Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Sepia Scenes #8




Photobucket

Hi everybody! Welcome to Sepia Scenes for this week!

I'm sure you recognize these items I found on the shelf in Target. They are nutcrackers! They may not look like the typical nutcracker, the one in the Nutcracker Suite, but these are from that ballet by Tchaikovsky.

You have the Mouse King on the left and a Sugar-Plum fairy on the right. The fella in the middle is, well, I don't know. He's not the Nutcracker. And he's not Drosselmeyer, who is the toy maker. He must be a minor character in the stage presentation.

How I made the picture above: first I changed the color photo to sepia. Then I colorized the photo by using layers and channels in Adobe Photoshop.

Here's some interesting trivia about nutcrackers:

Nutcrackers were especially popular with Germans who coined the phrase, “Gott gibt die Nü sse aber knaker mü ss man sie selbst (God gives the nuts but we have to crack them ourselves)”. This story was intended to teach children that life was hard but rewarding. This little verse made it a favorite toy, possibly because it enabled children to reach one of life’s rewards more easily.

According to German folklore, they were given as keepsakes to bring good luck to your family and protect your home. The legend says that they represents power and strength and serves like a trusty watch dog guarding your family from evil spirits and danger. A fierce protector, they bare their teeth to the evil spirits and serves as the traditional messenger of good luck and goodwill.


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maryt/theteach

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Those are cute! And I like the Sepia with a dash of red and green ;)

Babs (Beetle) said...

That's very nifty! I've never worked with channels. I might have to investigate that ;O)

Anonymous said...

I also like the sepia w/ the red & green! Nice touch!

Anonymous said...

Great job Mary!

Rose said...

Another fantastic choice for sepia! I like the bits of color.

Mojo said...

Oh you mean that ballet by Tchaikovsky... Okay, I'm on board now.

Mine's much more prosaic than that this week.
Sepia Scenes #8: Streetscape

 gmirage said...

The nutcracker, always a big hit! They do look like legendary toys with the treatment!

EG CameraGirl said...

Nice, Mary!
OK, I understand "layers" but not "channels." I guess channels must be something you can do with PhotoShop and NOT with PhotoShop Elements. Am I right?

Hmmm. I NEED to learn more about this. ;-)

Robin said...

I like the selective colorizing. Nice job.

Anonymous said...

Adorable and I like how you've added some facts of the Nutcrackers :)
Happy Sepia Scenes Mary!

Carletta said...

On the shelf at Target! I so miss that store.
Love the added touches of color!
A fun shot Mary!

Maria's Space said...

I love the sepia and the decorations. Very interesting.

Melli said...

LOL! Well... I have a nutcracker collection... but I don't think I'll be adding any of those. I'm thinking I prefer the more classical nutcrackers. I do have one that is Father Christmas, and one that is a jester... but most of them are fairly traditional. This is a great photo though -- and I like the effects!

Anonymous said...

I am fascinated with those real colors amid the sepia tones. :0 wish i will be able to learn how to do that.

Gemma Wiseman said...

Great little figurines! Love how you have coloured the central figure for extra focus interest!

Annie Jeffries said...

Love what you have done here this week, Mary. Again, that wink of color. Sweet.

Sherrie said...

Hi Mary,
I love that photo! I haven't learned how to put color into my sepia yet. I use Picasa 3, but haven't gotten brave enough to try. My Sepia is posted. It is here:
SHERRIE'S STUFF: SEPIA SCENES #8

Sherrie

judi/Gmj said...

Good, did you know Target has the same display in WA? yep, saw them in person. You did great with this. :D

Anonymous said...

Very cute! I am so ready for Christmas :-)

Jientje said...

This looks very pretty!! I would love to try working with layers sometime. Who knows, maybe one day I will find the courage to try it, it's just not going to be today I'm afraid! I've got so much on my mind I even forgot to link in!

Dianne said...

great shot Mary!

I didn't participate this week :(

but I'm enjoying all the others

Julie said...

I really love the nutcrackers this way, very cool.