Behind closed doors...

M38A1

Full disclosure:
I staged this shot based on a lot of behind the scenes looking at Street/PJ for quite a while and cherry picking what I thought this would be in the real world. The bi-weekly assignment was called "Fix'n" and I took the dark-side literal approach to it trying to get a cheap hotel room feel for what goes on behind closed doors.


.

torags

Well done Scott.

Nicely staged and exposed...

good work

lensmole

M38A1 wrote: »

Full disclosure:
I staged this shot based on a lot of behind the scenes looking at Street/PJ for quite a while and cherry picking what I thought this would be in the real world. The bi-weekly assignment was called "Fix'n" and I took the dark-side literal approach to it trying to get a cheap hotel room feel for what goes on behind closed doors.


.

Nice and sharp good dof and good effort with the elements of the image ,but it doesn't give me a sense of any place . I am sure this kind of thing goes on in many difference locations ,back allies ect, not necessarily a cheap hotel room . If you were are street smart you could probably get a shot of the real thing but,not without risk, effort, and $$ and not something I would recommend.

bdcolen

M38A1 wrote: »

Full disclosure:
I staged this shot based on a lot of behind the scenes looking at Street/PJ for quite a while and cherry picking what I thought this would be in the real world. The bi-weekly assignment was called "Fix'n" and I took the dark-side literal approach to it trying to get a cheap hotel room feel for what goes on behind closed doors.


.

Nicely done, especially in terms of the lighting. But if ever there was an image that screamed out to be in black and white, this is it. Also, I think the color palate, and the almost fastidious arrangement of it, gives it more of an "Oriental" look than that of a seedy hotel room.

Here it is as shot on Kodak Recording Film - ASA 3200, circa 1969
DSC6529-1SM-L.jpg

RSL

Why do you think it's better in B&W, BD? It's certainly different, but why is it better?

torags

Yup, I don't think the contrasts are high enough to be effective in B&W

I like the current "flavor", the image has a warm patina

bdcolen

It does indeed have a warm patina, Rags, and the last thing one would associate with 'works' in a seedy hotel room is a "warm patina." The color palate and patina are inappropriate for the subject.

Juano

bdcolen wrote: »

It does indeed have a warm patina, Rags, and the last thing one would associate with 'works' in a seedy hotel room is a "warm patina." The color palate and patina are inappropriate for the subject.

I have to disagree, I think the color version works much better.

RSL

I agree with Rags and Juano. I think BD's making his judgment on the basis of an emotional response to the term "works," and what Scott called a "cheap" hotel room and BD translated as "seedy." In other words, since it's nasty, it ought to be in B&W. But for B&W to be strong it needs strong graphics, and this picture isn't about graphics; it's about what's taking place under a dim incandescent lamp in a dim room. It's really a still life, and since it doesn't depend on graphics, it has to depend on color. I think it loses a lot of its power in B&W.

lensmole

bdcolen wrote: »

It does indeed have a warm patina, Rags, and the last thing one would associate with 'works' in a seedy hotel room is a "warm patina." The color palate and patina are inappropriate for the subject.

Richard

Hmm...IMO, the soft light and warm colors don't really go with the subject matter at all. It seems more appropriate for a Victorian tea service. Perhaps you could play with that idea some--find a fringed lamp and some other old looking stuff and go for full out irony. If you want to stick with the seedy hotel idea, I'd try to include a little more seedy background detail for context.

lensmole

RSL wrote: »

I agree with Rags and Juano. I think BD's making his judgment on the basis of an emotional response to the term "works," and what Scott called a "cheap" hotel room and BD translated as "seedy." In other words, since it's nasty, it ought to be in B&W. But for B&W to be strong it needs strong graphics, and this picture isn't about graphics; it's about what's taking place under a dim incandescent lamp in a dim room. It's really a still life, and since it doesn't depend on graphics, it has to depend on color. I think it loses a lot of its power in B&W.

IMO the subject itself is nasty regardless of the place .

torags

bdcolen wrote: »

It does indeed have a warm patina, Rags, and the last thing one would associate with 'works' in a seedy hotel room is a "warm patina." The color palate and patina are inappropriate for the subject.

that depends on whether you ever "got off", bd

When I had to clear out the junkies getting off on horse (a hundred years ago) near the oil burners (they used to squat there in the winter cold); the lighting was always dim incandescent

I'm no expert, my experience was limited to 17 apartment buildings in the lower east side of Manhattan and horse was king.

M38A1

First off, thanks for the variety comments and continued discussion. What I find interesting is, some comments are things I would not have thought of, and others reinforce what I was trying to do. That's why this little corner of dgrin is so fun - we're NOT all the same when we view an image and we all bring varying perspectives.

I certainly see how the B&W approach could have been a viable option. I think had I gone that way in the end, I would have set it up a bit differently knowing it was going to be B&W. Here was my initial 'concept' I thought of to include the same items, but around a dumpster on hard concrete in a corner of someplace USA. This was just a staging shot to see if it worked in my head. Shot with my iPhone too.


As for the shot, the assignment was titled "Fix'n" and I took a very dark and sinister approach to shooting it. In my head I kept coming back to the yellow cast of a low-watt bulb and dark colored elements which led me down the cheap motel room concept which is what you see above. Think drugs, cheap motels, dimly lit rooms, "..hey man - I need a fix".

For grins, how I shot the color version:
An old tarnished spoon
Torchy's Tacos matchbook and burned matches
Rocksalt for the ice cream machine (the crack)
Kayro syrup (it's thick and stays in a droplet) for the drop on the end of the 1cc syringe
A small wattage lightbulb to cast a yellow hue like a cheap motel room
A black piece of posterboard to cover up the white textured wall
An itty-bitty bag that held a lapel pin for the 'crack baggie'
Natural light, no flash




.

torags

again, well done.+++

bdcolen

torags wrote: »

that depends on whether you ever "got off", bd

When I had to clear out the junkies getting off on horse (a hundred years ago) near the oil burners (they used to squat there in the winter cold); the lighting was always dim incandescent

I'm no expert, my experience was limited to 17 apartment buildings in the lower east side of Manhattan and horse was king.

And, as you point out, Rags, they were getting off in a basement near the oil burners, not in a setting that would be more appropriate for filming a remake of Henry James's The American.

So some don't like the black and white - fine. So shoot it in color that reflects the subjects - how about the kind of garish yet almost dirty, muted color we see in Bruce Davidson's subway series?

By the way, the black and white re-do with the iPhone in the alley is much better than the original, in terms of capturing the subject matter.

Richard

bdcolen wrote: »

By the way, the black and white re-do with the iPhone in the alley is much better than the original, in terms of capturing the subject matter.

lensmole

richard wrote: »

+1

RSL

bdcolen wrote: »

By the way, the black and white re-do with the iPhone in the alley is much better than the original, in terms of capturing the subject matter.

I'd certainly agree with that. And that one, unlike the first one, belongs in B&W.

torags

+1

M38A1

Again, thanks for the comments.... I'm sort of liking the B&W one better now.


And on a side note, I was selected as the winner of the assignment.

RSL

Bravo, Scott! Good going.

M38A1

RSL wrote: »

Bravo, Scott! Good going.

Thanks Russ....


.