Kirsti Näntö-Salonen

August 2026 - The Tricycle

Original

About the Image(s)

Here is ”The Tricycle”. I have been tinkering with Originals 1 and 2 for a while but something was missing. Your (Peggy?s) July image ”Surrounded by Art” gave me an idea for the final piece. Orig.1 with the tricycle is from a workshop where a previous group had arranged the evocative set-up for us to discover. Orig. 2 is the silhouette of a child playing in the spotlight of a museum exhibition, and Orig. 3 is an iPhone image taken with the Slow Shutter app from an Art Nouveau hotel corridor. I turned everything into B&W, adjusted perspective and proportions of Orig. 3 to roughly match the corridor in Orig. 1 and added the layer in 75% opacity in normal blend mode on upon Orig. 1. I erased it partly off the center to show the bicycle sharply, and added Orig. 3 on top in 55% opacity in normal blend mode. With a soft brush, I erased the dark edges of the image, and left only the silhouette in the spotlight. I adjusted brightness and contrast, and added a blue toning. - As always, I worry about the shadows, I wonder if they fall the right way? Any improvement ideas?

7 comments posted

Peggy Nugent

This is very spooky, Kirsti! I love the softness of the hallway, both for its own ambiance as well as how it makes the detailed tricycle stand out. I think the backlight on both the tricycle and the person is really effective. The blue tones add to the eerie feeling I get when I view this image.
I really like the soft focus of the child's arms and how they are spread out - it feels to me as if the child is running towards me. The fact that I can't see the face adds to the spookiness.

I think the lack of detail in the child's figure works well as part of this story. There is so much pure black there that it makes it a little hard for me to focus on the rest of the image. I'd consider adding something there- perhaps the hallway + tricycle, with or without the child's figure. Posted: 08/09/2026 19:32:24

Kirsti Näntö-Salonen

Thank you very much, Peggy! That is a lovely idea, and so beautifully executed. I think that even making the boy a little more transparent might help? Posted: 08/14/2026 05:36:06

Peggy Nugent

Great idea! Posted: 08/14/2026 16:13:07

Brad Becker

Kirsti, I love what you've created this month. It brought back memories of The Shining. I like how your title leaves room for the viewer to construct a story. The posture of the boy is also so evocative. I don't have a problem with the boy being dark, in fact, it might be even more powerful if you darkened him more! Posted: 08/15/2026 03:23:08

Kirsti Näntö-Salonen

Thank you, Brad! I am glad that you like him dark because that is how I originally imagined him. - It is good to see that Alan's lessons about leaving more room to the viewer's interpretation have not gone wasted although this time I could not decide if he is the boy riding the tricycle in "Shining", a ghostbuster or a shadow in a dream. Posted: 08/15/2026 07:55:35

Peg Owens

Hi Kirsti! What a cool image! I really like the effect that you created with the combination of another hallway within in the child's image with the added effect of "having a child within a child". It creates a very mysterious, otherworldly emotion. I agree that the blue tones really added to the overall vibe of the image - maybe a bit mysterious with a hint of ominous and foreboding. I'm wondering if the perspective might be tweaked a tiny bit … maybe it's just me, but it seems like the child has a slightly larger perspective than the rest of the scene? Just thinking out loud. The lighting is absolutely fabulous - it adds so much depth to the scene! This is a wonderful image - it would make a great book cover or poster for a movie! Posted: 08/17/2026 19:27:28

Kirsti Näntö-Salonen

Thank you very much, Peg! The perspective is an excellent point - in fact, I noticed something odd in the image but could not figure out what it was. I'll try to tweak the proportions and see if I can get it right! Posted: 08/18/2026 08:21:14

PID Digital Dialogue

Group 54