A Gargoyle on my Shoulder

[Cheryl Slechta]

I was in a friend's yard exploring all the marvelous statues she has and as I was shooting my favorite gargoyle I noticed the placement of its foot on my shadow. So of course, I had to do a self portrait! Converted in Nik Silver Efex. Kind of dark but I wanted it to be ominous. (Still no tribute theme image for Dave and I'm running out of time. I'll try to post one soon.)
Thanks for looking.

[Dennis Bishop]

Sometimes, a title doesn't matter much, and that's okay. At other times, though, the title is so much a part of what's presented that they are a part of each other. I don't know if I'd have recognized that it was your shadow at the bottom of the image. Now that I know that, though, I really like what you've done. What a great imagination!

The soft focus at the top of the image does a good job of drawing attention to your shadow. I lightened the gargoyle's foot with a masked Curves layer, and I think that helps to show what the shadow is.

[Cheryl Slechta]

Thanks, Dennis. I have this printed with varying degrees of darkness in the shadow. This is the middle range of the three. I actually think I like the darkest shadow the best. I'll try your curves adjustment and see how I like it. I'm doing a whole series of self portraits so I think in the context of the series I won't have a problem with recognition. Sounds narcissistic doesn't it - a whole series of self portraits

[Nancy Bell]

Cheryl, It's a little tough for me to actually see this shadow as belonging to a person. Those 3 gargoyle toes catch my attention and keep me more in a statue frame-of-mind. I certainly notice the darks and lights on the base but they appear more abstract to me. Maybe, as you suggest, this will be more obvious in a series.

[Cheryl Slechta]

Hi, Nancy, I think in a print it's much more readily recognizable as a shadow. Or maybe I'm so used to looking at my shadow self portraits it's easy for me to see. I'll post one with the full body and it should be more clear.

[Dennis Bishop]

Cheryl, what you said about having a version with a darker shadow made me wonder, so I defined the head part of the shadow a bit and not only darkened the shadow but brought the whole range of its tones closer together (darkened the light end in Curves a lot and made the curve nearly linear). I also lightened the rest of the image and somewhat increased the contrast of everything but the shadow.

[Cheryl Slechta]

Dennis, this looks like my darker print although the toenails aren's quite that bright - they kind of give me the creeps

[Dennis Bishop]

Dennis, this looks like my darker print although the toenails aren's quite that bright - they kind of give me the creeps

If there was a gargoyle on my shoulder, the toenails might not be my greatest concern.

[Anita Bower]

Cheryl: An interesting idea. I agree with Nancy's comments--she expressed my thoughts very well. Dennis' version helps me see your shadow, which I couldn't make out in the OP. I think a series of self-portraits is a worthwhile project. I've seen this done to great effect. Hope to see more.

[Kerry Perkins]

That's pretty cool actually... My first thought was that it would be more dramatic if you lightened the part of the foot that is in your shadow to match the rest, it would look more like it really was on your shoulder. But then, I think strange things sometimes.

[Paul Lagasi]

The gargolyle needs a pedicure. I'd be more worried about that shadowy figure, great OOTB thinking. Well done

[Cheryl Slechta]

The gargolyle needs a pedicure. I'd be more worried about that shadowy figure, great OOTB thinking. Well done