<<< o >>>Freddie and John 31 comments + add yours
chromasia.com

You may have noticed that I haven't had a great deal of time to shoot any new material recently – the last two days notwithstanding – as I've really been struggling to fit everything in. Hopefully – fingers crossed – things should settle down a bit of the next couple of weeks, but at the moment it's all a bit stressful.

Anyway, earlier this evening I was looking through the stuff I've shot over the last couple of days then came across a folder of images that I'd called "working images". From what I can remember (it's nearly a year since I looked at these shots) this was a folder that I'd set aside for images that I was working on, but was not entirely happy with. One of the shots was this one, shot last September, and I can't now remember why I didn't post it at the time. It's not the most striking of shots, but it did strike me as ironic that Freddie Mercury had been immortalised as an ashtray, and John Wayne as a teapot. The latter seemed particularly bizarre and was, I think, the main reason I took the shot at the time. So, 13 months later, and in the absence of having anything else even halfway decent to put up, I thought I'd share this one with you now.

captured
camera
aperture
shutter speed
shooting mode
exposure bias
metering mode
ISO
focal length
flash
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RAW converter
cropped?
5.23pm on 2/9/04
Canon G5
f/4.0
1/250
aperture priority
+0.0
evaluative
50
17.6mm
no
RAW
C1 Pro
stretched to 3x2
 
3x2 + fylde coast
comment by Mack Bari at 09:58 PM (GMT) on 18 October, 2005

yay~! first comment.

comment by tobias at 10:19 PM (GMT) on 18 October, 2005

Mack Bari, constructively participating with Chromasia...

Anyway, I am not too certain about this image. Perhaps that may be why you haven't looked at it for a while. Not saying it's bad, just not to my taste. Too many reflections detract for me.

As for yesterdays discussion. I did wish to add to it but after a lengthy comment was lost I gave up. Needless to say, glad I could at least engage people.

What I will say is that like learning to drive (as someone used as an example) I feel you should get used to the camera and make the most of the various settings before using photoshop, otherwise it's like learning to drive and immediately getting a ferrari. How do you appreciate quite what performance you're getting if you haven't gone through the basics?

comment by Dutch PhotoDay at 10:36 PM (GMT) on 18 October, 2005

The atmosphere of this picture is very special. The framing, reflection and tone is great.

comment by emily at 10:37 PM (GMT) on 18 October, 2005

sorry...this is the first negative comment i have ever posted on this site, but i agree with tobias. There are too many reflections and, in my opinion, it is too blurred and difficult to make out what's going on. It didn't, unlike many of your shots, make me think 'wow' and have an immediate thought about the content as soon as it came up: i was too busy tring to make out what the pic was of. Somehow the thumbnail is clearer and is easier to decipher!

However, I do want to say how amazing and inspiring your work usually is, even to a photography amateur like me. I look forward to opening your web page each evening, and want to thank you for the pleasure I have when I see your wonderful images.

comment by Sanjin at 10:37 PM (GMT) on 18 October, 2005

I like this shot. Looks cool and I like the tonality. I can see it easily hanging on a wall of some cafe bar.

comment by Justus at 11:14 PM (GMT) on 18 October, 2005

I agree that this not one of your most amazing shots but, contrary to tobias and emily, I think that the reflections really add to the shot by giving it multiple levels of interest. This is my first comment on the site but I've been checking in daily for a few weeks now and I have to say that your photography has really excited me about taking photographs again. It gives the rest of us a level of "mastery" to aspire to.

comment by Michael at 11:56 PM (GMT) on 18 October, 2005

I really like this shot. Compositionally it is great. Freddy Mercury definitely caught my eye right off the bat and the spout from the tea pot slowly lead me over the the image of John Wayne. The image is disorientating but I think this adds depth to it. I had to take it in for a while and gather as many clues as I could to fully understand. Then I started asking questions. Why is it we immortalize famous people on as mundane and soiled object as an ashtray? Photography is too often about what is on the surface. The very nature of the medium is to provide answers or to prove existence. I think it is great when an image instead makes you question what is presented to you and why is that significant. Thanks for making me think.

comment by joan at 12:11 AM (GMT) on 19 October, 2005

I love the shot for its subject - and for all the realities and absurdities that emanate from it. What a genius Freddy Mercury was, by the way. So sad that he had to die so young.

comment by Peter Morgan at 01:29 AM (GMT) on 19 October, 2005

love the idea of a 'working images' folder

comment by KK at 01:59 AM (GMT) on 19 October, 2005

the reflections is a double edged sword. it depends I guess how it relates to the viewer. for me, it draws a certain thing, like a hazy night focusing on something brilliant. its like an experience more than just a photo. does it make sense?

comment by roxana at 02:52 AM (GMT) on 19 October, 2005

i love the reflections and i love the depth-- conceptually as well as visually. i also want to respond the emily's comment and say that not every good photograph has to make you go "wow." or maybe just not right away. whether or not you want to hang it on your wall is not a good deciding factor for intelligent photography. i love to have something that keeps me asking good questions.

thanks, david for a great site.

comment by JN at 05:17 AM (GMT) on 19 October, 2005

I like that the reflections take away a little from the background, it seems to add a lot to the shot.

comment by lisa at 05:32 AM (GMT) on 19 October, 2005

I love reflections. :) I think the brown/sepia tone works perfectly here.

comment by Lee at 07:11 AM (GMT) on 19 October, 2005

lol...that is a bizzare grouping indeed =)

comment by odilia at 07:47 AM (GMT) on 19 October, 2005

great.. in memory..

comment by ps at 09:04 AM (GMT) on 19 October, 2005

666 thumbnails, hmmm :)

comment by pierre at 09:17 AM (GMT) on 19 October, 2005

Excellent, good eye...

comment by olivier at 09:31 AM (GMT) on 19 October, 2005

Hi
First comment for me...but visiting Chromasia everyday!
Very impressive...a good idea!
I only have one doubt about John Wayne on the teapot, I wasn't there when you took the shot but on my screen now John Wayne rather seems to be Jean Gabin (french actor..."Quai des brumes") (Year I'm french...)
Due to the blurring effect maybe...but a funny one!!!

comment by Rob at 09:43 AM (GMT) on 19 October, 2005

For me too, the reflections are distracting, although i like the concept of the shot as a whole. I'm also puzzled trying to make out the item in the foreground bottom left; is it a small model car?!

comment by Rob at 09:43 AM (GMT) on 19 October, 2005

OR it just occurred to me it may be a part of the reflections!

comment by nuno f at 09:46 AM (GMT) on 19 October, 2005

Some of the commenters must agree that taking a photo with a G5 gives a different result than taking with the 20D. The blur in this case makes us concentrate harder in what we are looking, wich is good and makes people take more time to discovering new details that can be there but that are not easy to see. Defenetly not one of your greatest shots but not so bad.
I have to agree with roxana. Not every photographs have the "wow" effect. Those are the ones that catch our eye first but sometimes are also the first we get tired.

comment by Ricardo at 09:46 AM (GMT) on 19 October, 2005

Your photos are spectacular. It impresses the good to me that you know to transmit your vision of the world that surrounds to you.
A greeting from Barcelona

comment by SteveO at 09:52 AM (GMT) on 19 October, 2005

Not my favourite of your shots, but the subject matter is quite amusing. The reflections along the top are pretty distracting.

comment by Navin Harish at 11:17 AM (GMT) on 19 October, 2005

Very nice shot. I like the shallow DOF and the brown tint.

comment by cristina at 12:47 PM (GMT) on 19 October, 2005

Special effects...

I like it!

:)

comment by dan culberson at 01:26 PM (GMT) on 19 October, 2005

Always good to go back and look through the old stuff.

This isn't my favorite, either, but it is definitely thought provoking.

comment by Kris at 02:19 PM (GMT) on 19 October, 2005

Probably you haven't time to read all those comments, but anyway, you've got a blog most people would want to have. So, just keep up the good work I guess.

comment by Manolo at 02:52 PM (GMT) on 19 October, 2005

I like the color and depth of field of this shot. The priority to the opening very is guessed right.
Excuse me for my english.

comment by Beth at 05:47 PM (GMT) on 19 October, 2005

Wow, I love this shot. Really amazing, and definitely messes with your mind until you figure out exactly what it is. Unlike other commenters, I really like the depth and reflections, and so on.

comment by djn1 at 10:11 PM (GMT) on 19 October, 2005

Thanks everyone. And my apologies for not joining in the conversation, but we've lost our ADSL connection this evening and my modem is behaving almost as badly as chromasia's server :-/

comment by Geoff at 01:00 AM (GMT) on 20 October, 2005

Why a Freddie Mercury fan would buy him as an ashtray is beyond me. If you hated him, it'd make more sense to stub your cigarettes out on his face, but otherwise it's a bit bizarre.

As a photo, hmmm. OK. Not one of my favourites or anything, but interesting enough.