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#90 Low Key
Entry
17
of
26
1st - boar76: Raging
2nd - rafinmelb: Empty
3rd - Terraliptar: Finale
3rd - melanija: milk jug
5th - f_otto:
6th - Andris: four&half
7th - mark6229: Majestic
8th - akebono: When the moon shines
9th - Jade O.: Crime of Passion - Vengence
10th - Edward48: Spooky!
11th - wrosenthal: Ali
12th - Lo: Balinese Beauty
13th - Una: Good morning
14th - Old Finn: Mushrooms at night
15th - MrTGT: She is giving me the EYE
16th - Mepo: King Rat
16th - henriksson: Spinning Wheel?
18th - da_s: Rocks of the Acheron
18th - drivingback: The Swan
20th - Franz07: Guardian Spirit
21st - forkcandles : fragile bridge of bubbles
22nd - LaRee: Sebastian's Cousin
22nd - mrsawyer: The light's still on
24th - vanpraag: Remote Tasmania
25th - mbbin2: Coming in to land
25th - aac: Rainy Sunday Blues
King Rat
©2010 Mepo
Panasonic DMC-FZ30
16th
place,
23
points
1s
,
f3.2
,
ISO 80
,
?
,
Shutter Priority
,
Pattern
,
no flash
Post-Processing:
Convert from RAW. Levels. USM.
Extra Info:
This challenge taught me a lot about the difference in grain between shooting in RAW and in JPEG. The JPEG at this exposure is almost unusable.
6 comments on this entry
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Mepo
Oct 19, 2010
omg Jade. As Zio (Alberto) taught me - ho le lacrime agli occhi dal ridere. You have outdone yourself! I hope the ACT controllers appreciate your humour half as much.
After reading your missive, I went and checked the rat again. I gave it a light squeeze and it deflated and emitted a slight whistle. I guess it is not fine ceramic after all - I can't believe I was that easily conned out of so much money. I even paid extra for packing it in straw for shipment!! There is no fool like and old fool as they say.
Seriously, I hope my Kāi Wányiàd was not too far away from the "it's a joke" that I intended. I am currently in Toronto so was unable to get a pure translation from my Chinese friends in Ottawa.
You also have no idea how pertinent your selection of KFC was :-) I spent several years as a 'Sewer Rat' and one of my worst experiences was a sewer running from a KFC outlet. The manhole was so full of grease, up to street level - we had to cut our way in with shovels - not a word of a lie.
Your link to Prusian Blue was interesting - I had no idea. Maybe that was what my mother drank when she was breastfeeding me LOL.
Finally the real story. The rat is, as you and raf guessed, plastic rubber. It belongs to a freind of my son and was presented to him on his b'day to celebrate his many wild nightmares (which he reports on studiously). I grabbed it to test out my new cardboard ligh creation and found the result funny enough to enter. The blue was accidental but was left in to try and elicit a vote from one of my favourite photogs LOL Slainte.
Jade O.
Oct 18, 2010
Now I recognize this rat! First, it was mass produced as a kid's toy giveaway at the opening of the first KFC outlets in China during the year of the rat--unfortunately, the locals got the wrong idea about what the "C" stood for. Then, KFC sold the rights to the rat to the Chinese Athletics Association who used the design as a mascot in the 2008 Great Wall cycling championship AKA the Tour de Wall (appropriate for year 2008 but unfortunate for many cyclists who literally went over the Wall when the mascot sprung up on the steep downhill curve to cheer them on). As for Kai Wanyiad (locally known as Wan Yi Akai or Chip to his friends), he actually died of copper poisoning after raising a series of irradiated giant rats, and self medicating on Prussian Blue.
http://www.bt.cdc.gov/radiation/prussianblue.asp
Evidently, the rats ingested his therapeutic supply and, despite ordering a new supply for 9:00 a.m. next day delivery, he tragically died awaiting for FedEx to open its first China office. (Evidently the remaining supply of KFC rats have been showing up in Chinese antique markets as limited edition sculptures...)
As an aside, many of those injured cyclists taken to local hospitals underwent unnecessary bone marrow transplants when they were mistakenly diagnosed (due to language problems and by their references to De Wall) to be a result of having de Vaal's Syndrome; at least one cyclist who received the marrow of a certain central asian fundamentalist donor is reported to have became...the Main entry.
P.S. Wan Yi Akai (aka Chip aka Kai Wanyiad) is survived by his widow, Dale, who reportedly is still feeling (and looking) a little blue after three years of mourning and dining on a dietary staple of three years of Shake and Bake cooked in 11 different herbs and spices.
Edited on Oct 18, 2010
Mepo
Oct 18, 2010
Jade, raf. Actually it is not plastic nor fake. It is a hand painted ceramic sculpture by the famous Chinese artist Kāi Wányiàd. It was released in a limited version to celebrate the Chinese Year of the Rat. However I don't understand why the material makes so much difference to the photo. But thank you both for commenting - much appreciated as always.
Edited on Oct 18, 2010
Jade O.
Oct 18, 2010
I can't believe this is from the same person who entered that Main shot! Talk about versatile, LOL!
Comments After End of Challenge
Comments During Voting
rafinmelb
Oct 16, 2010
right on theme, but I've got to ask why do you have this plastic rat? Glad you learned what RAW can do.
Jade O.
Oct 15, 2010
I'm freaked out by a few things; the fake rat, the blue tone, and the dead centre composition. Other than those, this is a nice illustration of low key lighting.
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