
Steve, you know my thoughts on your photo as discussed. Mushroom’s pose here of seemingly deciding whether to go for it or not definitely shows the precise moment of being tempted. I also meant to ask, did you use Lightroom to make the image look so clean? That’s one of the qualities I like about your photos. They’re almost always look so clean, sharp and polished.
Mat’s photo also shows that moment of temptation – but in a longer time frame versus Mushroom’s photo which you can almost tell he’s going to jump at any moment. Max looks like she could stare at those pretty shoes the entire day deciding whether she was going to give in or not. Mat couldn’t have kept me still for that long unless I already had the shoes in a shopping bag! I love the movement you’ve been capturing in your photos, Mat! Good job!
As for Katy’s photo, the thought of what other fun you might have with those dice are temptation enough! The well placed question mark in the background paints that indecision that comes with being tempted which always looms at the back of your head. The red-orange and the blue colors compliment each other so much! The color wheel proves itself true once again! I must admit I haven’t thought about using complimentary colors on purpose for these challenges yet. If you did this intentionally, that is absolutely brilliant! If not, all the more brilliant!
Now about incentives – I think that would be a great idea to get readers to submit comments for the photos! Oh and reading through that link about Annie Liebovitz’s work was quite interesting, and at the same time makes me realize the limitations of being boxed by a client’s idea. I strongly believe in trying to talk sense into your clients heads when coming up with ads like this. Mind you I have a very limited experience with advertising (i.e. a few units in college)and what-nots, but all I know is that an FGD and a little feedback session never hurt anyone before launching an ad and avoiding a possible lifetime of shame. Oh my look at the time, that got me rambling! My apologies!
Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys doing next week’s photo challenge!
Well, I actually look at my images and often wonder how to make them jump off the page a lot more LOL. Whilst I do use Lightroom, I don’t do anything particularly special in there. Basically, I usually shoot in RAW, then adjust light levels if necessary, sometimes with a brush tool if a particular area needs attention. Then I might adjust clarity and sharpness for optimum viewing on the web. Oh, and I seem to be vignetting a lot lately (thanks Ken!!!). Hmmm, what else do I do? Oh, I will remove spots and unnecessary distractions from the image without changing the image from it’s original intention, if I think it will help. That’s about it really. Using an ISO 100 image means there’s no image noise, but I often shoot at 400 and above, so not sure that’s much to do with it.
With Mushroom’s shot above, I actually used the Panasonic (my travel point and shoot), and barely touched the image. So I guess it just comes out of the camera nice.
Glad you mentioned the colour wheel, Joeps. The next challenge should really bring out some colour craziness!
And about talking sense into clients – what did you think of my thoughts to that effect in the beach portrait session? (http://site.rockportrait.com.au/2009/01/18/a-family-portrait-in-werribee-south/)
I like the fact that you were able to get that shot of them walking down the beach. I remember discussing that set with you and that beach stroll was the top pick seeing that it captured a good family moment in their most natural smiles and postures. But yeah, sometimes your clients will ask you to do something that may not be the best idea ever, but it’s going to be your task as the photographer to get the best photo – so you have to give them your vision and come up with the happy middle ground.
And about the color wheel just a reminder for everyone: Orange and Blue, Red and Green, Purple and Yellow
But never be afraid to mix and match! Happy coloring! Enjoy!
Honestly speaking, this is the best challenge result ever seen on Rockportrait – everyone seemed to have been so into it.
As pointed by Mat, I also liked the fact that words were incorporated into the images, making them look more appealing in my point of view.
My personal fave this time is Mat’s. I loved everything about it – must say that the composition is the strength of this image, the perspective alone is already a big punch. Grats, Mat!
Thank you all for your comments on my submission.