In our modern lives, with tools for almost any task, it is quite easy to forget how things are actually done. After all, if the hard work is always handled by something or someone else, it is easy to become lazy, or to live with the illusion that everything is easy and doesn't require some investment.
This is a little observation I wanted to express through my image: the cook in that case is in a sense the slave of her mixer, and from another point of view, the mixer is also a bit her slave.
Technically, I had to create this giant mixer so that the scene would fit inside it. The real one is much smaller: I duplicated parts as needed to extend its volume. The castle photos come from a ruin (Ivry-la-Bataille) that was totally buried in the 15th century, and discovered about 50 years ago: it made for an interesting visit.
Last but not least, the eggs have not been wasted: the cake my wife cooked after that photo was yummy!
Statistics
Place: 1 out of 30 Avg (all users): 7.6581 Avg (commenters): 8.6250 Avg (participants): 7.7000 Avg (non-participants): 7.6495 Views since voting: 4341 Views during voting: 369 Votes: 117 Comments: 40 Favorites: 1 (view)
In LA we have, within about an hour's drive, the mountains, the ocean, the desert. You have buried castles and magic forests... Hmmmmmmmm. Congrats on the blue, Christophe. Though I don't feel this flows as smoothly as most of your efforts, it is a treat to see your mind at work. And in this case, your mixer! Congrats on the blue.
Congratulations! I am a big fan of your work and appreciate that you share many of the ways you accomplish these incredible works. Look forward to seeing more in the future.
Well dang... if you BUILT that mixer in editing, then WOW! I just figured it was some super deluxe European model -- the work you did on that was THAT GOOD.
Sorry I cannot up my vote now for that.
Still don't like the flames (they serve no purpose at all in the story, since the slaves turn the gears turning the mixer blade), but kudos on the overall win.
Having worked in a professional kitchen or two, yep I can definitely relate to all the hard work that goes into making something that looks so effortless. I can see what some commenters mean about this maybe not being your best work ever, but it's hardly let the team down. It's a fun, memorable shot that drives the point home.
So congrats once again on the blue, and I love your wife's blouse! I bet the chiffonade she made with those eggwhites was lovely.
It is not my favorite piece ever, if that is what you want me to say. I usually am not fond of pictures that try to mix 2 different atmospheres, it rarely works very well. Since it kind of was the purpose of that challenge, I tried to do so nonetheless, and I believe it is a decent attempt.
I'm normally not a fan of your expert editing work, but usually they have a finesse about them this one is definitely lacking. I really think this is one of your weakest expert entries in a long while. Usually they're flawless in execution, this one seems somewhat haphazard in that category.
I'm not trying to be Negative Nancy over here, but I've seen much better. Really curious to know what you think.
edit - The shadows from the fire are off on the green dudes and whatnot. These are things you normally nail. I guess that what I'm trying to say in the above.
Not only beautifully crafted but so much fun! I will never look at my kitchen appliances in the same way again. Congratulations and thanks for the chuckles.
So I think I know who this photographer is and if I'm right, I'm sad because it's nowhere near their best work.
It does meet the challenge however, so that's good. Barely 50% if that many actually did. The "technology" part (woman using the mixer -- and what an odd mixer it is too!) is more overpowering in the photo than the behind the scenes part. The idea of slaves turning the gears is a very clever idea, however the castle walls as well as the fire tend to kill it.
As Simon Cowell would have said, they were "indulgent" and make little sense to the effect. They were overkill and show-offy. Just having the guy whip the slaves to the turn the gears would have been enough. I'd have like to have seen them a little more prominent too, but I can see that would be hard given the size of that beast of a mixer.
Slaves
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