#10 what do you think?

[JAG]

Do you see a connection with the poem? I don't have much time to shoot for this because I am leaving town in a few days so what do you think? Is it a keeper or should I try something else tonight?

My Heart Cries Out...
http://jagcreations.smugmug.com/photos/390328011_ZFg4H-L-1.jpg

Edit: Oct. 15th
Ok...let me know if posting the xl is too large? or should I stick with the large? I am out of town right now so all I can do is play with what I have...

2~without the text
http://jagcreations.smugmug.com/photos/394696081_673Rw-XL-1.jpg

3~with text
http://jagcreations.smugmug.com/photos/394696118_tuHwr-XL-1.jpg

[pyroPrints.com]

It's good. It took me a second to figure out what was going on. At first, I was like, why does he have a cut, did the girl beat em up? Then I noticed the dog tags, and then the gun, and it made much more sense.

[Karrie McD]

Wow JAG, I love it!

[JAG]

Thanks for looking pyro and Karrie. I wondered if it would be evident enough to be seen that he is at war.

[idiom]

Hello,

I like the photo, it's really neat, but just so I understand.... hehe.

a) Is he supposed to be dead, and thats why she has his dogtags?

b) Or is he on his deathbed dreaming about: 1) her and him together and 2) her after he ends up dying, crying, and holding his dogtags.

c) I am stupid and way off.


As a side note, I was just curious about the spot on his arm, was that fabricated in there? For some reason i keep looking at it. hehe.

Thanks. I have been reading this poem over and over and over again, and I have come up with some theories about the poem and EAP's life, but I just would like to understand fully what part(s) of the poem other people are focusing on. :)

[JAG]

Hello,

I like the photo, it's really neat, but just so I understand.... hehe.

a) Is he supposed to be dead, and thats why she has his dogtags?

b) Or is he on his deathbed dreaming about: 1) her and him together and 2) her after he ends up dying, crying, and holding his dogtags.

c) I am stupid and way off.


As a side note, I was just curious about the spot on his arm, was that fabricated in there? For some reason i keep looking at it. hehe.

Thanks. I have been reading this poem over and over and over again, and I have come up with some theories about the poem and EAP's life, but I just would like to understand fully what part(s) of the poem other people are focusing on. :)

Thanks Gage for looking and commenting. After reading the poem at least a dozen times....It seems to me the the writer was talking about desparation...not quite knowing what the future holds. As any poem...its sometimes left for the reader to come up with the interpretation that fits best. My picture does the same. Is the man dead? Or is he in deep shock after a battle...thinking of his love back home if she were to hear of his death? Will she remember his love and the good times? This by means is only one interpretation that I had in mind. Like the fruitless grasping of the sand in the poem...he cannot change or help what she might think when he is gone. Desparation. I could go on about what she might be thinking....

As for the bruise on his arm....it was added for effect. An old bruise to indicate a long journey.

[ilbcnu]

Jag
I see the connection to the poem.
I am wondering what it would look like if the white haze in front of her was gone -but the flag stayed -and she was darkened a little to match the other top insert.
For some reason I too go to his upper arm mark. Maybe lighten so it isn't drawing like the lower arm one?
Iam still new here and returning from a long hiatus from photography so everthing is IMO----
Great concept :clap Good luck in comp!!

[JAG]

Jag
I see the connection to the poem.
I am wondering what it would look like if the white haze in front of her was gone -but the flag stayed -and she was darkened a little to match the other top insert.
For some reason I too go to his upper arm mark. Maybe lighten so it isn't drawing like the lower arm one?
Iam still new here and returning from a long hiatus from photography so everthing is IMO----
Great concept :clap Good luck in comp!!
Thank you ilbcnu for looking and commenting. I went ahead and lightened the bruise some for in the entry thread. But I personally like the bruise...otherwise his arm looks too clean. As for the girl...she is not as faded because this brings me to my next interpretation of the poem. A Dream within a Dream. Is she the one having a dream of them together? If he has died and before he dies he thinks of her...then that dream is hers...thus she needs to be more in the forefront.

Thats what I love about this challenge! So many ways to interpret and apperently my image has made different people view different things...left for interpretation! :thumb

[divamum]

I think it works, for all the reasons stated. The poem itself is terribly ambiguous, and the photo, as you say, is too.

Are you sure the bruise wouldn't work better a bit darker, so it's clearer what it is (rather than lightened up?). Might be worth trying just to see what it looks like :)

And :clap to you and everybody else who's come up with something good so farst. Boy, this one is TOUGH - I have an idea, but it is so much more literal than the entries posted so far that I wonder if I'm way off base... hmm.... can't do anything until the weekend anyway, so I guess I'll have to see what I come up with once I can start turning the ideas into photos!

[richtersl]

I love it! :clap

[JAG]

Thanks for looking and commenting divamum and richters! I think I will let the bruise ride for now.:thumb

[peterst6906]

JAG,

When I look at the image, I can definitely see your interpretation of the theme here and what you are trying to achieve. Keeping the battle wiery soldier in color and changing the others to B&W places prominence on the soldier and I can see that he is having memories of happy times in the past.

That side of it I get well.

What doesn't quite work for me with the overall image at the moment is that it feels like 3 separate images sharing one frame. It doesn't all tie together in a seemless way yet.

Memories are things that happen in the mind and it might be useful to play around with the position of the other two shots so that they are both closer to his head. That might help viewers to naturally associate the three and tie it together more. I don't know if that would really work, just thinking aloud really.

Regards,

Peter

[KevXman]

JAG,

I agree with Peter about the separation of the images. Here is a quick and dirty version to show the placement that I think works better. IMHO. If it was me I would brighten the top left image a little also.

http://photosbykevin.smugmug.com/photos/390727985_EdujR-L.jpg

Good luck.

— Kevin

[JAG]

Thanks Peter and Kev for looking and commenting. I had already concidered and played with placement before my final product. The porblems with what you have here is that you have a flag pole sticking out his neck and the all important dogtags somewhat disappear into his ear.

Also I am leaving up to interpretation that the girl might be the one having the dream of the two of them together...a dream within a dream. His is the worry of herapon his death..and hers is the memories they shared together. The somewhat disassociation is to make the viewer think alittle about whats going on...is he dead or not? Whose dreams are they?

Thanks again for the brainstorming. I prefer what I have at the moment.

[KevXman]

Thanks Peter and Kev for looking and commenting. I had already concidered and played with placement before my final product. The porblems with what you have here is that you have a flag pole sticking out his neck and the all important dogtags somewhat disappear into his ear.

Also I am leaving up to interpretation that the girl might be the one having the dream of the two of them together...a dream within a dream. His is the worry of herapon his death..and hers is the memories they shared together. The somewhat disassociation is to make the viewer think alittle about whats going on...is he dead or not? Whose dreams are they?

Thanks again for the brainstorming. I prefer what I have at the moment.

:thumb Just goes to show that everyone will/can interpret an image differently. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

[Scott_Quier]

I feel almost like an outsider, having not yet participated in any of the challenges and not having read the poem that I'm assuming is the basis of the challenge, but I just have to comment on this photo.

Commenting on the photo as posted in the OP, this is one of the strongest, most emotionally moving photos I have seen in a very, very long time. I'm sitting here with tears running down my face, choked up to the point that I can hardly swallow, and finding it difficult to breath 'cause my nose is running so much.

The first "message" or story I see it got right away. I'm envisioning a soldier after a patrol, with minor wounds, feeling home-sick, missing his wife, remembering the good times, wanting to return to them, the juxiposition of those good times with the horror that is war.

Then I see his DW/GF holding the only part of him that she has. Looking at the photo from her point of view, it's hard to tell if she's remembering him after his death or just remember the good times (see upper left corner :D).

This is a successful photo on so many levels and, depending on what you want to see, with so many different possible intrepretations! I am in awe!(FWIW:D). Not much more to be said.:bow

[JAG]

Thank you Scott. I am touched that my image moves you. I think that would be counted as success in what I was trying to accomplish.:thumb

[slpollett]

I love your photo on so many levels. It is very strong and it fits the poem perfectly to me. Excellent shot. Congratulations! I think it's a winner. All I can think of is "Wow!"

Sherry

[JAG]

I love your photo on so many levels. It is very strong and it fits the poem perfectly to me. Excellent shot. Congratulations! I think it's a winner. All I can think of is "Wow!"

Sherry
Thank you very much Sherry!

[WomanWithACamera]

This is excellent! :clap

[JAG]

This is excellent! :clap
Thank you!

[KD5NRH]

Well, if I don't manage to get anything in for this challenge, my excuse will be complete inability to compete with this image.

OTOH, two things are bugging me: 1) he really needs a shave and 2) what model is that rifle?

[JAG]

Well, if I don't manage to get anything in for this challenge, my excuse will be complete inability to compete with this image.

OTOH, two things are bugging me: 1) he really needs a shave and 2) what model is that rifle?

I get blamed for alot of things.:dunno Yes my son in law needed a good shave...but I felt that his grubbiness added to the pic of days at battle. As for the gun...it was what we had available at the time of the shoot. It was not my choice though...he wanted to use his civil war musket that he owns. Go figure!:scratch

Thanks for looking and commenting!

[KD5NRH]

Yes my son in law needed a good shave...but I felt that his grubbiness added to the pic of days at battle.

I guess what bugs me about it is that after days at battle, he wouldn't be partially shaven; there's only light stubble except for what appears to be several weeks' worth of goatee.

As for the gun...it was what we had available at the time of the shoot. It was not my choice though...he wanted to use his civil war musket that he owns. Go figure!:scratch

That could have worked with different clothing, a different flag, and something to replace the dogtags...in fact, it might be an interesting variation to explore later. Depending on the musket, it could be done as many other battles around and before the War of Northern Aggression. :D

[richtersl]

That could have worked with different clothing, a different flag, and something to replace the dogtags...in fact, it might be an interesting variation to explore later. Depending on the musket, it could be done as many other battles around and before the War of Northern Aggression. :D
:agree

[slrshooter]

My only suggestion is brighten the top left picture just a smidge. I also think I would have left the bottom picture of the soldier in B&W. For some reason, to my eye, it stands out just a little too much. Or, if he is the one doing the dreaming, then leave it as is.

[JAG]

Thank you KD5NRH, richtersl, and slrshooter for your comments. Unfortunately I am out of town and not able to reshoot this. However I still like the way the photo came out. Since it is a dream state...what is real and what is illusions will always be left for the imagination. His gun could be a musket..in his dream state. But he might feel it reality. Regardless the details of it all...I did remove the goatee in the picture of him with her and posted it in an edit at the top post. Let me know which or if you like any of the two new ones I posted! Thanks you so much.

[MrsCue]

I think it's an amazing entry!

[clemensphoto's]

JAG,

Awesome composite! I might suggest doing something with the text on the left edge since it is hard to read since it blends in with the photo on the right. I differently think adding the part of the poem really adds to the composite!:clap <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>