<<< o >>>acid rain 34 comments + add yours
chromasia.com

I'm assuming that there wasn't a body inside of these clothes, well, not a dead one at least - but it did look as though the previous occupier had simply dissolved :)

And I guess that's pretty much all I have to say about this one other than to add that it's a combination of two shots - one exposed for the sky, the other for the foreground - which were then aligned and merged in Photoshop. This is a technique I described in my first Creative Workflow tutorial, but it's pretty straightforward:

1. Copy one of the layers into the other document.
2. Select both layers.
3. Edit → Auto Align Layers (if the originals aren't aligned).
4. Add a mask to blend the two layers (I used a gradient for this one).

As always, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.

captured
camera
lens
focal length
aperture
shutter speed
shooting mode
exposure bias
metering mode
ISO
flash
image quality
RAW converter
cropped?
1.29pm on 10/1/09
Canon 1Ds Mark II
EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM
24mm
f/2.8
1/80 and 1/320
aperture priority
n/a
evaluative
100
no
RAW
ACR
minor
 
3x2 + beachcombing
comment by Dave at 07:07 PM (GMT) on 26 January, 2009

Neat image, but there is something unsettling about the refuse in the image. It looks like a bloated corpse that was shot in the thigh. Still great stuff!

comment by Mirko Herzner at 07:11 PM (GMT) on 26 January, 2009

Not exactly a nice shot. Still technicaly brilliant.

comment by Ilan at 07:44 PM (GMT) on 26 January, 2009

Ok, I really rushed to comment this photo before reading the text. Just a few minutes ago I've commented this photo - http://www.2-see.org/blog/index.php?showimage=189
What is going on?! What's up with the macabre here?
Were you just walking there, and stumbled a... what seems to be... a remains of a human body?

Maybe I should read the post... But I'm enjoying the mystery so much!! :)

comment by Justin Photis at 07:56 PM (GMT) on 26 January, 2009

Wow, got scared then. My web browser loaded from the top down, very slowly and I thought I was going to be seeing a scene from CSI:Blackpool. :)

comment by Thierry at 08:48 PM (GMT) on 26 January, 2009

There is unquestionably something strange and disconcerting in this picture, but I love it.

comment by Carlos Garcia at 08:59 PM (GMT) on 26 January, 2009

Okay... this is just scary... but in a cool sort of way :)

comment by marcus at 09:10 PM (GMT) on 26 January, 2009

strange so strange.

comment by csj @ id7.co.uk at 09:11 PM (GMT) on 26 January, 2009

Actually when we found this, I honestly thought for a moment it was a corpse, I gave it a poke to make sure.... quite eary really, because why on earth would there be a whole body suit on the beach. I mean if you were a fisherman you'd be wearing it. If you were on the beach you wouldn't be wearing it. Would you?... makes you think.... made me think...... in fact I've had nightmares about it! ;-) csj @ id7.co.uk

comment by E y e V i s i o n at 09:14 PM (GMT) on 26 January, 2009

What a strange view. Looks like that guy was melting into the ground of the beach. Bizarr.

comment by Dan Kaufman at 09:27 PM (GMT) on 26 January, 2009

This one too, for me, immediately gave me an eerie macabre feeling. I think it was the legs in particular that said "I'm a body", and then I really had to stare at the picture to be sure it wasn't really a dead body--not that I even thought that you would shoot and display a... so, for success in drawing your viewer in: 10 points. The vignette really helps the eerie look. But I'm wondering if a monochromatic BW with heavy sepia toning might not be the ticket?

comment by Dan Kaufman at 09:42 PM (GMT) on 26 January, 2009

...oh and forgot to say, thanks for your comments on post-processing. much appreciated. And I suppose I know the obvious answer to this question: could you also do a pseudo-HDR on the image for detail emphasis on the dead body and then layer as you explained with a standard exposure of the sky?

comment by jelb at 09:54 PM (GMT) on 26 January, 2009

Bonjour,
Well done processing.. the artistic pollution... no dead man, I hope..Bravo!

comment by Martin at 09:57 PM (GMT) on 26 January, 2009

Oooh...spooky, creepy but nice?!

comment by Briony at 10:12 PM (GMT) on 26 January, 2009

this is wickedly disturbing haha, but the composition and colors rock. what a find!

comment by 613photo at 01:15 AM (GMT) on 27 January, 2009

Excellent work. I didn't think it was a dead body...I guess I'm in the minority there. It does look a bit odd though because of suit's poofy legs.

I think it's perfectly processed.

comment by Alice at 01:15 AM (GMT) on 27 January, 2009

Bizarre, but fascinating shot. Nicely done.

comment by Abhijit Dharmadhikari at 01:54 AM (GMT) on 27 January, 2009

Unique subject! Nicely done PP!!

comment by Thatch at 07:34 AM (GMT) on 27 January, 2009

So thats where all the guys go after Nov 5 ;)

comment by oldshutterhand at 09:13 AM (GMT) on 27 January, 2009

Well some sort of invisible sandman. Looks weired.

comment by Garry at 09:27 AM (GMT) on 27 January, 2009

maybe it's the site of Reginald Perrin's walk into the sea...
(showing my age there!)

comment by Frida at 09:30 AM (GMT) on 27 January, 2009

This is so unsettling. I'm not sure if I like it but excellent technically work.

comment by LightningPaul at 10:05 AM (GMT) on 27 January, 2009

Nice and very scary, though I like it a lot. The subject is pretty bright, the sky darker, which is excellent to me.
Thanks for info about post processing, I'll read that tutorial soon.

comment by Asgardr at 11:42 AM (GMT) on 27 January, 2009

Unique subject. Pretty weird stuff!

comment by Buonaluce at 01:12 PM (GMT) on 27 January, 2009

Eeeeew scary :)

comment by micha at 10:02 PM (GMT) on 27 January, 2009

Mix feelings out here. I love the pic title for starting. Then while looking at the photo before reading your comment I felt like cutting the sky out of there thinking that just stones and clothes would be even more appealing. So I like the textures, colours and compositon but I think I don't like the sky in that pic.

comment by WABIKOJA at 02:16 AM (GMT) on 28 January, 2009

very interesting image!

comment by Laurie at 03:02 AM (GMT) on 28 January, 2009

There is something almost disturbing about this. I was a bit startled when it first opened.

The image is awesome though.

LOL @ the little bug in the comment form! Cool!

comment by Jennifer at 07:30 AM (GMT) on 28 January, 2009

Freaky find - good capture!

comment by The Flaneurbanite at 12:42 PM (GMT) on 28 January, 2009

Very disturbing on first glance! But brilliantly shot as always. My heart is still somewhere in my gullet as I type this.

comment by Claus at 02:28 PM (GMT) on 28 January, 2009

Fast get a shovel and see what's underneath ;-)

comment by Al at 12:54 PM (GMT) on 29 January, 2009

Thanks again for sharing your post processing techniques in some of your postings David. They are of great value to me. I always look at your entries and ask myself "How did he do that?". Referring us to what tutorial to achieve the desired result is very useful. Thank you.

comment by YETi at 01:01 PM (GMT) on 3 February, 2009

Did craig try to take another HDR portrait of you and this is the remains? Not quite 36x24mm pieces but effective all the same :)

comment by Tilly at 08:52 PM (GMT) on 4 February, 2009

The smell would have told you if there was a body.


comment by will pattison at 08:44 AM (GMT) on 6 February, 2009

i have to do a better job of keeping up. i totally missed the bug!

wp.