Weekly Photo Contest: Nov 2-Nov 9 : Death

[Apple fanboy]

My first Explore on Flickr. A dead bee I found in the garden.

_DSC1176 by apple fanboy1, on Flickr

 

[malofx]

Good day all, this contest if over. I will get back to you guys with the results.

Cheers

 

[malofx]

Great entries everyone, I was a little worried about the theme for this week, but you guys delivered.
I apologize for the little feedback, it’s just not in me.

1st.
@themumu

I love the scenery, the bones just make it more impacting, you have the fall colors along with water, all that is missing is the Milky Way on the background. Great capture.


2nd.
@akash.nu

Love the colors on this shot. Another awesome entry.


3rd.
@Darmok N Jalad

I like this because I love how the tree is giving the graves shade, don’t ask me why.



@themumu your turn now.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Thanks for the protium! That was a 10 year old photo, but yeah, Live Oaks have a very interesting form and lend themselves well to moody photography!

 

[akash.nu]

Thanks for the podium, great to be within the skilled pack. Genuinely humbled.

 

[themumu]

Wow, thank you! The one I was rooting for did not even make the short list. Excellent week.

I’m boarding a long flight in a couple hours, will try to make a new thread before, otherwise it’ll be a while.

 

[Laird Knox]

Hearst Discotheque

Now that it's over I'll explain this one.

I had the opportunity to attend a workshop with Troy Pavia at the Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma California. Normally night access is not possible and the night prior Troy was surrounded by police when the alarms were tripped at 12:01 am even though he had permission to be there - only until midnight but he was running a few minutes late. Needless to say it was a great opportunity.

Towards the end of the night I setup to do a star trail shot on the Hearst Mausoleum. For the first several frames I went up and did some light painting with a tungsten balanced source. About half way through the exposure I was sitting in the grass next to my camera and another photographer came along and started painting in intense colors.

No big deal. I shoot in 30 second increments so I can edited out ruined foregrounds like this. As long as the sky stays clean I can mask in the foreground I want. When I got home I stacked the images together and this is the result. I never did get around to processing a final image but did get a kick out of this one.

I didn't expect it to be a winner this time around but I like to post fun and/or different shots. Even if it is just to get people talking about the process.

For anybody that doesn't know about Colma it is an interesting town. The dead outnumber the living by about 1.5 million to 2,000. Early in the 20th century graveyards were banned in San Francisco as real estate got more crowded. Many of those already buried were exhumed and moved to Colma. Today the main strip is door to door cemeteries and shops selling flowers or tombstones. It is a really fascinating place. Cypress Lawn itself has many high profile tombs and is beautiful to stroll through by day.

Thanks for the fun topic and for listening to me ramble for a bit.

 

[Clix Pix]

Congratulations to all, especially Themumu! This was a rather interesting topic and it was fascinating to see how different members addressed it photographically.....

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Great topic, but a challenging one, and one that I suspect may have made a number of people somewhat uncomfortable. Congrats to the winners.

Personally, I loved @inkmich's shot - much medieval art (from the plague years and after) also addresses the subject matter of death in such a way.

I also really liked @Darmok N Jalad's image - and the fact that it was shot in black and white suited it, a treatment that also worked with @anotherscotsman's gripping headstone. And, even though it was in colour, I thought the composition and treatment of the topic in @akash.nu's shot superb. A tranquil resting place.

 

[tizeye]

To add a little detail, we actually stumbled upon the Roman ruins as we were not looking for it. There is no street to the right as it is a courtyard walkway lined with shops. What we were looking for, and highly recommend, is the restaurant ironically called "Living Barcelona". If you were on the right walkway shown in the picture looking across the ruins, you would be looking straight at the restaurant. It is not like is out of the way, as it is only one block off the north side on La Rambla - the mile long pedestrian shopping/entertainment/lodging area overcrowded with tourist and inflated prices. But that market along La Rambla is phenomenal and great for street photography.