Photo Challenge 9 – Seven Deadly Sins

There is a lot of scope to be particularly creative on this one, and I did think about that for my own personal submission.  However, I also felt it was important to remain true to my particular style, and moving into a more artistic world does not represent who I am as a photographer.  I don’t think there’s a lot of scope for varied interpretations of the theme itself, so it is with hope that each of the following images represents our respective photographic styles, as opposed to radical re-readings of the theme.

Steve’s submission

My thoughts:

I like to think I’m an observer of the world around me, rather than the creator of dazzling imagery, so my submission is a snapshot of something I saw a lot of in Osaka.  Part of me wanted to created a more picturesque, or visually appealing image for this theme, but I kept coming back to one part of society that truly represents the seven deadly sins.  In Melbourne it’s the Crown Casino. In Japan it’s Pachinko.  I was forbidden to take images of the machines or the patrons, so this is a sneaky snapshot taken one night just as the sliding doors were about to close behind a doomed gambling zombie. In a world of cute, tiny shops that battle to make the most of expensive real estate, Pachinko venues are large, noisy, lurid, garish and unappealing. Notice the repeated word “Get” standing out like a sore thumb. “Get more” ,”Get money”, “Get successful”, “Get happiness”.  All lies in this den of iniquity. More like “get lung cancer, liver disease and destitution”. I say “Get lost”.

• Lust – for all the things money can buy
• Gluttony – for self-punishment (you almost always lose when you gamble)
• Greed – for cold hard cash
• Sloth – both brain and body atrophy together
• Wrath – “Life is unfair”, “I never win”, “Leave me alone”, “I hate this machine”, “I hate this habit”, “I hate myself”
• Envy – Wishing you had the lifestyle of the rich and famous
• Pride – This is referring to me. I usually take no for an answer, so in this case I am proud that I was able to snatch an image of something immediately after being told not to.

There is significant noise in this image, as it was taken with my point and shoot at high ISO to capture as much light as I could.  I think my style is not at all about technical perfection, but about capturing a moment or some energy.  I hope this image does so.

ISO 800, F3.2, 1/50

Joepi’s Submission

Joepi says:

I haven’t been diving this weekend, and when I don’t dive, my thoughts end up where a girly-girl’s thoughts usually end up: SHOPPING. I realized as well how deadly it all can be. All 7 deadly sins can be committed, thought, seen or caused all in one setting. I also realized how much stuff I have in the little square space that I call my room, that I can actually do a shopping mall set up! LOL!

Now for the photography aspect: the little point and shoot was used for this one as I left my tripod in the office and I used the nifty little rotating screen on that camera to see myself as I shot the photos as I needed to see expressions and proper framing for the right message to be captured. Will having a remote and then tethering my camera to a laptop give me the same set up of a live-view on my laptop screen?

My thoughts: Brilliant! When people submit things like this it really inspires you to make more of an effort next time.  This took a lot of time, planning and effort, and the end result is well worth it.  I love the colours, the high-key backgrounds, and Joepi’s many expressions.  It made me laugh out loud, which is not something I do often.  In answer to the question about tethering and a remote – Yes. You USB the camera to your lappy, then you can either use it to view the images taken, or you can set it up to actually monitor what you are shooting. You can change settings and actually take the pics directly from the laptop.  The wired remote works fine, but you then have the problem of seeing it in your shot.  Therefore the Canon RC-5 wireless remote is the answer.

Mat’s submission:

Mat says:

I decided to be lazy this time and go with Sloth – cue obvious joke involving leaving the lens cap on and sending a completely black image. But no, not even I would stoop so low.
I’m sure some will be horrified to hear that this image was shot on a mobile phone – a Sony Ericsson w960i which has a 3.2megapixel camera which is quite capable for snapshots. The shot is taken from one of the upper levels in the Melbourne Central shopping centre and shows a security guard contemplating a spilled milkshake left behind by a very slothful person indeed. Or maybe the security guard is being slothful in that he’s using his radio to call for somebody to come and clean it up.
I played with the depth of field function in Paintshop Pro X2 and fiddled with saturation and sharpness in order to fake the tilt-shift effect that can make real things look like models. I’ll leave it up to you to decide how effective this was but I quite like the result!

For those who are interested you can see some spectacular tilt-shift shots here:

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/11/16/beautiful-examples-of-tilt-shift-photography/

My thoughts: Cool effect. I would have cropped the superflous space out and presented a landscape image letting the people themselves speak, rather than play with effects, but it does make me want to fiddle around with this technique for some fun. That said, cropping a mobile phone image would reveal the total inadequacies of this medium for presentation-quality photography.  (Don’t take that too seriously – using my point and shoot at anything higher than ISO 400, as I did for my submission, is about on a par with using a very good cameraphone).

The people do look like plastic toys, and that’s what has my attention here.  The curve on the right and mass of blur underneath is driving me nuts, and I find the subject of the image becomes insignificant to me. I also query whether this is sloth, rather than carelessness.  Today’s youth (who else but a young person would drink a milkshake whilst walking in a shopping centre) are definitely lazy, but I think they are more careless than lazy. I think sloth is a an intrinsic way of “being” rather than just how you would describe an event or action.

Katy’s submission

Katy says:

Hail, Sinners. Hope you all have enjoyed this challenge as much as I did. A feeling of utter excitement took over me as soon as I found out that the seven deadly sins were up next.

I confess that this time my head was boundlessly buzzing with ideas – some of which will be carefully hoarded still. Bear in mind that a considerable heap of images will be protected by the inherent confidentiality of my bedroom.

And just so you know, I had all seven sins photographed – too bad I had to rule the other ones out. But the depicted sin that definitely stood out from the pack was gluttony. I couldn’t just help myself when I set my eyes on that ravenous little caterpillar. I had to have it shot for one main reason: caterpillars are the most voracious feeders ever known – therefore, the perfect portrait of gluttony.

My thoughts: I would have preferred to post the other image Katy considered – the one she posted on Flickr.  I think with some tweaks it is a much better image from an artistic, creative and thematic point of view, and in my opinion represents Katy’s style better.  I think this image above shows survival or opportunity, not gluttony, and it needs some thought put into the light source, composition and background.  I wonder what sort of butterfly that little guy will turn into later?  I’d also like to put up a direct challenge from our locusts. I reckon a few of them would have something to say about the voracious feeders debate.

Next Challenge

This was the penultimate challenge for which I am going to be the organiser and collator.  I know people like to read without commenting, but I’m not getting as much out of this as I am putting in.  Even though I receive many emails and IMs from people saying how much they like the Photo Challenge, so far the cost-benefit analysis shows too much weight on the cost side.

I recently posted a link on Facebook to an article incorporating thoughts on the trend for people to write about themselves online, but not be very good at contributing to discussion. I feel like this challenge has been about me doing a lot of writing and, with the exception of some occasional comments, I’ve been unable to ignite vigorous debate or even promote educational tidbits for those of us looking for self-improvement.  I often find that the best discussion occurs behind closed doors, via email or chat programs. That’s not much help to all the readers of this blog.

I will provide a final theme and I’ll post the results up as always.  However, I am looking for volunteers to run the challenge from this point forward.  To make it happen you’ll be given editing rights and some brief training on how to use the post template.  You’ll need to be both punctual and committed.  I’ll approve the final post before publication of course, but I’d like to take a back seat on driving the challenge itself for a while.  If there are no volunteers I’ll put the challenge to rest for a while, or at least reconsider how it can be run more effectively.  I might look at tapping into an already existing online challenge, if that’s possible.  Of course I am open to input from you, the readers and contributors.

The next theme has been submitted by Mat, and it is appropriately entitled “Photographer“.

Please submit your images by midnight on Sunday March 8th (in whatever timezone you reside).

Jason & Misa’s wedding

Jason is a very tall, talented musician with a real enthusiasm for life.  And he doesn’t drink! What’s that all about? Never mind, he’s still an awesome guy.

Misa is a sweet and beautiful, outgoing Sushi Chef from Osaka, Japan, with part Korean lineage.

While Jason was spending an extended period of time in Japan in 2002 he met Misa on a train near Osaka.  Six years later they married at Queens Park in Moonee Ponds.

The weather was perfect, after nearly a week of sporadic rain and overcast days.  Misa looked absolutely stunning, and was a joy to photograph throughout the day.  With the combination of water, greenery and a very attractive guest list, particularly Misa’s family and friends who travelled from Japan for the occasion, it was difficult not to take wonderful photos.

There was a real musical bent to the day, beginning with the cello and two opera singers in the park, and ending with a rock show at the reception, performed by Jason and his large collection of musician friends.

I’m not a huge fan of photographing weddings for a number of reasons.  To begin with, I photograph in more of a documentary style, so I prefer very laid-back, relaxed weddings.  Secondly, I’m not really a fan of the institution itself, so if I accept a wedding job it is usually because I relate very well to the couple getting married.  This job was easy as I really enjoyed everyone’s company, and had a great day myself.  The third reason is due to the pressure of getting wedding photos right.  You only have one chance, and if you screw it up you can potentially ruin the happy day for the couple.  I can’t imagine what it must feel like to get home after shooting a very expensive, formal church wedding only to find your storage cards fail to be read, or have been lost or stolen.  I think I’d move to another country if that happened to me!

Misa’s Dad is an amazing man – humble, incredibly polite, and absolutely single-minded on ensuing his daughters are happy.  He seemed to be very proud, but did not betray too much emotion.  I only wish I could have spoken with him during the day.  I’m limited to about ten Japanese words and phrases, and there’s only so many ways one can string them together into meaningful conversation.

The best part of a wedding should be the reception. And this was one of the best.  With the band rocking out on hair metal hits of the 80s, the crowd was very quickly on their feet dancing.  And as you can tell from their smiles, everyone was having a great time.

After such an enjoyable wedding shoot as this one, who knows, I might just do some more!

Asia Part II – Ginza in Tokyo

Time to post a few more thoughts about my recent travels.  For this second trip through Vietnam and Japan I packed both my Panasonic FZ18 and my Canon EOS 350D with the 50mm F1.8 lens.  This was so that I still had the overall flexibility of the Panasonic whilst adding the ability to shoot at night and in low light without flash. I am so glad I did, as shooting at night with much less camera noise was a joy.

From Asia II – Tokyo, Ginza

I’ve already posted the shots from southern Vietnam, so now it’s time to catch up with Tokyo.  Today we have Ginza. This is shopper’s paradise – assuming you’re from a rich country and have a very large credit card limit.  Whilst I didn’t go overboard on shopping I was entranced by the brands, colours, lights, people, and general intoxicating aroma of credit card plastic.  The watch zone consisted of six conicular elevators full of watches, that took you to their specific brand store.  I got into the Swatch lift, as it was too colourful to resist.

From Asia II – Tokyo, Ginza

I happened to be doing my Ginza thing on a national holiday, which coincided with the opening of a new fashion/department store named H&M.  I’ve never heard of it, and I couldn’t understand why there was a queue circling the very large city block to get in.  Police were managing entry into the store, and only allowing two people every two minutes to enter. This was clearly going to be a long day for the waiting Japanese, but it didn’t seem to bother any of them.

From Asia II – Tokyo, Ginza

To make the day into even more of an event, the streets were closed to cars, and outdoor settings were placed along the roads so people could sit and pamper their pooches under cover.  Taking small annoying dogs for “walks” (meaning carrying them in designer pooch pouches) seems to be the done thing on a Ginza sunday.  I spied this cute dad and daughter ensemble playing with Lego in the middle of the street as if this was a normal day for them.

From Asia II – Tokyo, Ginza

Heading towards the sunset to see what garish neon signs I could find I looked back to see a sight that only need Paul, John, George & Ringo in frame to complete it. Happily, this thoughtful businessman stepped into the breach.

From Asia II – Tokyo, Ginza

Next time we travel to the Tsujiki Fish Market – the largest fish and seafood market in the world.