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Winged

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Description

I was recently traveling in Armenia, a former soviet republic. Armenia is the oldest christian nation, and because of this is home to a number of very ancient churches and monasteries. Though I consider myself an aethiest, I found both the architecture and history of these places inspiring. The interior space is the 13th century Haghartsin Monastery. I shot the model against a green screen and composited, modified and color corrected in PS CS3. Angel wings built from stock photos of Snowy Egrets! Fullsize download is 1920x1080 and makes a nice wallpaper -- Enjoy!
Image size
1920x1180px 1.22 MB
Make
Canon
Model
Canon PowerShot SD1000
Shutter Speed
1/60 second
Aperture
F/2.8
Focal Length
6 mm
ISO Speed
250
Date Taken
Mar 29, 2008, 3:54:00 PM
© 2008 - 2024 scir
Comments10
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MilesCochran's avatar
:star::star::star::star-empty: Overall
:star::star::star::star-empty::star-empty: Vision
:star::star::star-empty::star-empty::star-empty: Originality
:star::star::star::star::star-half: Technique
:star::star::star::star-empty::star-empty: Impact

I have to say the technique here is the most impressive part of the shot, the blending of the model, the wings and the backdrop are seamless and gorgeously done. This feels like there is a real person in real space, a real angel in point of fact. The craftsmanship here is beautiful.

However there are two areas where the image could be improved. Composition and Narrative.

Compositionally we have the angelic figure in the center which is generally a good idea but the fact that she blends so heavily into the scene denotes she's not a the focal point. The focal points in the piece seem to be the window, the halo and the pillars and candles. Interestingly the alcove on the left seems to be at about the 2/3 mark for the golden ratio and the wing of the angel seems to help draw a line leading up to the back column to distinguish this space as our focal area. We also largely lose anything on the right of the window due to the lack of visual interest over there.

In narrative terms what we have is a seemingly ruined church or temple denoting religion as somehow ruined or dying. We do however still have candles which seem to bring a reverence to the place. There is also a beam of light coming in from heaven perhaps? But he darkness inside seems to denote that the interior space is no longer illuminated with god's light. Then we have an angel walking in. The question is "Is the angel here to mourn a dead faith or is this place still somehow holy?"

I'm not at all sure what I houdl take away from the piece and while it's very pretty the composition and narrative elements seem confused. Why is this angel here? Is this still a holy place? This confusion makes the punch and emotional impact of the piece falter. Gorgeous work, it might very well be a beautiful desktop.