Early some September long ago, I probably had to write an essay for school with that title. My time away from my computer -- and, therefore, digital imaging -- is normally measured in weeks. This summer, however, it was months. I had my photo gear, and that was good, but I soon developed symptoms of creative withdrawal. Fortunately, there's an art center in the community with a tradition of teaching ugly jug classes. Unfortunately, the instructor who normally taught these classes three or four times during the summer hasn't done so for the last two years. I decided to step in and partially fill the gap. It was great fun. And three-dimensional. My jug, pictured here, isn't a traditional ugly jug, but it's not a thing of beauty, either.
two photos -- Nikon D3s, ISO 200, f/11, 2 seconds inside with natural light, zoom lens at 85mm, reflector and diffuser
processing
- Topaz ReMask to remove the makeshift cardboard boxes background
- Flypaper Textures texture for the new background, modified with a masked gradient to give the appearance of a horizontal and vertical surface
- 2 b&w Fractalius layers based on the sketch preset, Multiply blend mode to eliminate the white
- Alien Skin Bokeh to soften the background
- Red Giant Knoll Light Factory to backlight the jugs
- gradient vignette on all edges
