Friday Challenge 4 – A Procession, A Woodworking Shop and A Beach Hut

As regular readers will be happy to discover, this week’s post features three Friday Challenge images.  I know you’ve all been waiting, so lets get right to them.

The Procession
For the 505th Friday Challenge Caplin posted this image:

processionOriginal His comments and instructions were:

“I photographed this church procession in a back street in Cambridge. I have no idea who they were, or why they were in such an incongruous location. Can you move them to a more appropriate setting?”

Wanting something humorous, I created this entry:take shotsProcessionThe caption: “Father Dunphrey had no idea why the tourists were so out of hand this year.”

Caplin’s critique:

“A splendid choice of background from srawland, with crowding camera-wielding tourists pressing right in on the procession. 

The Woodworking Shop
Then, for the 506th Friday Challenge, came this image:

workshopOriginal

Caplin’s comments and instructions were:

“I visited a remarkable renovated windmill near Sandwich, on the south coast of England, last weekend. In the grounds of the windmill stood a number of workshops, including this rather splendid woodworking shop (as you may know, woodworking is a passion of mine).

It’s a shame the scene is lit by a strip light behind the beam, though, especially since there’s a convenient lantern hanging right next to it. Can you move the light source? And remove that cable? And perhaps add a carpenter to the scene?”

Since Caplin noted his passion for woodworking, I decided to put him in the picture. However, I soon discovered there is a dearth of photos of Mr. Caplin. But,  there aren’t exactly many of myself to choose from either. In any case, I finally found one I could use.  I also decided that, if the tables were turned, I would like it if my head were put on a lovely body. So, I decided to do the same for Caplin and located a very well-muscled woodworker:

workshopCompleted
Right after submitting the image it occurred to me that Caplin might get the wrong impression as to why I made him look so buff. So, I decided to make him look bad.  And, I have to say it was much more fun making Caplin look bad than it was making him look good. I actually deleted the first two submissions I posted because I felt they were mean spirited.  Finally, I submitted this one:

workshopPauncySteveCompletedStains2

Caplin’s critique:

“Great shadows from srawland, with the scene now definitely lit by that lamp. The scene seems rather foggy around the light, though; best not to just paint yellow over the lit area – and the light itself could be brighter. I don’t think I’ve ever been depicted quite as musclebound as that – it’s rather impressive. I’m sorry to see you felt the need to delete the later entries, though, as I thought they were progressing really well. Seriously, I wasn’t offended! Always amused to see how I’m treated, and I assure you it’s been a lot stronger than that in the past. I do like the remaining entry, though, featuring one of my sculptures and a rather neatly stained T-shirt. But… who’s going to get inspiration from Red Bull? Every great artist needs Absinthe! Oh, and of course you’re welcome to use the image on your blog. I didn’t know you had one, and it’s not listed in your profile – what’s the address?”

While I was astounded that he actually interested in a blog written by a lowly student, I was also pleased that he cared enough to ask. So of course I gave him the address!

The Beach Hut
Next up, the 507th Friday Challenge image:

beachhutOriginal

As always, Caplin posted comments and instructions:

“I spent the weekend in the charming seaside town of Whitstable recently. On a stroll along the beach I noticed a long series of colourful beach huts, which may be a peculiarly English phenomenon: people fit them out with little gas stoves and sit outside them on deck chairs, drinking tea. This newly-renovated example has yet to be painted. Can you brighten it up? And perhaps open the doors so we can see inside.”

Apparently, people in the UK buy these tiny buildings in order to have a a place to change at the beach.  They tend to be very spartan, but some do have electricity to ensure water can be boiled for the all-important tea. Anyway, here is my submission:

beachhutSubmission2
One of the apartment houses I lived in Providence, RI, was painted with this color scheme. I had originally intended to find some images of children peaking around a corner as I wanted it to look like they were playing hide-and-seek.  However, when I googled “sneaking around” the gentleman on the porch popped up.  I decided to use him, but then I needed an explanation for why he was sneaking out of the beach hut.  Since he might be eluding the police, I went in search of an appropriate police officer by  googling “back to wall with gun.” This netted me the woman with the gun (at the back right corner of the building), which I knew would make for a much more interesting picture.

Apparently Caplin liked the paint job a bit more than the cloak-and-dagger additions:

“Dazzling colours from srawland – I think there are probably rules preventing this sort of outbreak of enthusiasm! I like the picnickers, although the woman with the gun does confuse me slightly. As to the interior – yes, plain wood is usually the right approach, but isn’t yours rather too brightly lit for an inside view?”

Despite Caplin’s ding on the interior wood lighting, I was amused enough by my creation I decided to make it into a birthday card. Here is the image from the front of the card along with the message I put inside:

beachhutBrithdayCard

Hopefully it gave you a laugh, too.

Next: Heads and Bodies  – Part 1

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