Melissa Cramer Sonnen
January 2025 - Lily and her Piglet
Original
Original 2
About the Image(s)
About the Image: The girl was sitting all alone amid the frenzy of a childrens' zoo pen. Both she and the pig were completely at peace in their own little world. Her face was so serene, I quickly snapped her just so I could remember the scene. When I got home, I found the pix was pretty bad, so I used many tools to bring her out in the photo. Then I had to erase the construction net behind her, etc., and give her some open space. The sky was just one from my collection, but it worked well to give her the peaceful countryside she needed. The final does well in competition.
4 comments posted
Hi Melissa,
I like your post processing on the girl. It has a nice soft look to it. There is something wrong in the background the left of the girls knee that need attention. The mask is a bit too sharp which can be softened by running the blur tool directly over the mask at maybe 5%.
Posted: 01/08/2025 22:41:05
I like your post processing on the girl. It has a nice soft look to it. There is something wrong in the background the left of the girls knee that need attention. The mask is a bit too sharp which can be softened by running the blur tool directly over the mask at maybe 5%.
Posted: 01/08/2025 22:41:05
Melissa, You have captured well the melancholy of the girl's expression and the total relaxation of the pig snuggled up in the girl's arms. The subject has been placed centrally in the frame which makes for a visually static picture and in order to increase the overall visual dynamic, an off-centre placement is preferable. I quite like the soft-focus cloud patterns in the sky and wondered whether there would be merit in making it a square format (to concentrate on the girl as a portrait study) and flipping the image horizontally. I would be interested in your reaction to the attached version. Posted: 01/11/2025 10:27:20
Melissa, This is a beautiful and provocative image. It reminds me of some of the classic flemish portraits from the past. I love how intimate and close up she is. A little like the Mona Lisa in the handling of the portrait with a landscape in the distance. There is something distracting going on with the tree on the left. It looks like there is a blue house behind it and I don't see that in the original 2. Nicely done. Posted: 01/12/2025 01:09:26
To y'all - THAT IS a blue house - I looked at this thing 90 times and never saw it. I can't believe I missed it!!! I will remove it immediately. Thanks ALL! Posted: 01/12/2025 16:39:44