180. Prize - November 20-26, 2016
Jerry,
For the prize photo I arranged several of the "prizes" received after 40 years of work at the U of M. You can see the letterman jacket (30 years), certificate (40 years), clock (25 years), pocket knife (10 years), and a pin on medallion that I'm not sure of when I grabbed it. Someday I will get to retire and that will be my ultimate prize.
Camera was the A6300 with 16-50 lens set to 37mm and on a tripod. The exposure was 1 second at F16, ISO 200, etc, etc. Lighting came in through our south facing front window, color balance was set to open shade.
For the prize photo I arranged several of the "prizes" received after 40 years of work at the U of M. You can see the letterman jacket (30 years), certificate (40 years), clock (25 years), pocket knife (10 years), and a pin on medallion that I'm not sure of when I grabbed it. Someday I will get to retire and that will be my ultimate prize.
Camera was the A6300 with 16-50 lens set to 37mm and on a tripod. The exposure was 1 second at F16, ISO 200, etc, etc. Lighting came in through our south facing front window, color balance was set to open shade.
Don-
A bit of explanation is needed here I am sure. I first was inspired
By the phrase “Keep your eyes on the prize” from lyrics of many
Gospel inspired songs. I took a picture of the Church Tower close to home.
Camera in Aperture Priority with a focal of 70mm. Exposure was
ISO 100; shutter 1/250 sec; f/10. I used a stock photo I have for my
cloudy background. The whole thing in Photoshop to give me the beam
from heaven. Last night I was watching Goldrush and I remembered the
Hoffman family always prays to God for their gold. So I figured to
Carry this hypocrisy a step further with me praying with a lottery (old expired)
Ticket. Back to Photoshop to add me to the photo praying to the beam.
I used a blend mode and I used the smudge tool for the first time to push
My tummy in. I shot myself with a flash; shutter of 1 sec; f/4.5; ISO 100 and
Focal at 35mm.
A bit of explanation is needed here I am sure. I first was inspired
By the phrase “Keep your eyes on the prize” from lyrics of many
Gospel inspired songs. I took a picture of the Church Tower close to home.
Camera in Aperture Priority with a focal of 70mm. Exposure was
ISO 100; shutter 1/250 sec; f/10. I used a stock photo I have for my
cloudy background. The whole thing in Photoshop to give me the beam
from heaven. Last night I was watching Goldrush and I remembered the
Hoffman family always prays to God for their gold. So I figured to
Carry this hypocrisy a step further with me praying with a lottery (old expired)
Ticket. Back to Photoshop to add me to the photo praying to the beam.
I used a blend mode and I used the smudge tool for the first time to push
My tummy in. I shot myself with a flash; shutter of 1 sec; f/4.5; ISO 100 and
Focal at 35mm.
Byron-
My subject for this week is an actual prize I won. I entered a photo contest in Barnesville, MN. The year was 1993. I entered a photo in the Professional Division. The judges consisted of local professional photographers and a couple of "civilians". The day the gallery was open to the public to view the results, I walked around viewing all the photos. I saw the third place, second place and first place photos in the pro division. I was disappointed that I didn't get a ribbon until I saw my photo with a Best of Show ribbon attached! The photo I entered is a picture of our dear, WPOTM brother Jerry Vincent. We were with a third friend, Gary Bistram, on a photo trip to Duluth. It was really cold. It was somewhere between -10 and -20. Jerry was a good sport and ditched his warm coat and threw the bag over his shoulder while Gary and I photographed him. I shot the original on Ektachrome. That photo has hung proudly in my home since then.
Today's photo was shot at f8, 1/200 sec. I used 2 strobes. one was shot through a soft box to give general illumination. The second was fitted with a Byro-snoot aimed at the ribbon. I used the Nikon SU-800 to get the balance I was looking for. I initially shot the photo and ribbon on a black background. With the help of Photoshop I added the photo as a background.
My subject for this week is an actual prize I won. I entered a photo contest in Barnesville, MN. The year was 1993. I entered a photo in the Professional Division. The judges consisted of local professional photographers and a couple of "civilians". The day the gallery was open to the public to view the results, I walked around viewing all the photos. I saw the third place, second place and first place photos in the pro division. I was disappointed that I didn't get a ribbon until I saw my photo with a Best of Show ribbon attached! The photo I entered is a picture of our dear, WPOTM brother Jerry Vincent. We were with a third friend, Gary Bistram, on a photo trip to Duluth. It was really cold. It was somewhere between -10 and -20. Jerry was a good sport and ditched his warm coat and threw the bag over his shoulder while Gary and I photographed him. I shot the original on Ektachrome. That photo has hung proudly in my home since then.
Today's photo was shot at f8, 1/200 sec. I used 2 strobes. one was shot through a soft box to give general illumination. The second was fitted with a Byro-snoot aimed at the ribbon. I used the Nikon SU-800 to get the balance I was looking for. I initially shot the photo and ribbon on a black background. With the help of Photoshop I added the photo as a background.
Kevin-
As I pondered what to photograph for “Prize,” and my typical internet idea searches were proving rather useless, (mostly depicting illustrations of cheap trophies, ribbons or plaques), I asked Michelle what words came to her mind when I said prize. And she named a few things including Cracker Jack. Of course!
Candy coated popcorn, peanuts and a prize, that’s what you get in Cracker Jack!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwq_x9QsLzg
We are all (well except for Michelle) old enough to have grown up with commercials like this in the 1960’s and the song is still probably in all of our heads. But there were a few issues...
Issue #1. Cracker Jack now rarely comes in the boxes it was in when we were growing up, instead it is sold in bags that can be hung on the peg hooks in convenience stores. But thankful I was finally able to purchase the three pack at a Dollar Store.
Issue #2. That “Candy coated popcorn” that we remember from the lyrics is no longer true. Oh the coating is still the same, but it is now (more correctly I suppose) referred to as “Carmel coated popcorn” on the box. Still the change feels like a loss to me.
Issue #3. Another universal sort of change is the layers of protection that are built into packages now. Those boxes are now sealed with adhesives that could probably even prevent the Ocean’s Eleven gang from breaking inside. Unless of course you are willing to completely tear the box open. I wanted the box to be intact and a part of the photo. So it took a lot of careful work with a razor blade to open it up without tearing it.
Issue #4. Then inside the box, the Cracker Jack is now in a bag. And that bag is completely sealed to the inside of the box with the same powerful adhesives, so you can’t just remove it and then put the Cracker Jack back into the empty box. Food safety is important of course but no wonder they are shifting to peg-hook bags. At three for $1 it’s a lot of work for 33¢ cents worth of Cracker Jack! What kid would do this?
Issue #5. But the biggest issue is the prize. Back in the days of our parents the prize inside a box of Cracker Jack was made of pot metal or lead. Okay, not safe. But when we were growing up the prizes were things like plastic mazes, or whistles that we could drive our siblings crazy with. Later still the prizes were things like stickers and temporary tatoos. But Frito-Lay, which now owns the brand has recently shifted entirely to digital prizes. That’s right, you open the prize package, learn you need to download an app, then enter or scan a code. So there was nothing visual to show except the prize “package" itself. Frito-Lay, go back to whistles!
It almost made me wish for Crunch ’n Munch or Fiddle Faddle, but neither of those ever contained a prize.
Enough history. I dragged the Crack Jack to the studio and set up a small gridded softbox on a single studio strobe at full power added a couple of bounce cards and that was it.
Nikon D4s on a Manfrotto 055CXPRO4 tripod with a Acratech GP ballhead. 105mm f/2.8 Micro Nikkor lens. ISO 100, f/25 (to get sufficient depth of focus) @ 1/250th of a second (flash sync).
As I pondered what to photograph for “Prize,” and my typical internet idea searches were proving rather useless, (mostly depicting illustrations of cheap trophies, ribbons or plaques), I asked Michelle what words came to her mind when I said prize. And she named a few things including Cracker Jack. Of course!
Candy coated popcorn, peanuts and a prize, that’s what you get in Cracker Jack!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwq_x9QsLzg
We are all (well except for Michelle) old enough to have grown up with commercials like this in the 1960’s and the song is still probably in all of our heads. But there were a few issues...
Issue #1. Cracker Jack now rarely comes in the boxes it was in when we were growing up, instead it is sold in bags that can be hung on the peg hooks in convenience stores. But thankful I was finally able to purchase the three pack at a Dollar Store.
Issue #2. That “Candy coated popcorn” that we remember from the lyrics is no longer true. Oh the coating is still the same, but it is now (more correctly I suppose) referred to as “Carmel coated popcorn” on the box. Still the change feels like a loss to me.
Issue #3. Another universal sort of change is the layers of protection that are built into packages now. Those boxes are now sealed with adhesives that could probably even prevent the Ocean’s Eleven gang from breaking inside. Unless of course you are willing to completely tear the box open. I wanted the box to be intact and a part of the photo. So it took a lot of careful work with a razor blade to open it up without tearing it.
Issue #4. Then inside the box, the Cracker Jack is now in a bag. And that bag is completely sealed to the inside of the box with the same powerful adhesives, so you can’t just remove it and then put the Cracker Jack back into the empty box. Food safety is important of course but no wonder they are shifting to peg-hook bags. At three for $1 it’s a lot of work for 33¢ cents worth of Cracker Jack! What kid would do this?
Issue #5. But the biggest issue is the prize. Back in the days of our parents the prize inside a box of Cracker Jack was made of pot metal or lead. Okay, not safe. But when we were growing up the prizes were things like plastic mazes, or whistles that we could drive our siblings crazy with. Later still the prizes were things like stickers and temporary tatoos. But Frito-Lay, which now owns the brand has recently shifted entirely to digital prizes. That’s right, you open the prize package, learn you need to download an app, then enter or scan a code. So there was nothing visual to show except the prize “package" itself. Frito-Lay, go back to whistles!
It almost made me wish for Crunch ’n Munch or Fiddle Faddle, but neither of those ever contained a prize.
Enough history. I dragged the Crack Jack to the studio and set up a small gridded softbox on a single studio strobe at full power added a couple of bounce cards and that was it.
Nikon D4s on a Manfrotto 055CXPRO4 tripod with a Acratech GP ballhead. 105mm f/2.8 Micro Nikkor lens. ISO 100, f/25 (to get sufficient depth of focus) @ 1/250th of a second (flash sync).
Paul-
I had a few (not very creative) ideas for this week’s theme. Until the librarian “wiring” in me connected and I searched both a Shakespeare and a NIV Bible concordance to see how many times, and in what context, the word “Prize” appeared in these works.
The Bible (all English versions): 189 times. Unfortunately the context usually centered on lots of smiting, donkeys, gnashing of teeth, or really laying into those perennial bad guys—the Philistines. I retrieved fewer results with Shakespeare’s work in which the word "prize" appeared 63 times. But the passages from his plays, sonnets and poems gave me more to work with. So, I decided to select this passage Shakespeare’s the play, The Tempest:
…Knowing I loved my books, he furnish'd me
From mine own library with volumes that
I prize above my dukedom. [Prospero, Act I, Scene 2]
Since it referred to books and the word prize—and meshed with the following backstory—I was hooked. I’ll try to make this brief (like that’s going to happen).
Ever since I can remember, my father (who was also a librarian) owned this eight-volume set entitled “The Story of Civilization.” * It’s an historical review of western civilization that starts with humanity’s transition from a nomadic, hunter-gather species to organized groups beginning to adopt agricultural practices and building settlements. (This occurred approximately 10,000years ago.) The last volume ends around 1650, during The Age of Reason. The authors were Will and Ariel Durant—husband and wife historians. Their corpus was clearly a labor of love and intense scholarship for, all told, the volumes were written over the Durant’s lifetime. They volumes contain around two million words, and 10,000 pages.
Clearly, not a summer reading choice.
I begged my father to give me the set when I moved away for college. He said no, even though he had stopped reading the volumes years before. I pleaded with him to let me have them when I went to school in Madison. Nope. He wouldn’t even part with them when I moved to Lincoln and settled down. Regrettably and predictably, he consented a few months before his death in 2013..
So, to paraphrase that passage from Shakespeare’s the Tempest: My father knew how much I prized those volumes, and he gifted them to me for what we both knew would be my own library. And I prize his memory, too.
A blue ribbon description: Nikon D5200; 55-200mm lens set at 70mm; ISO 3200; 1/4sec. at f/4.8; aperture priority; center-weighted metering; .5 auto-bracketing; +1 EV. Shot B&W in the camera. A lamp was placed behind the devilishly handsome subject (faced slightly down) and a piece of white foam core was located at head level just outside of the frame on the left. The image was initially processed in Lightroom (sharpening, clarity, matte paper, watermark) and then exported to NIK Silver Efex Pro 2 (to use the selective adjustment feature and rendering the image to look as it was taken with Kodak 100 TMAX Pro).
* Unfortunately, my set is incomplete. The complete set actually consists of 11 volumes—which ends with the Age of Napoleon( in the early 1800’s).
I had a few (not very creative) ideas for this week’s theme. Until the librarian “wiring” in me connected and I searched both a Shakespeare and a NIV Bible concordance to see how many times, and in what context, the word “Prize” appeared in these works.
The Bible (all English versions): 189 times. Unfortunately the context usually centered on lots of smiting, donkeys, gnashing of teeth, or really laying into those perennial bad guys—the Philistines. I retrieved fewer results with Shakespeare’s work in which the word "prize" appeared 63 times. But the passages from his plays, sonnets and poems gave me more to work with. So, I decided to select this passage Shakespeare’s the play, The Tempest:
…Knowing I loved my books, he furnish'd me
From mine own library with volumes that
I prize above my dukedom. [Prospero, Act I, Scene 2]
Since it referred to books and the word prize—and meshed with the following backstory—I was hooked. I’ll try to make this brief (like that’s going to happen).
Ever since I can remember, my father (who was also a librarian) owned this eight-volume set entitled “The Story of Civilization.” * It’s an historical review of western civilization that starts with humanity’s transition from a nomadic, hunter-gather species to organized groups beginning to adopt agricultural practices and building settlements. (This occurred approximately 10,000years ago.) The last volume ends around 1650, during The Age of Reason. The authors were Will and Ariel Durant—husband and wife historians. Their corpus was clearly a labor of love and intense scholarship for, all told, the volumes were written over the Durant’s lifetime. They volumes contain around two million words, and 10,000 pages.
Clearly, not a summer reading choice.
I begged my father to give me the set when I moved away for college. He said no, even though he had stopped reading the volumes years before. I pleaded with him to let me have them when I went to school in Madison. Nope. He wouldn’t even part with them when I moved to Lincoln and settled down. Regrettably and predictably, he consented a few months before his death in 2013..
So, to paraphrase that passage from Shakespeare’s the Tempest: My father knew how much I prized those volumes, and he gifted them to me for what we both knew would be my own library. And I prize his memory, too.
A blue ribbon description: Nikon D5200; 55-200mm lens set at 70mm; ISO 3200; 1/4sec. at f/4.8; aperture priority; center-weighted metering; .5 auto-bracketing; +1 EV. Shot B&W in the camera. A lamp was placed behind the devilishly handsome subject (faced slightly down) and a piece of white foam core was located at head level just outside of the frame on the left. The image was initially processed in Lightroom (sharpening, clarity, matte paper, watermark) and then exported to NIK Silver Efex Pro 2 (to use the selective adjustment feature and rendering the image to look as it was taken with Kodak 100 TMAX Pro).
* Unfortunately, my set is incomplete. The complete set actually consists of 11 volumes—which ends with the Age of Napoleon( in the early 1800’s).