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The Tough Side Of Life
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The Tough Side Of Life



behind the lens badge
cameraNIKON D5100

settings Aperture f/11.0 ISO 400 Shutter 13/10 

upload_dateJul, 2013

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1076

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Awards

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Superb Composition
Alex_Z lexiberg AmandaWu laststep karanpatel_0195 meganaldridge lbather +32
Peer Award
davidjprosser ileanaandreagmezgavinoser RDDIIPhotography NancyFlemingPhotography Natedoggnms aliceforrallies xxIsshinxx +23
Outstanding Creativity
geenakile Hifived sarawhitaker margaritaayon inghrme keegantaylor Tbonome +22
Absolute Masterpiece
MTQUACH88 tylerfrose dallinwestra mattciancaglini johnfrietzfortunado ToxicEmotion395 foeshizzy +21
Top Choice
katemcdowellblasingame zoeybaronhart Wyatt_ MissSamantha85 sirishbaniya serksalk12 minasamir +18
Exceptional Contrast
texaaronpueschel JGudin DigiRonin Bennyg_Images SilviaBitan AlanJakarta
Superior Skill
justshazzoffler gatorbait38 robinjohnson An-D davyxy
All Star
sallyG11 chuckgordon
Love it
HST125 Grere
Jaw Dropping
simonpics
Genius
Capture-Life

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The Fluid Self Photo ContestTop 30 rank week 1
14 Comments |
AndreaE
 
AndreaE July 28, 2013
Woahh!! Youre right Chris! Lol.. fantastic work! :)
J_Lu
 
J_Lu July 28, 2013
Love this! Very intense image and great texture!
sweetpea72
 
sweetpea72 July 29, 2013
This is absolutely fantastic, Coop :)
sherrymarie PRO+
 
sherrymarie July 30, 2013
Black and white is perfect here, great emotion
mountainman70
 
mountainman70 August 10, 2013
very well done - the grittiness and the contrast is very telling
AlanJakarta
 
AlanJakarta August 16, 2013
Excellent close-up mono portrait - great editing. Congratulations on the Award.
rmr731 Platinum
 
rmr731 August 19, 2013
Congrats on your award!
An-D
 
An-D August 20, 2013
This is a super intense portrait. The black and white really brings out every muscle and bit of emotion he's showing. A lot of depth. Wonderful capture!
jleiweke
 
jleiweke August 23, 2013
Congrats!
GordonD
 
GordonD September 03, 2013
This was a brave shot, and works perfect, congratulations, award well deserved :)
WolfEyesPhotography
 
WolfEyesPhotography September 06, 2013
Fantastic and intense!!!
robinjohnson
 
robinjohnson February 20, 2014
Great detail, voted.
texaaronpueschel Platinum
 
texaaronpueschel April 21, 2014
Did he load sixteen tons on the wrong train? Great shot.
Robb PRO+
 
Robb September 11, 2015
wonderful

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Behind The Lens

Location

I took this photo sitting on the floor of the apartment I rented between important phases of my life.

Time

It was in the middle of an afternoon on a weekend where I just wanted to let my afternoon tell me what to do.

Lighting

The lighting was all natural. It came in from the balcony window and shined threw the living space to the wall that leads to the kitchen. I wanted a shadow on half of my face. To me it helped to represent the grain that had become my thoughts. I wanted it to add some texture to the shot.

Equipment

It was shot with a Nikon D3100 with the kit 55mm lens on a tripod with a remote release. Easy peasy - nothing fancy.

Inspiration

This was the second self portrait I had ever taken. I wanted to do different shots of my life after divorce. I had a simple one as a test. Just me looking at the camera. This one was a bit different. I am normally a person that is all smiles. I'm sure that 98% of the people that know me won't recognize me in this shot. I wanted nothing but texture in this shot. Me and the wall - that's it. I took my shirt off, sat down in front of the lens, and attempted the meanest, grittiest look I could muster. I surprised even myself, but this is some of the raw bitter I was feeling at that time of my life. Little did I know that I would meet the angel of my dreams just weeks after this shot was taken.

Editing

The only thing I used was a high structure B&W filter. I wanted to add the grain that I could feel being expressed in my mood. I think it came through well. I never thought this shot would get any attention. It was really for just myself. I wanted to see inside myself, how I was feeling.

In my camera bag

I have just the one body in my bag - the Nikon D3100. I have the 55mm and 300mm lenses that came with the kit, but I also have a 1.8/f aperture 200mm internal zoom and a 1.4/f prime lens for specific shots. I usually have some charges, an off-body flash, the remote release and some filters, but that's about it. The rest just becomes my observation of nature. I normally don't shoot people....just nature.

Feedback

I am always so envious of the capability of others when it comes to portrait shots and the emotions they capture. I wanted just one shot. One shot of mine that I could look at and say, "I did that." This one was just about me. About the face of me that no one sees, the one that I don't show anyone. It is a genuine shot of my genuine feeling. It looks like me, but it doesn't. So I guess that came out as just .... raw me. Thanks for noticing. Now you need to see my smile. :)

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