Subject from the Edinburgh Festival 2015. The Background is Smallholm Tower in the Scottish Borders.
Smailholm Tower was designed, in common with all Scottish peel towers, to provide its occupants with protection from sporadic English raids. The tower was attacked by English soldiers in 1543, 1544 and again in 1546, when the garrison of Wark Castle sacked the tower and carried off prisoners and cattle. The castle was successfully defended against the English in 1640, by Sir Andrew Ker of Greenhead.
The story of the image is one of innocence, wild times in Scotland, a fortress and lands that someday the young lady will inherit. Circa 16 Century.
Both images seemed to compliment each other well without lots of work. They also provided the right POV., again without much work.
Both images were switched horizontally to give the viewer a lead into the story.
Apart from basic editing, and blending, it was very simple to produce.
This round’s discussion is now closed! 5 comments posted
Kirsti Näntö-Salonen
Bruce, next night I am going to dream of your proud young woman whom you made stand as straight and strong as her tower. She comes from my very favorite period of history. - Her direct gaze and this little confident smile tell that she is ready for her future responsibilities. The soft shades of green, brown and grey tie her into the scenery, and I can almost feel the textures of the various fabrics in her outfit. And the dark clouds with the silver linings are a perfect background Posted: 07/08/2024 21:01:53
Alan Kaplan
Everyone loves old castles and beautiful young women. Put them together in a well-balanced composite and the image is a success. The colors and textures fill out the rest of the image to give the eye places to go and rest. However, I'm afraid I must disagree with Kirsti. She sees "a confident smile," but I see a condescending one that is evidence of her forthcoming inheritance. Confident smile or a condescending one, everything works in this "centuries' old" composite. Posted: 07/09/2024 13:11:02
Maria Mazo
Hi Bruce, congratulations in your latest achievements. Your images are crafted very finely resulting in a high quality compositions with great visual impact. This one, where all the elements work well as them belong to the same scene, is no exception.
I like the silver and the green tones. The girl and the tower appear to belong to the same period. The look in the the girl's eyes and her elevated position convey a sense of superiority that captivates me as a viewer.
Posted: 07/13/2024 07:25:53
Peggy Nugent
This is a beautiful image, Bruce. I love the strong gaze of the lovely young woman, and how her clothes immediately tie her to the castle in the background. The colors all work wonderfully together, and this feels like an image that tells a fascinating story.
This image is beautifully crafted.
I noticed that there seems to be a bit of a halo between the hill and the clouds in the center of the image. Maybe that's just the resolution of the file.
I once was told that it's usually better to have buildings face into the image. I noticed you flipped your original, so you probably prefer it facing out, but I thought I would mention it. Posted: 07/18/2024 20:01:31
Brad Becker
Bruce, This is a powerful image and beautifully crafted. I love the title as it suggests many possible scenarios that are left open to the viewer to consider. Posted: 07/20/2024 01:03:45
