False Hope

[Toad]

Post Removed

[roger_ele]

Doll heads on dolls don't look any happier ...

These doll heads look pretty happy to me.

Nice richness and detail - has the look of an commercial photo

I really like the doll on the right corner, gives it a sense of place. I am not sure if the doll on the left does that with the head so stuck up in the corner. Don't know - just wondering.

Roger

[gina]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post to the forum so be gentle with me
I think the idea of the setup with the dolls is great.
The three heads seem to be gossiping about the left one
What I would change about it (if you can change anything in the setup) is this :
I would try to change the lighting, make it even more darker or light the puppets with different colors. I would remove the glass bowl, the reflections in it are disturbing or light them in a way that the reflections help the picture.
Crop the image a bit to the right or remove the extra dolly there.
Put the dolls in another holder or put some dark cloth around them to make the heads more prominent. In PS or PSP remove the reflection that is visible at the other dolly's feet. The price tag too
Of course this is only possible if you can do all these things. If this was a setup you photographed somewhere else you could try the things in Ps or PSP.
Great picture anyway! Perhaps you can use it in the Goth photo art challenge

Bye

[Toad]

Thank you for your comments. I can continue to experiment in PhotoShop, but unfortunately nothing in the setup can be changed or recreated.

I saw this tableau in a small, dark, dusty, shop in a small, dark passage in Paris. The shop was not even open - so the angle was dictated by needing to minimize the flash on the window in front of it.

I find dolls like this (ventriloquist dummies too) inherently creepy, and in the setting in which they were photographed, they looked more than creepy - almost evil. I would not have spent the night in that shop for anything.

Naturally, I was captivated by such strong sinister imagery. I actually have done several equally creepy images of this same shop window. I am attaching one more for the benefit of those who like this sort of thing...

[gina]

Hi toad,


Sorry if it would offend you but I liked playing around with your doll picture. One of my tries is with green lighting (plug-in Luce)


bye

[Toad]

Very cool. I am not offended. I have done dozens of variations of this shot - most of them a lot like this one - effect wise. It is a fun photo to mess with. Nice job.

[G. Couch]

I agree with you that dolls are pretty creepy...these especially! (add clowns to that list as well)

Strong points - Great use of the reflections...the three doll heads look like they are being contained in some sort of bubble. I also like the two dolls cropped on either side of the image. It lets your imagination wander a bit...what other strange doll carcasses reside in this little shop!

There appear to be reflections on the left side of the image...from the window perhaps? Cloning those out would make things a little less distracting and help focus the image fully on the decapitated 3 tenors....

Great job at finding an interesting little scene where others would have seen nothing...in Paris no less! Everyone else is shooting shots of the Eiffel tower while you are hunting for weird shop scenes!

[Toad]

Good catch. I will get rid of those left side reflections on my next cut. Thanks.

BTW: Don't want to shatter my rep for being "serious" - but I also have my fair share of Eiffel Tower pics - and maybe even a shot of the Mona Lisa somewhere.