Em has never had the pleasure of a Hoodsie cup before, and the VFW was handing them out after the Memorial Day ceremony. I'm thinking I made this too hot (I shot in RAW and adjusted the Exposure up a bit in Elements). Comments/suggestions?
Nice capture!! the colours look great to me. It looks like you had a great time. I love how the flags are in a line in the background since it was Memorial Day. did you get the ice cream out of her shirt?? LOL Sarah
Looks good to me, Gretchen! Um....what's a "Hoodsie cup?" Is "Hoodsie" a particular brand of ice cream or what?
Cute photo that captures a nice moment. A few small nits. First, you've cropped off a small portion of right foot. Second, the overall tone of the photo is cute and sweet and the memorial crosses on the right side are much more somber in tone. To me it is sending a bit of a mixed message. Just my $.02.
Thank you Logan! :smile: She *always* loves a good ice cream. :wink: Thank you Sarah. I love American flags, and tried to line this up to get several in one shot. :smile: As to the ice cream.......there's a bottle of Spray'n'Wash in her bedroom and another down by the laundry. :tongue: Yes, something we all grew up on. :smile: I keep forgetting that Hood ice cream is a New England thing. My apologies! Interesting Jeff, I hadn't thought of that! I love seeing others' views. :smile: Actually, I had looked at it as "those who gave their lives guarantee this 'Americana'- type living: kids and ice cream in the summer." For that, I am eternally greatful! Your observation is well taken.
Oh, and one more thing: the foot crop was an error of photography, not an error of Elements! :biggrin:
Gretchen, What does it look like before you brought it up. The mix of the somber theme and the child with ice cream does convey a powerful message.
Mark, Here is how it originally came up (with all the "auto" boxes checked in Elements with regards to Exposure, Shadows, Brightness, contrast, saturation). This is unsharpened and only re-sized. I was working to lighten her face a bit in bringing it up.
Well, I think this photo is priceless! To be able to sit in the grass and enjoy that special treat reflects on what those flags in the background stands for. OUR FREEDOM! It doesn't come without a price. Well done Gretchen!
Gretchen, I think you have a really powerful image either way. On my monitor, I like the skin tone of the original, but I also like the extra punch of the colour in the flags in the first version posted. I'm no PS expert, so I can't give any good advice how to reconcile the two. As an aside, the tradition of wearing poppies in Canada and other Commonwealth countries came from an American, who was inspired by a Canadian poem, "In Flanders Fields" by John McRae. This changed Memorial Day from a remembrance of Civil War fallen, to all that fell in the service of their country. The global village is not so new.
Gretchen, personally, I like the second image much more... Great shot...love the composition and the subject matter. The cost and benefit of freedom in one shot...bravo.
Thank you Troy! I hope to play with it a bit more tonight, and then send it off to be printed. :smile: Gordon, if you ask nicely, she may share! Hoodsies are a split of chocolate and vanilla, and it was always a "thing" whether you ate one flavor at a time, carved across the two or <gasp> stirred them together! :biggrin:
Very cute shot, Gretchen. I agree that the framing provides context. When you look at this 20 years from now, you'll know exactly when it was made.
