761 - Carry On Regardless

Wednesday was problematic. Not because I did not shoot any images, much to the contrary. It was hard to decide which to work on and which to finally present. It took me much time and that’s why I am a day late.

The first one is a morning image, shot through the shop window of a Renault dealer. Shooting wide open, I have focused on the window frame, making only this one vertical line sharp and everything else nice and creamy. What drew me in in the first place were the colors, the primary red and the artificial, blue light.

At first I hesitated to include #2 at all, but finally did it. I don’t know exactly what fascinates me with this architectural shot. Not the colors, that’s for sure. It must be something about the converging lines and how they are in a certain harmony with each other, but in dissonance with the frame. Well, sorry, I can’t explain. Maybe you should ignore it 🙂

Well, these two out of the way, let’s get to the real gem. This mannequin is in the window of a second hand shop in Lerchenfelder Straße. I may have seen her before but never recognized the potential. Anyway, Wednesday night, on my way home, I say her in this mix of golden and blue light.

I shot a series of images, most of them from a different angle, all of them leaving me unsatisfied. Two times I started to go on, two times I returned to try it again, and finally, crouching down and shooting from below, I found what I was looking for.

If you don’t click on any of these thumbnails, click on this one. I love this image and on any other day I would have been proud to call this Image of the Day - if not …

… if not this other image had come my way. Two people on the street, unrelated, going on, and there, in the background, in white letters on red, the words “weiter leben”, meaning “living on” or “carrying on”. I don’t exactly know what the blur on the right side is, I guess it must have been another sign post, but I have used it along with the post on the left to frame the image, to create a stronger perspective.

All three night images were converted with DxO Optics Pro, the mannequin two times with different tone curves and then layered.

Superficially this is a less spectacular image than that of the mannequin, but in a way I regard it as more important, and I would have hated to bury it in a thumbnail.

The Song of the Day is “Good As Gold” from the 1994 Beautiful South album “Miaow”. I always wanted to use that song, finally I have an excuse. Hear one of the numerous live versions on YouTube, for instance this one (aspect ratio garbled, but superb and with “Lean On Me” and a Gospel choir thrown in) or that.