Poor Old Sean O'Cold....

[TheBigYin]

Hope this will serve as a warning to those of you who still use a traditional darkroom, not to take your bottle of Guinness in with you while developing your films...

Poor Old Sean O'Cold.... by The Big Yin, on Flickr
Poor Old Sean O'Cold.... by The Big Yin, on Flickr

No need for CSI to get involved, it's a clear case of mistaking a bottle of ID-11 for his Guinness. Reminds me of something my Chemistry Teacher at school put up on the board to discourage people taking food into the laboratories...

"Seen on a gravestone in this parish....
Here lies a Chemistry Student,
They Found Him on the Floor
For what he Thought was H20
Was H2SO4"


Another of my POTY entries for earlier in the year. Technically, I suppose it's a self portrait - and a much less involved "build" than the last shot I posted in here - just me, a sheet, and the spare shower curtain

Oh - and if anyone's tempted to try something similar, when you clear up, don't leave the "toe tag" lying around... people find it and get awfully worried

 

[michael23]

I am still liking this! A great setup indeed

 

[DemiLion]

"Seen on a gravestone in this parish....
Here lies a Chemistry Student,
They Found Him on the Floor
For what he Thought was H20
Was H2SO4"

I rather prefer the visual:

(Shamelessly half inched from yet another FB viral share!)


Love the pic btw!

 

[MWHCVT]

That's chillingly cleaver, I'm sorry that I cannot understand it fully not really knowing about the dark room side of photography but as a photo I think it works well

Matt

 

[TheBigYin]

I am still liking this! A great setup indeed

Cheers, glad you liked it.

That's chillingly cleaver, I'm sorry that I cannot understand it fully not really knowing about the dark room side of photography but as a photo I think it works well

Matt

In fairness, I probably picked one of the less toxic film developers to have him drink, but I forgot to check the COSHH sheets before filling out the one and only Toe-Tag I'd made for myself...

 

[SarahLee]

Dark, slightly disturbing and it made me smile . . . that means that the shot worked but I'm just not quite sure what that says about my sense of humour

Really well carried out. Composition and DoF are perfect IMO, and I really like the blue tint to the lighting. SPs are difficult at the best of times, never mind when you have to arrange yourself on the bed, affix your own toe tag and drape the shower curtain just so


p.s. Liking the other Mark's cartoon too

 

[TheBigYin]

I rather prefer the visual:

(Shamelessly half inched from yet another FB viral share!)


Love the pic btw!

Now that's a good one - though it'd have to be pretty concentrated Hydrogen Peroxide for that effect wouldn't it... Bet he had nice white teeth afterwards though

Glad you liked the picture, it's always good to get a little feedback on shots, the one thing about the POTY competition is that it's pretty much expressly Verboten to comment on the pictures until after the voting, and frankly, most of my shots this year have been on the "wierder side" and didn't really suit any of the categories until "creative" opened up.

 

[TheBigYin]

Dark, slightly disturbing and it made me smile . . . that means that the shot worked but I'm just not quite sure what that says about my sense of humour

Really well carried out. Composition and DoF are perfect IMO, and I really like the blue tint to the lighting. SPs are difficult at the best of times, never mind when you have to arrange yourself on the bed, affix your own toe tag and drape the shower curtain just so


p.s. Liking the other Mark's cartoon too

I was getting a bit worried about my "darker side" showing over this years competition to be honest...

It wasn't the easiest picture to rig - lighting setup was a cheap desk lamp taped to a chair just out of shot, camera controlled via Canon EOS Utility's remote focus/shooting facility, with the laptop at the top of the bed so I could see what the hell I was doing

 

[TheThistle]

Very chilling indeed Mark - great setup, nice use of the laptop

Graham

 

[Scottie68]

Thats brilliant Mark. Love the lighting and not forgetting the explanations youve been putting to the photos

 

[TheBigYin]

Very chilling indeed Mark - great setup, nice use of the laptop

Graham

Cheers Graham - it was actually quite a fun thing to shoot... first version I took, thought it was great - lighting spot on, really happy with everything, finished shooting, tore the rig, down downloaded the memory card ot the computer, and my Dad, looking over my shoulder said..."You could have washed your feet first lad!" - i'd been toddling around the house all day, barefoot, and my feet were minging!! So - that was the first re-shoot

Thats brilliant Mark. Love the lighting and not forgetting the explanations youve been putting to the photos

Cheers - it's surprising what you can do with a desk lamp and a bit of black cardboard As to the little stories - well - I always want to know the "back story" when someone posts something interesting, so I like to let people know what was going on in my mind when I came up with the shot.

The initial inspiration for this shot came to me sat at my desk, worrying that I couldn't come up with anything interesting for the February POTY - the topic "SOOOOO COLD!" was just not ringing any bells. So, I decided to listen to some music, and started up the MP3 jukebox. It chanced upon Alice Cooper's track "Cold Ethyl"...

"Alice Cooper - Cold Ethyl"
One thing I miss
Is cold Ethyl and her skeleton kiss.
We met last night
Making love by the refrigerator light.
Ethyl, Ethyl,
Let me squeeze you in my arms.
Ethyl, Ethyl,
Come and freeze me with your charms.
One thing, no lie -
Ethyl's frigid as an Eskimo pie.
She's cool in bed,
She's gotta be '*** Ethyl's dead.
​

There we were - by the end of the first verse, I'd got my inspiration. Of course, I had to swap my ideas somewhat. First draft involved a large chest freezer and a model who wasn't averse to a little hypothermia... I soon toned things down a little...