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gokuyert — The making of the Giving Tree

Published: 2007-11-13 06:29:44 +0000 UTC; Views: 2060; Favourites: 38; Downloads: 0
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Description The Giving Tree regular version [link]


********THIS IS NOT A DIGITAL MANIPULATION********


Took easily over a year to produce the finished result.
Location was is about an hour and a half away from where I live. Made I don't know how many trips down there to hopefully arrive on nights with thick enough fog to capture this. Did have nights with plenty of fog but by the time I had everything setup and model in place it had faded too much to get what I wanted, so in those situations I would continue the concept and think about how to try to take it further. I would like to stress that I do NOT feel that this is the finished result, but rather as finished as it will ever get. The conditions that existed in this place to produce this result have since changed and can not be entirely repeated, at least not in the same spirit of the image. Therefor this is my completed result. I am happy with it, but what I had in mind would have blown your mind, well maybe just my mind, but it would have at some point blown somebodies mind. Would have been infinitesimally better than what it is now.

Especially on that final shot my model (Heath, always my model, haha) had to hold DAMN still. You can tell he moved slightly, but you can only tell much on my 30x40 print that I donated to the place dear to my heart, the camp I work at during the summers, which is where I took this shot.

*sigh* My series always tend to forcefully end by no choice of my own. This is the second series I've had that ended even though I didn't want it to. The other one ended due to about 1.3 billion gallons of water rushing down a mountain/hill side

***SPOILER(ish)***
The light is not the sun or anything. It was an old school lamp post with an old OLD school lightbulb that actually produced the colors you are seeing. PS me NOT! One because I hate photoshop, two there are other programs that are much cheaper that will focus more on the actual tools that I need and use as a photographer instead of a digital manipulator. I only used the burning tool for like 3 seconds on this shot, would have been easier to do in an actual dark room if you ask me, but thats just cause I love real darkrooms very much (yes even though I almost entirely shoot in digital). The fadeout effect of all the other trees and background was no work at all! Physics did that for me! Didn't have to spend hours in photoshop creating this baby, lol, just 10x as much time making sure I got the ACTUAL shot I wanted, think what you want
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Comments: 47

Feidhelm [2010-07-04 11:31:43 +0000 UTC]

This is a truly remarkable concept and execution.
And it's even more impressive given the fact that it's not only not edited in PS, but also because it's a night scene.
My favorite shot has to be the the one on the right, second row (where there's a man sitting under the tree), the colors seem softer and more natural. The final version is wonderful as well, but there's something about the colors that feels unnatural, as if they were burned/dodged digitally (especially the tree, which has lost all of it's faint yet wonderful green tones seen in the previous shot), and that makes them look overworked. If you could desaturate the last image just a bit, I'm sure the result would be even more pleasing to the eye.

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gokuyert In reply to Feidhelm [2010-07-04 16:32:34 +0000 UTC]

i'm actually in the process of redoing the final image by very slight amounts, its already different if you take a look, less contrasty. I see what you mean about the tones, but the version you speak of, I had a version just like that in terms of color that WAS my final version for over a year, looked at it all the time, finally took the next one and am much happier with it, though your point has still been noted

Thank you so much for taking the time to write this long comment, a single comment like this means so much more than 500 'favs' and 100 other short comments

so thank you again

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hemingway19 [2010-04-09 18:23:36 +0000 UTC]

nice..good effort dude

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gokuyert In reply to hemingway19 [2010-04-16 17:25:48 +0000 UTC]

ha, took some doing but i think it was worth it

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kiipy [2009-04-03 12:42:36 +0000 UTC]

This is wonderfull. fav.

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gokuyert In reply to kiipy [2009-04-03 14:35:35 +0000 UTC]

The making of? thank you very much, most people dont even take the time to check it out, just look at the finished product and fav that one, thanks

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kiipy In reply to gokuyert [2009-04-03 20:02:30 +0000 UTC]

Maybe it tells something are they just watchers or are they trying to see the world beheind the camera same way what they see it whit theyr own to yey's.
You are welcom.

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gokuyert In reply to kiipy [2009-04-03 21:42:20 +0000 UTC]

thank you again

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vichu [2009-03-13 19:25:15 +0000 UTC]

well... thats a really, REALLY good picture.
You wanted to blow our mind? Contgrats sir, you certainly have.

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gokuyert In reply to vichu [2009-03-13 21:50:11 +0000 UTC]

thank you kindly! and thanks a bunch for checking out the 'making of' version

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closedmind [2008-04-24 02:29:41 +0000 UTC]

great to see your progression, really interesting

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gokuyert In reply to closedmind [2008-04-24 03:00:29 +0000 UTC]

ah, why thank you very much

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SoRealMacroRemi [2008-04-16 12:39:53 +0000 UTC]

wow!

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gokuyert In reply to SoRealMacroRemi [2008-04-16 15:58:24 +0000 UTC]

thanks mate, glad you like it

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QwikDrah [2008-01-12 13:13:20 +0000 UTC]

It's very refreshing to see a photographer give some background to the development behind one of his most successful images. Needless to say, it's especially nice to hear that it wasn't a spur of the moment kind of situation, and that it required plenty of planning and perseverance.

I noticed you mentioned that you work at a camp. I spent many years volunteering at a summer camp, and later worked on the ropes course on staff.

It's nice to meet a kindred spirit of sorts here. I'm going to have to keep an eye on your gallery from now on.

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gokuyert In reply to QwikDrah [2008-01-13 10:08:50 +0000 UTC]

again, reading your comments has meant very much to me, whether it be praise or careful criticism you have given they have both meant very much, as well as all of the time that must have been spent looking at all this work.
I wish very much that there were more people like you on DA, if there were, i'm sure I would still have a great passion for creating new work instead of a dull void

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QwikDrah In reply to gokuyert [2008-01-13 12:01:01 +0000 UTC]

I must agree, DA is usually not a source of inspiration for me. And I can certainly relate to a lack of creative motivation. I recently went about 6 months without doing much of anything, but recently a friend coaxed me into doing a shoot of his band, and viola, I'm creating again.

May we all have friends who drag us kicking and screaming into happiness...

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amyinferno [2007-11-18 15:53:45 +0000 UTC]

I like the second image from the top the most.

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gokuyert In reply to amyinferno [2007-11-18 18:41:07 +0000 UTC]

really? strange

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kelc [2007-11-17 19:08:43 +0000 UTC]

wow!!

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gokuyert In reply to kelc [2007-11-18 01:56:59 +0000 UTC]

thanks for taking the time to check it out
i always love when people actually check out the making of it version

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DaveMc [2007-11-15 22:16:49 +0000 UTC]

Beautiful shot. I love the colour of the final image.

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gokuyert In reply to DaveMc [2007-11-15 22:22:10 +0000 UTC]

thank you very much
and i'm glad you took the time to check out the making of it, so many people really like this but never take the time to see how easily its done

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DaveMc In reply to gokuyert [2007-11-15 22:39:00 +0000 UTC]

You call that easy? And I thought I was persistent with shots that took 2 hours to capture in the studio

Dave

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gokuyert In reply to DaveMc [2007-11-15 23:34:09 +0000 UTC]

I'd say you have more patience than me, i've never tried for 2 hours to get one shot
i have tried light painting, and continue to try, though my stuff sucks, lol
have i ever told you that your stuff totally rules?
whenever anybody asks me about anything lightpainting i always refer them to your page

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DaveMc In reply to gokuyert [2007-11-19 00:43:11 +0000 UTC]

Thanks. Sometimes getting the right shot is just a matter of not knowing when to give up

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nightmarishpleasures [2007-11-14 03:04:23 +0000 UTC]

Why did this one end. Isnt the tree still there?

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gokuyert In reply to nightmarishpleasures [2007-11-14 05:12:52 +0000 UTC]

light bulb was changed, different color, different intensity of light

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nightmarishpleasures In reply to gokuyert [2007-11-14 12:12:31 +0000 UTC]

ahhhh I see. . You reapplied for camp yet?

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gokuyert In reply to nightmarishpleasures [2007-11-14 16:14:15 +0000 UTC]

havent gotten re-app in mail yet, i always get it a bit late though

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nightmarishpleasures In reply to gokuyert [2007-11-14 20:46:29 +0000 UTC]

na your supposed to email Jon Evans for it this time, or so I have heard. Ask Mikey for the details. He sent them out through email.

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gokuyert In reply to nightmarishpleasures [2007-11-14 23:59:40 +0000 UTC]

this sounds a little rumorey, like a totally unofficial way of doing things

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nightmarishpleasures In reply to nightmarishpleasures [2007-11-14 20:47:17 +0000 UTC]

Jon did not mikey he got everyone to email him so he would have their email add. to send them the re-app

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RealmKnight [2007-11-13 22:58:37 +0000 UTC]

I love to see artists share "making of" tales like this one. Seeing a cool photo is one thing, but seeing all the effort and time that went into it can make the appreciation of the final piece even greater. Great work.

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gokuyert In reply to RealmKnight [2007-11-13 23:31:08 +0000 UTC]

i do it to help other people out that might want to do something like this on their own, show them that making a great photograph can be like writing a great....book, there are several rough drafts before the final version

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Sprale [2007-11-13 20:11:28 +0000 UTC]

Well I defiantly like the final result the best. The runners up are all real good too, it's cool seeing the other attempts.

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gokuyert In reply to Sprale [2007-11-13 22:22:23 +0000 UTC]

well the other attempts were sometimes only 'holders' that I used to help further the idea back home while I was thinking about it, most specifically that second to last shot, was only taken to be followed up with more detail

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Sprale In reply to gokuyert [2007-11-14 06:37:39 +0000 UTC]

I see, well either way, you got a nice shot on your hands. =]

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Blueskye27 [2007-11-13 12:35:01 +0000 UTC]

beautiful...

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gokuyert In reply to Blueskye27 [2007-11-13 13:36:44 +0000 UTC]

thank you very much

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Blueskye27 In reply to gokuyert [2007-11-13 13:38:17 +0000 UTC]

My pleasure - it's fantastic.

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phoenix-nine [2007-11-13 06:33:59 +0000 UTC]

Kudos to pulling this off so perfectly. i had been working on a similar project with a tree near my house, but then i changed countries and that plan went down the drain. awesome work! d

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gokuyert In reply to phoenix-nine [2007-11-13 06:49:52 +0000 UTC]

thank you very much, my series tend to die because other things change, like i did another tree series and something like 1.3 billion gallons of water changed those plans

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phoenix-nine In reply to gokuyert [2007-11-13 07:04:43 +0000 UTC]

DAMN! 1.3 billions of gallons! now THAT's something u cant argue with. lol! but im glad you go this piece of work done. its beautiful.

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gokuyert In reply to phoenix-nine [2007-11-13 07:05:56 +0000 UTC]

lol ya
and that series was gonna be my best ever for sure

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phoenix-nine In reply to gokuyert [2007-11-13 08:14:15 +0000 UTC]

with your talents, im sure u could whip up another 'best ever series'. no doubts about thaT!

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gokuyert In reply to phoenix-nine [2007-11-13 13:33:51 +0000 UTC]

ha, i wish, but thank you none-the-less

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