iheart faces contest

This week's i <3 faces contest is titled: Best Face. I do not usually have an opportunity to take portraiture. Occasionally, I have the chance to take a picture of my wife and one of our boys with her camera. This is one. You might have seen it before on my very talented wife's blog (photosbykaryn.blogspot.com). But I went back to re-edit the photo with her help for this week's contest.

I call this photo: Sparta Calls Her Sons.



I like to think my son is focused on some faraway duty to protect the innocent and defend his country; after all, he is sitting in a fire truck. In his ear, his mother whispers soothing words to him, telling him it will be alright. But, since he is wise beyond his years, he knows better. Deep down he understands that freedom is not free, that truth belongs only to the brave, and that one day he will have to share his toys with not one brother, but two.

In his heart Viking words echo, they remind him, "The truth is that life is hard and dangerous; that those who seek their own happiness do not find it; that those who are weak must suffer; that those who demand love will be disappointed; that those who are greedy will not be fed; that those who seek peace will find strife; that truth is only for the brave; that joy is only for those who do not fear to be alone; that life is only for the one who is not afraid of death."

Using Photoshop, I tried employing 'Chiaroscuro' as a technique to draw your eye immediately to my son's face and make him the emphasis for the image.

Please check out the contributions of other photographers through the link below! Enjoy!!

Yuki