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Canon DSLR Challenge | all galleries >> Canon SLR Challenges - FAQ >> CSLR - Best of... >> Best of 2006 > 4th Place
poire pas de deux
by Michael Puff
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20-MAY-2006 Michael Puff

4th Place
poire pas de deux
by Michael Puff

For the catgories Xtreme still-life, Xtreme dance, and Xtreme fruit
(there is an Xtreme fruit category, yes?).

Canon EOS 20D ,Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM
1/125s f/9.0 at 100.0mm iso200 with Flash full exif

other sizes: small medium original auto
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alexeig31-May-2006 00:20
Weird and incredible
Guest 30-May-2006 18:38
fantastic!
Canon DSLR Challenge29-May-2006 04:29
Nice pecs! :) A superb surreal image and hillariously funny. I could tell it was a Puff image from the thumbnail by the texture and shading but I couldn't figure out at first what those things sticking out were until I clicked on it. Just wonderful! ~kt
iso320026-May-2006 19:28
Extreme Puffy. Enough said.
Guest 26-May-2006 15:52
Thanks, Bob. The shadow was created with my favorite burn/dodge technique in Photoshop. Create a new layer on top of the layer you want to burn/dodge. Change the blend mode of the new empty layer to Soft Light. With a nice soft brush, paint black on the layer to burn and paint white on the layer to dodge. When editing a full resolution image in 16-bit mode, I find a brush opacity of 7% lets me build up the burn/dodge slowly, but your mileage may vary. The technique came from Scott Kelby's "photoshop book for digital photographers". -Michael
Canon DSLR Challenge26-May-2006 14:05
Excellent work Michael, I skipped past this thumbnail a couple of times before I actually took a close look very clever and great PS work. I am interested in the process you used for the shadow of the arm of the horizontal bloke...ummm...pear.. umm thingy? You kept the texture in tact... very impressed. Did you shrivel some poor model up and make him lie on the table? or...? ~ Bob
Guest 25-May-2006 21:09
Thanks Vikas.

Cindy, you make me *blush*. Humble beginnings are good :-) I don't have much of a body of surreal work as yet, but I'm werkin on it.

Traveller, thanks for your thoughts, always appreciate your willingness share them. I think I was a bit misleading. The image is pretty much so as I conceived it. I always had a surreal still-life in mind. However, your comments have me thinking that it would be a valuable exercise for me to see the image with multiple facets at the time of creation. Or perhaps that's your job. Or, mebbe we're saying the same thing. Cheers, -Michael
Vikas Malhotra25-May-2006 14:28
Fantastic; love your PS work its the best. Vikas
cindyd25-May-2006 07:33
OMG! where was this during my challenge???????????? you need to put a show together. Seriously - if you can't get a showing down there I can get you one up here - humble but a place to start :) Cindy
Canon DSLR Challenge24-May-2006 06:41
Dearest Michael: I am certainly glad that you are finding voice as a surrealist, this seems to be a perfect marriage of your substantial talent to an appropriate medium.

And yet, if I may be so bold to postulate how this came about:

1. You conceived this as an Xtreme Still Life...and in this context the triangular composition of the pears is ideal and called for.

2. Somewhere in the process of creation, this was transformed into Surrealism, but with the same static still life composition.

3. Surrealism, unlike still life's, invite the viewer to interpret what is going on...entirely a different process than viewing a still life where there may be real appreciation, but still little actual viewer interaction.

4. If this were initially conceived as a surrealist piece for the very beginning, the pears could be doing all kinds of things...the arms could be down catching himself while falling or, as I though they could both be vertical, dancers on a stage.

5. The position of the stems on both pears, representing a head, are each facing each other, the one looking down, the other up, which is why I thought there was a tipping over or a knock down...but the arms of the fall-ee are un-natural to this kind of occurrence.

6. However, as I look at it again, as must be done repeatedly with any surrealistic image, maybe Lonnit's interpretation is the correct one...there is a certain humor in the fact that the fallen pear has maintained his perfect position....kind of looking back up, saying, "What the Heck did you do to me?"

7. But if you are going to stay a surrealist for a while, and I certainly hope that you do, it is possible for you to story board you image even before you begin.

Just thoughts and suggestions, Sir, nothing more.

You’re the Genius, I just work here...lol

Best Wishes, Traveller


Guest 24-May-2006 05:32
Lee, Victor, Jim, Nico, thank you. I'll look back through the versions I saved and if there's something which shows the various layers involved then I'll post it with comments.

Lonnit, thank you too. Orgasmic? Without a doubt. Organic? Not a chance :-)

Traveller, well, you certainly have given me pause for thought. Frankly, it never occurred to me that both pears might be standing. Perhaps this points out the dichotomy between my perspective and the viewer's. I started with the concept of an "extreme" still life. The pears were the first image. As such, I was interested in the still-life compositional triangle formed by one pear vertical and one pear horizontal. The "pas de deux" is the "extreme", an addition, if you will.

You've pointed out to me that what you see is the "pas de deux", the finished image. It raises questions for you, questions that I didn't fully answer for myself in conceiving this as a finished piece. To be honest, I never expected to find a voice as a surrealist. It never crossed my mind as an intentional act. But here I am, at this point in my development, enjoying surrealism. Perhaps the truly brilliant surrealists amongst us know and understand their finished pieces, that's not a statement I can make. For me, a vertical pear and a horizontal pear is merely a compositional choice...there is no other meaning. And yet, perhaps as Lonnit surmised, the horizontal pear with his pea sized brain thinks he's standing...or perhaps as you proposed, the standing pear knocked over the reclining pear...or perhaps... As a surrealist, I really don't know if these are questions I need to answer during conception and execution of a piece or if these are questions you need to grapple with (without my assistance) upon viewing the piece. Interesting quandaries, yes? -Michael
Canon DSLR Challenge24-May-2006 03:58
I thought it was very funny that the one was lying on its side, especially since he managed to keep perfect position, like a real pro who stumbles and pretends it's part of the act! LOL! Or, maybe he's just really stupid and in that pea sized brain of his, he thinks he's standing up! LOL! ~ Lonnit
Canon DSLR Challenge24-May-2006 02:06
Dearest Michael: Since you are not open to Bribery, (Damn!), let's get down to brass tacks here. I am curious if you have not maybe gotten too good at this...and therefore take these projects a step too far to satisfy your curiosity and creativity.

Exhibit A...this lovely image. I've given it a lot or thought if I should say anything at all, but then you are pretty open to different views. I don't understand why you laid the second pear down? I photoshopped this for a bit and made it upright, stood the lad up, and...it just seemed more natural, if natural can be the correct phrase for two pears dancing. I also gave them a bit more seperation.

Of course, maybe the 1st pear accidentially knocked the second one over...but I don't know, what that your intention? Just curious myself. As you know, this is only one person's opinion.

Of course, regardless, this is a fabulous image and fully up to your normal standards of excellence. Best Wishes, Traveller
Canon DSLR Challenge22-May-2006 19:57
Pears with nipples.... what'll they think of next? This genetics experimentation has really GOT to stop already! Are they orgasmic... er, I meant organic? But seriously, this is brilliant! I thought they were seed sacs or some weird gourds from the thumbnail. Imagine my surprise upon it up! My daughter was here and just started laughing - couldn't even make a comment, just laughed! ~ Lonnit
jnconradie22-May-2006 09:45
Now I have seen everything! And I have no idea how to go about creating something like this. I trust you will share the secret again afterwards, as always. Thanks for such a eye-catching contribution, Michael. Regards. ~jnconradie
Canon DSLR Challenge22-May-2006 05:22
Ahhh, that pear-shaped figure we always hear about. Really, though, it's neat to see the similarity between these forms demonstrated and blended like this. I don't know how you did it, but the effect is great. Now I won't be able to bite into a pear again without first looking very carefully at it! Jim H.
Canon DSLR Challenge22-May-2006 02:19
Heheh. They do have hairy navels, though. This is an excellent image. I like it very much -- Victor
Canon DSLR Challenge22-May-2006 01:52
I did not know pears had hairy pits! 8-)
cool idea and well done.
theFly