Beauty in Death – revisited.
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A few days ago I gave you Beauty in Death and this is a follow-up post which I had meant to do the next day. I’ve got VERY lax with my photo blogging haven’t I! What I wanted to show you was a bit of the process that resulted in the final photo. Please click HERE to take a look at it if you haven’t already seen it so that you know what I am talking about.
When I first took the dead mouse from my cat I looked for something to wrap it in and thought of the lovely coloured leaf that was in my kitchen and this was the first shot I took which was not dissimilar to the final shot. This was taken on my kitchen table, on a piece of black felt, using natural light from my roof window…
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But I thought I wanted something more natural so I picked some leaves from the garden to make a bed for the mouse to lie on..
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… but I thought that just didn’t look right. The leaves were too shiny so I picked some moss to lay the mouse on but had to reduce the colour because the green was just too green.
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but in the end I used a photo very similar to the first one but I opened up the leaf to show more of its colour, more of the mouse and took time to make sure the tail, feet, ear and head were positioned so the mouse looked natural and I thought rather beautiful.
I reproduce it again here
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If you don’t already know my other blog 1500 Saturdays I hope you’ll pop over and take a look here
Several people have asked where they might buy cards/prints of my work so I am gradually adding favourites to my new Redbubble shopping page here
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My other blog 1500 Saturdays
My Redbubble Shop
You have done death to somehting soft and beautiful like I hope it will be – wonderful shots.
I didn’t mention this before but it’s neat the way the tail fills in for where the stem of the leaf would have been – and the leaf gently folding over the little mouse – like they are merging in death.
I certainly relate to the process of trying to find what best highlights a subject. Your final image is perfect.
I did remove the stem of the leaf Karen so that I could use the tail. Well spotted!
Ooh, yes, I agree with Karen…but I really like the shiny green leaves, too.
Thanks Scilla
interesting to see the other pictures but I like the one you finally chose best too. I hadn’t really noticed that the tail followed the path of the leaf stem until “Drawandshoot”mentioned it but this certainly adds something to the picture..
The tail bit was deliberate Caroline. The leaf did have a stalk but I removed it.
sorry that last comment was me
The changes you made were spot on Helen!
Thanks Elena
Just gorgeous! And I always love a good back story…
Sorry I haven’t been around much lately – been on holiday and then holiday stuff and dramas and… hopefully the drams will settle so I can on with the day to day pleasures and fascinations of life!
Thanks Veronica.. and hey you don’t need to apologise.. I know how difficult it is to keep up!
Your final shot is perfect and although styled, seems the most natural. Definitely a case of “less is more.”
Thanks Ziggy, naturally I agree..