I was looking at some of Irma's still life studies, and was impressed by how she worked with darkness as a background. The Dutch painters of the Rembrandt school could evoke amazing power from their work using primarily darkness and rim lighting as their tools.

It inspired me to give it a go. I have been sitting on this photo for a long time because I couldn't come up with a treatment that worked. Maybe this is the ticket.

You're right Mr T - very emotive pic indeed. I think it's great to start with - should be awesome to see what others can come up with.

Hmmmm , The Toad lets us play with his shots ? are you ok man LOL . I will see what kind of something i can come up with this weekend . This is a very interesting photo amd cant wait to see what everyone comes up with .

........ SHawn

I've been thinking about this picture all morning... and I don't think there is anything to improve... I like it a lot as it is... G just passed behind my chair and I showed it to him, he also thinks is perfect ...

Thanks people. I actually screwed up and posted this in Playground (because Irma's shot I was looking at was in Playground). I meant to put it in Showcase... But by all means, take a shot at it - always interested in other takes on the theme...

This was really difficult to come up with a treatment for. To begin with, it is a rather odd capture - and to me, the position of his arm and hand has a religious feel to it. Maybe thats just me, though...