Okay, you can breathe easy again, because it’s not a UFO and I haven’t been kidnapped by aliens!
It’s just an exquisite Indian-made lamp, from New Delhi. The thing that really caught my eye here was the rich burgundy fabric of the lampshade, which is made from raw silk. This, I was told, is famous for the seemingly rough, gnarly texture showing up as diagonal lines across the material.
For this shot, I chose to focus on the weave of the fabric and the slim metal struts. I opted for depth of field to emphasise the glow of the lamp’s interior, as well as the two triangular segments of light reflected on the wall in the bottom left corner and top right corner.
The geometrical aspect of this shot suggested itself. By tilting my camera to the left, I was able to produce an image that included two concentric circles, straight lines, two triangles as well as the tops of hexagons.
I do not crop, enhance or post-edit my work in any way. Shot with a Pentax K100D, using a Sigma 18-125mm lens. F5.6, 1/45 sec, ISO 800, focal length 125mm.
Featured in AUTHENTIC INDIA, August 2009.
Featured in MOODY, DARK, EVOCATIVE, August 2009.
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Comments
great
mm i think i see an ufo ;)
Okay, so maybe it WAS a UFO! I think you may be right!
– David McMahon
Interesting David.
Thank you very much, Jonice. Glad you like the final result.
– David McMahon
Thank you, Ushna, to you and your co-hosts. That’s a huge compliment.
– David McMahon
fantastic work
Thanks, Scott – it all began because I was drawn to the texture of the raw silk!
– David McMahon
This is excellent and a terrific description of how you achieved this shot
Thank you very much. I’m so glad you found the description relevant.
– David McMahon
Fantastic POV …very interesting capture :)
Thanks so much, Anaa – sorry it took me so long to reply.
– David McMahon
I love the rich colour and the look of propulsion given by the angles of the lines.
Thanks very much, Elizabeth. We are obviously drawn to the same sort of subjects to shoot!
– David McMahon