Claudia Abramson - 02:21pm Mar 31, 1997
From early on I knew what I wanted to do. I started with an image of #23 (Kevin) taken at a game in an indoor rink and another image of a pond on a snowy day. I wanted to impress the pond image on the ice. There were compositional as well as technical challenges involved. Kevin and a figure in the lower left of the picture were facing out instead of in. I flipped them horizontally, but then had to reestablish the background to conceal the change. Unfortunately the numbers on the uniform were then backwards and had to be recreated. I did most of this work with the rubber stamp tool.
I created a mask for the foreground by using the magic wand and one of the color channels and then experimented with size, location, and color before pasting the pond scene into the ice. All layers were color adjusted and minimally cropped.
Kevin has been playing hockey since he was five and much of the time was outside in his Rhode Island community. I wanted to capture this connection with the outdoors and with his hockey playing history - to bridge the span of years and attitudes about the game.
Bonnie Brodd - 03:44pm Apr 1, 1997 (#1 of 6)
Claudia, I love this picture. It really looks like he is skating outside. You have inspired me to try some other pictures.
Susan Komnandosky - 06:56pm Apr 1, 1997 (#2 of 6)
Claudia, I am impressed. You did a great job. When I read that you had flipped the images I immediately looked at the numbers since my students so often want to flip images without considering such things. You achieved such an incredibly cold look. Nice!
Sandy McAuley - 04:09am Apr 2, 1997 (#3 of 6)
I couldn't get the whole image to download yesterday which is probably OK... this morning on CBC there was a report on a radio documentary called "Black Ice" to be aired this evening. It deals with the discrimination black hockey players have had to face to break into the NHL. So your photo is especially poignant. The natural imagery works well: not only does it capture Kevin's past, but the past of hockey, before it was commercialized, when pick-up games on outdoor sheets of ice were young boys' acting out of "Hockey Night in Canada." Nicely done. Sandy
Karelle Scharff - 07:48am Apr 2, 1997 (#4 of 6)
Impressive. Great feeling. I like the way that the player is almost a silhouette except for the jersey markings. Makes it kind of universal. Very impressive job with the jersey number. This kind of picture is where digital photography can really shine and tell stories.
The one and only thing that distracted me about this picture is the object in the bottom right. I can't tell what it is so my eye keeps going back to it. It contrasts with the consistency of tone elsewhere and thereby unfairly weights itself with importance. Otherwise this is magnificent!
Larry Vallem - 02:53pm Apr 7, 1997 (#5 of 6)
I love it with reservations. I love the center image but wonder why the top and bottom were not cropped out entirely, It would have made a better work in The effect of the trees on the ice are great.
Trish Lynch - 07:20pm Apr 8, 1997 (#6 of 6)
Claudia, I believe you achieved exactly what you wanted with this photo. The eye certainly moves around the composition which I feel is the strength of the image. The transparency of the ice and trees adds to the reality. Nice job!