Portrait: Abducted by Aliens by northy

Portrait: Abducted by Aliens

Back from the weekend away and working on catching up...

First off, a huge THANK YOU - I somehow managed to get two shots in the top 20 last week... totally bowled me over... such a nice way to begin February, although a little daunting as I fear this just raises expectations...

Anyhoo... onwards... I am participating in the "flash of red" challenge this month
http://365project.org/discuss/themes-competitions/16115/flash-of-red-february

First up is the theme "portraits without people"... I'm a bit at a loss here, but working on giving it a go!
Love the lighting here. Feels like we're peering through a keyhole.
February 4th, 2013  
Love the empty feeling this has
February 4th, 2013  
Love this! The lighting, the composition, the minimalism.
February 4th, 2013  
Gorgeous! I love this! Great black and white image!
February 4th, 2013  
Great composition
February 4th, 2013  
Fascinating! How did you do the lighting?
February 4th, 2013  
Sue
Fabulous!
February 4th, 2013  
I can't wrap my head around this...oh..never mind...I just read your tag!! I was all like...holy crap, how big are her baseboards!! Awesome lighting and head screwish uppidness!
February 4th, 2013  
@archaeofrog well... i have this gooseneck lamp from ikea (actually, it belongs to one of my boys - i comandeered it a year ago for photography and have yet to return it)... anyhoo, it's like this tiny spot light... so i set it up right over the chair and tied some cheesecloth around it which did something - i'm not quite sure what... but the light quality was colder than without it... and then in lightroom i chilled it down a bit, and decreased clarity - which seems to soften up the image... and then in nik silver efex i used the overexposed preset, and played around a teeny bit but not much... which sounds like a lot of work, but wasn't really... :)
February 4th, 2013  
@shutterbugger tx! the dollhouse furniture stuff could end up being my undoing... ;p
February 4th, 2013  
it's very alice in wonderland...awesome! @northy
February 4th, 2013  
Oh I am so pleased you wrote what your processing was. Thank you.
I like the picture and lighting, but I think you are stretching the portrait idea. :)
February 4th, 2013  
Awesome! Love the way you've composed and taken this! Fav!
February 4th, 2013  
Everything in this image works. I just love how the shadow patterns on broad part of the chair mimic the vignette-y shadow around the frame.
February 4th, 2013  
Plus, the raindrop-shaped spot of light on the floor is a larger reflection of the light on the broad part of the chair. I just had to mention that as well :)
February 4th, 2013  
@tigerdreamer i expect so... but i am at a loss on this... i looked up "portrait" and there was something about "expression, personality and mood" and i think the idea is to represent someone without actually showing them in it, but i seem to be hopeless when it comes to people - whether they are actually in the shot or not!
February 4th, 2013  
looks simple, but oh so very effective. great composition and contrasts
February 4th, 2013  
I think you are being very hard on yourself. You had those pp. that challenge makes me think about an artists or workmanship tools or maybe my grandmothers chair with her lap robe.
February 4th, 2013  
A great interpretation and shot!
February 4th, 2013  
That's a tough challenge, and it looks like you pulled it off without a hitch ... as usual. :)
February 4th, 2013  
I love the beautiful simplicity of this shot. fav
February 4th, 2013  
What an incredible shot! I love the lighting and what a creative shot darling! And woowww what shiny clean floors you have :) :) Love this one!! :)
February 4th, 2013  
PS: Super title as well! :)
February 4th, 2013  
@northy Amazingness! I need a better spotlight. I have a lamp from IKEA I have to wrap in black to direct the light.
February 4th, 2013  
Lovely shot. So simple and powerful. Your processing has worked well. Still subtle.

February 4th, 2013  
Well I think this is an amazing portrait. Such nice placement and light / shadow. +Fav
February 4th, 2013  
That is exactly how I feel, like that chair, fav
February 4th, 2013  
So creative, I love it. You do amazing things with light, inspiring.
February 4th, 2013  
Oh wow! Cool use of miniatures! Love this! !!!
February 4th, 2013  
Out of this world !!------totally awesome :)
February 4th, 2013  
Love this. Immediate fav!
February 4th, 2013  
Amazing! Fav!!
February 4th, 2013  
Nice nice shot
February 4th, 2013  
Yep fav it is. Fabulous idea ! It looks miniature, but it doesn't look miniature :) Would be cool to do this shot with your hand looming over the chair or maybe a foot on the side... messing with the contrasting sizes.
February 4th, 2013  
LOVE this!
February 4th, 2013  
Ok, this is seriously awesome. Fav
February 4th, 2013  
this is an awesome shot for the theme! love how you placed the chair in the corner and the lighting gives it something extra!
February 4th, 2013  
wow love this
February 4th, 2013  
Great idea and execution! When I read this challenge I thought it's almost impossible, but you nailed it!
February 4th, 2013  
I loved this the moment I saw it northy! I was getting greener by the minute with your lovely floors, and then I realised it was the doll house again. Fab fab setting, fav
February 4th, 2013  
Love this one of the lone chair. So crisp.
February 4th, 2013  
It looks very realistic like shot with a wide angle in a huge room. Only enormous baseboards give it away. Great composition and execution.
February 4th, 2013  
Cool shot, great in b&w !
February 4th, 2013  
so cool! :)
February 4th, 2013  
Beautifully done - the lighting looks wonderful! : )
February 4th, 2013  
Tim
Terrific shot. Great light and tones.
February 4th, 2013  
Instant fav! I love the ambiguity...xx
February 4th, 2013  
Sister North, this is brilliant! The composition is nothing less than perfect. I freakin' LOVE IT! Favorite for me!
February 4th, 2013  
I was thinking that my butt wouldn't fit in that seat! Nice clean floor you have there - care to come clean my house? ;)
February 4th, 2013  
You are amazing at these shots.. Favd x
February 4th, 2013  
really cool shot....kinda tells some sort of story..?....without someone being in the chair....hhhm....interesting.
February 4th, 2013  
Wow - very Alice in Wonderland! Love the keyhole feeling
February 5th, 2013  
fantastic! fAv
February 5th, 2013  
Peering in. Very nice.
February 5th, 2013  
@janim ha ha ha! a foot! so monty python ;p i was actually going to redo it with the spot light in view, but my husband was doing a work conference call in the room and i didn't want to disturb him... tx!!!
February 5th, 2013  
@frida actually, that is my floor... i don't own a dollhouse... just a few pieces of dollhouse furniture... which i specifically ordered to shoot...

@russianblue ha! if you don't have a vacuum cleaner, there's always PSE ;p
February 5th, 2013  
very. clever.
February 5th, 2013  
Lyn
You ROCK!!
February 5th, 2013  
@northy haha I didn't mean that the foot should crush the chair, although now I kind of want to see that :-D
February 5th, 2013  
Really cool, it messes with the eyes. As Jani says, it looks miniature, but it doesn't look miniature. The chair looks to be real size, but of course everything else contradicts that when you look closer.
February 5th, 2013  
Sahweeeeeeeeeeeeet! Love this! Fav.
February 5th, 2013  
Well ou shouldn't be surprised with your top 20s, you are really creative and a brilliant photographer. Take this shot for example, love it.
February 5th, 2013  
fabulous is that as seen or is it photo shop edit?
February 5th, 2013  
nice shot!
February 5th, 2013  
striking image
February 6th, 2013  
Awesome! Really interesting use of scale with the miniature chair.
February 6th, 2013  
Oh wow. Fav. Love. Might have to start messing around with Pickle's doll furniture:)
February 6th, 2013  
@ditto44 well - "as seen" in the sense that i didn't do major photoshop work, alter perspective, layer images together, etc... it is a dollhouse chair in the corner of my den... the camera was on a bin 4 to 6 inches off the floor and a bit of a ways back... there was a spot light above the chair... i developed and cropped in lightroom, and played with the light... then converted to b&w in nik silver efex... last, i did a bit of a sweep job in PSE, removing bits of dust and marks on the wall that felt distracting :)
February 6th, 2013  
okay, after reading through some of your comments, i understand it's a toy armchair. brilliant shot, mind you! and great processing, too!
February 6th, 2013  
I'm a bit slow off the mark here, but love this. fav
February 6th, 2013  
TC
Great image...love the lighting and your creativity with this. Hmmm...I'm getting a movie plot here...an interrogation chair??? fav
February 6th, 2013  
Brilliant composition, fab image!
February 6th, 2013  
Very neat, clever idea beautifully executed.
February 6th, 2013  
LOVE this. Gorgeous! Miniature chair??
February 6th, 2013  
@tabbycat yep! Dollhouse chair :). Tx!
February 6th, 2013  
this is a fabulous image - and before reading the above was wondering where you were to get such a fantastic empty room - a fav for the excellent creativity of a dollshouse! awesome!
February 6th, 2013  
What a wonderful shot - I love everything about it!! Fav!!
February 6th, 2013  
I so love how the doll house chair seems right sized and the room seems surreal. Beautiful portrait without a person.
February 6th, 2013  
You definitely nailed the 'portrait without a person' theme - and stroke of genius on the dollhouse chair! Absolutely love this shot, fav for me :-)
February 6th, 2013  
Oh superb. Love this. My kind of shot.
February 6th, 2013  
cool shot! :)
February 7th, 2013  
I love this!
February 9th, 2013  
Pea
This is awesome!!
February 10th, 2013  
Fabulous! Fav!
February 10th, 2013  
That is completely awesome. Love the comp and lighting and everything else. FAV
February 17th, 2013  
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