Good to talk to you today Dave. Thanks for you words of wisdom!

Nigel: you're welcome. Now come back and leave a comment about this image! ;-)

I'm torn about this one. I have no issues with the whole "photos of photos" theme (i.e., I loved yesterday's image) but I just find this one a little boring, to be honest. I like your processing, but that's the only redeeming quality in my book. Sorry Dave, just not one that floats my boat :)

Ah yes, sorry! This image reminds me of Richard Prince's work - rephotographing and re-presenting well known iconic images in a new context. Here we have Hollywood icons from a bygone era for sale in the present with new frames, but your treatment of the image gives a feel of antiquity. So I guess you are conveying the timelessness of great stars and the work they did. Great observation and post production!

heeeeyy.... "Scarface" isn't a "hero." ;) interesting.. very much like the processing... nicely done.

yeh, its cool.
nicely processed actually...still a few blues and browns left :)

You've used the viewfinder to make a good selection from what was in the shop window. Seeing the arrangement and isolating it in your own way adds the substance that you refer to.

Chuckle - love this because of the incongruity of the colour image at the back. What an hilarious grouping – iconic actors and then wee Cinders tucked in at the back :-)

The art work of art work is okay. The shot is probably as well done as such a subject can be, especially since you've managed some very fun uses of color and in subtle ways. However, I'm totally mystified as to why anyone would pluck good, cold cash on the counter for any of them? I just can't transform a spot in my heart to a spot on my wall or nightstand. Oddly, I'd much rather display your shot of them all than to display any of them.

Anything that evokes a thought, opinion or emotion is a good subject matter IMHO. Cinderella and Scarface snuggled together in a shot; got to invoke some thought, right?

BTW I notice you often nudge your exposure bias down by 1/3 EV. Any reason? I had understood that you lose a fair bit of dynamic range if you're not exposing "to the right" with digital (the 1st stop's worth of data contains almost have the bits for a 12-bit image), and therefore assume you want to expose for as much as you can in-body and post-process down to suit. Maybe just a geeky thought.

Maybe it's just the gamma on my screen.... but I think this is horrible. Different colour treatments for each picture was probably a good exercise, but it just pulls everything apart.
There maybe is a bit of an effect of juxtaposing all those decades of cinema history, but the processing separates them all up showing exactly why we all hate looking at car boot sales- it's all so detached, and no-one unit is worth your attention.

Also I don't like the way your eye is dragged up by the colour in the Disney princess, and because of her pose, it's thrown on, out of the picture altogether. Together with the way the frames are are arranged it's almost begging the eye to look away.

Sharla: yes, I'm puzzled by why people would buy it too.

Gareth: I find that the 5D overexposes slightly, and I much prefer working with slightly underexposed images than overexposed ones. You're right though, I do risk losing data by going down that route.

Alex: there wasn't a different colour treatment for each image, though I can see why you might think that. What I did was desaturate then tone the image, but this was done across the entire frame. And strangely enough, the reason I particularly like Cinderella in this shot is for exactly the reasons you don't; i.e. she forces your eye out of the shot, away from the crappy boot-sale images.

I wasn't sure what you'd come out with when you were shooting this - but thats some great post-processing! Love it :)

Dave
Was this shot through glass?, just curious....
Craig

There's something I really like about this image. I don't understand why I like it: I disagree with Ash and don't find it at all boring... but I don't know why. If I'd taken a photo of the same subject I would have deleted it from the memory card straight away as it would have been naff! Yet, somehow you've taken a dull subject and made it interesting (to me, at least). I think the post processing has removed some of the tackiness of the pictures. As for Cinderella, I'm not sure I like her looking out of the image, but I think having her at the back adds another layer to it... without her in the background, I think the other pictures would have looked a little flat. With this image, I think you've achieved something you often mange to do: take an everyday (dare I say dull) subject and create an interesting story out of it.

beautiful "patchwork"

I think the saving grace is John Wayne engaging with the viewer.

Thanks all :-)

Gorgeous collection, and very well captured.