CONSUMERISM.1986 SCAN. Please enlarge.

In January 1986 I visited Japan for the first time, compliments of Hoya UK Ophthalmic lens division in order to see their factories and their new products. Walking around Tokyo especially at night I was very impressed by the sea of neon lights. We stayed at the Keio Plaza hotel which is situated at the edge of the Ginza commercial area of Tokyo. Taking a straight forward photo of neon lights would have been boring so that idea went to the back of my mind. One night we were on the seventeenth floor of the Hotel with a few colleagues having a drink at the bar there. The bar was facing the Ginza and the heavy curtain was drawn back. Seeing the neon lights from that height gave me the idea of the picture. I run to my room and got my camera, I returned to the bar and ask permission from the barman to do the following, to drag a heavy round metal table to the window and draw around me the curtain which was lined and was floor height, thus creating complete darkness around me. The electronic meter gave me a 3.5 second exposure, (If I remember correctly) I dialled this value on the camera and focused, no auto focus in those days, I placed the camera as close as possible to the window glass on the table so as to avoid reflections from the glass plate as much as possible. I was using a Canon A-1 camera with a 35-105 zoom lens attached. With my left hand I held and pressed the camera down and held it as steady as possible, with my right hand I practiced zooming from 35 to 105 as smoothly as possible in 3.5 seconds by counting silently and steadily, 100, 101, 102, the other half a second was the time required to press the shutter with my right index finger and begin zooming. I practiced this several times… The result is what you see above. Shot on Kodachrome slide film and scanned with a Nikon super cool scan 5000.

Thank you for viewing and commenting.

Even without this  interesting story (about how a real photographer thinks) the photo itself is an amazing one. So many brands we all knew then and what a smooth movement of your hands Dimitri!!

Wow, your technique is perfect and the photo mesmerizing.  As you say, much more interesting than a straight up shot.  Well done... Mike

Your thought process and the way you carried out your initial idea describes for me the very essence of creativity.  The results speak for themselves and is a great tribute to your ability and knowledge.  The "Starburst" effect and dynamics of the image make a for a powerful photograph!

Very well done my friend! 

 

Alf 

This is an amazing photo. Thank you so much for giving the details of how you made the shot. It is nice to see the things that could be made in the good old days by a clever photographer before Photoshop.

Thank you very much for the compliment, much appreciated my friend.

All the very best.

It was a moment of inspiration..:-).

Thank you so much for your comment and visit. I appreciate it a lot my friend.

All the very best.

Thank you very much for your very eloquent comment. I forgot to say that even If we had auto-focus in those days I would have switch it off after focusing as it would have been searching while zooming.As for the aperture I used...I don't remember...:-). Any way, is sharp enough for me.

Thank you again, my friend.

Is good to see a new face commenting! The back story is essential in this case. If I just uploaded the picture without it, people might have thought that it was done in photoshop and not in camera. Back in London I showed the slide to a patient of mine who was an enthusiast and he asked if he could borrow it. He made a brilliant, large cibachrome print and he gave it to me as a present. I still have it to this day. It lost nothing of it's lustre.

 

Thank you for stopping by. I appreciate your comment.

 

My best regards.

Congratulations!  A well deserved POD.... Mike

Thank you very much my friend !. I appreciate your visit.

All the very best.