The Pharaoh

A statue of one of the Egyptian pharaohs in the Britisj Museum. The

head and the arm are separate pieces but I thought they went well

together if I got down low and shot so the were in the same frame.

 

All comments welcome!

great photo, i know how difficult it is to get a good shot in the egyptian section of the british museum and the composition of the photograph gives a real sense of power in this effigy.

Thanks Gareth. You are right about it being difficult to get a decent shot in there. Here are the head and arm in the positions they are usually seen.

Hi Colin, well observed. The possibility of hand and head as they are in real,and how you have connected them ,your achievement is real great, compositionwise, the light, the square format, the diagonal placement on the frame.

 

How do you evaluate the 5D with the 17-40 mm? do they work well together? do you need a tripod?

Pnina, thanks. I was holding the camera in what I thought was the right place, shooting, then checking what it looked like. I took about 6 before I got one that looked as I wanted it.

 

I like the 5D and 17-40 combination very much. Mine tend to stay together the same way the 300D and 10-22 did when I had them. I prefer the 10-22 in some ways as it was equally sharp and better flare resistance. But the 5D is a big improvement on the 300D.

 

With this shot I was shooting handheld as tripods are not allowed in the museum. The 5D has low noise so I use a faster ISO speed to make the shutter speed acceptable. And of course with wide angle lenses one can use lower shutter speeds than with longer lenses and get away with it.

Colin,It think you captured the portrayal in its immense approach. Looking up what history tells us,there are poems what leads us to the egyptian fascination,Nice light in the outline of the profile.Wonderful,what you have to offer.

 

Your name came up, but no picture for quite a while

The view point is interesting, not only because it joins the two pieces, leting us believe to an entire statue, but in the same time this one looks taller that it is in real (if we believe your attached shot) and also it looks like the Sphinx. Moreover, did you take the shot in different lighting conditions than the attached shot or did you darken it afterwards ? Be that as it may, it stands out superbly on this dark background.

The composition has a great impact, Colin: powerful and imposing. for my personal taste, I'd like a bit more light on the face, but understand that you can't choose the light conditions in the museum and you had this combination purpose in mind. Excellent work anyway.

Alix, thanks, I have been working on an a photo assignment which has taken up a lot of time but that has now finished.

 

Henri, thanks, the shot is a single frame taken from below the hand. I have darkened it to remove most of the background.

 

Paula, The light on the face could be changed and the background has been darkened. I did play with that aspect quite a bit so maybe I will try lightening it as you suggest.

Colin, thanks for the information. ! My next project will be a full frame....

Hello Colin, this is very good.

 

I spent some time in the BM after an abortive trip to photograph a church in Camden. I'm trying again next week. Have you managed anything yet?

 

Pete

Very well done, Colin. Really original and forceful.

I think the idea is very good. What keeps me busy is the question if you kept the part of the head unsharp on purpose or are there other reasons?

Hi Colin, interesting composition, and looks like a massive chunk of granite. I like the way you told the whole story and didn't leave us wondering. Nice work.

Pnina - full frame! - looking forward to seeing the results.

 

Peter, thanks. Nice image - conveys the gap between us and them. I have completed an assignment at a church in Paddington. I will email you about it.

 

Alberto, thanks. Like you I try to show the power and stength in the old stones.

 

Hans, I made the head a little less sharp in places to give the idea of depth. maybe it didn't work if you are seeing it.

 

Sondra, you have it right - granite it is - though the arm is redder stone than the head.

 

 

Clever choice of camera point and perspective ! A very successful shot of this widely mugged motif ;-)

Wonderful rendition, Colin! You a statue that wasn't actually photogenic ... and made a wonderful image out of it. It really does feel like one is standing at the bottom of a Sphinx-like monument in Egypt. I was going to say that this is a bit different from your usual. I like it! :-)

Did you happen to take another where the head was sharp and the arm out of focus? Just curious. My eyes want to go past the arm to the head, but it's unsettling because it's not in focus. Nice job of getting both in the shot! Looks like it would have taken a real body contortion to do so!

Thanks Carsten, Lou Ann and Kim.

 

Kim, I take your point. I could try that and see what it looks like. I think I probably softened the head but it might well be better the other way round.

 

No contortions - I just did it by holding the camera in roughly the right spot and trying until I got the framing I was after. Good old digital!

Colin, you made a statement with this shot :-) Quite angry and decisive he looks...

---bit blunt part here, I deleted it!---..5d is great cam !. so..I feel the urge to decide myself now. 35mm film proofs to be prehistoricall by now, and even having them developed has become a problem (I am that man that still shoots slides haha) Quality/portability (hikes in the mountains) of the 10mp sector is high now and the prices are erodating at the speed of a formula 1. Its most likely I find myself a system there.

Hans, thanks. I see him as angry and decisive too. You are right about digital technology moving fast. It will be interesting to see where it stabilises - 20MP maybe? Have you considered the Nikon alternatives? Their w/a lenses seem to be good. As Nikon bodies are all 1.5x crop you would need a focal length of 16mm to get your favourite 24mm. I am very pleased with the 5D. I find it is better than the results I used to get with 35mm film so I am happy. regards - Colin

Colin, very elegant solutions to the problems posed here. Thanks for sharing the 2nd image showing the separation of the objects. Your bumping up of the iso also worked effectively. You came away with an image few would get...Cool.

Not easy to expose & capture them in one frame but you did it. An art piece well portrayed.

Very good shot. Wonderful and impressive composition. Regards.