Nikon Z8with Nikkor Z 85mm f/1.8 S at 1/90 sec, f/1.8, ISO 500.
It didn’t take long for my daughter and I to notice the weird giant yellow thing across the river near our hotel in Asakusa. “What is that?” I asked. She looked on her phone for a minute and then laughed. “Oh,” she said, “it’s the ‘Asahi Flame’, but the locals call it ‘The Golden Turd’”.
Apt.
We’ll just put that in the what-were-they-thinking category. I really have no idea, but considering it is 44 meters long and weighs 360 metric tons, you have to admire the commitment if not the result.
Regardless of the aesthetic, it makes an interesting subject for Tokyo-at-night images. The image above is pretty conventional, but there was no possibility of me passing on the opportunity to use that title. The next image is a more abstract collection of shapes and colors, and I really like it.
Nikon Z8with Nikkor Z 85mm f/1.8 S at 1/15 sec, f/1.8, ISO 500.
Without context, this next image would probably seem particularly bizarre. I think that the reflections are key to this image. There are actually interesting patterns of streaks from rainwater dripping around the sides, too, but they aren’t visible at this scale. And it is hard to imagine hanging a giant print of this on the wall, so the image really can’t rely on them.
Nikon Z8with Nikkor Z 85mm f/1.8 S at 1/30 sec, f/1.8, ISO 500.
The best thing about modern glass-sided office buildings is the reflections. This is another image that would probably be a rather puzzling abstract without context, but the colors and patterns make it fun. Just for grins, I did peek at this image in black and white. It certainly works, but trading monochromatic gold for achromatic grays is a poor exchange in my opinion. Also, the bright parts of this image have more mystery because of their color, not less.
Nikon Z8with Nikkor Z 85mm f/1.8 S at 1/4 sec, f/1.8, ISO 500.
Here is one final image taken (obviously) during the day. It’s fine, but this is clearly a nocturnal subject.
Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 24-120mm f/4 S at 67mm, 1/750 sec, f/9.5, ISO 500.
Upon reconsideration, I decided that this image is a lot more interesting if cropped tightly:
Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 24-120mm f/4 S at 67mm, 1/750 sec, f/9.5, ISO 500.
This is one of the benefits of spare megapixels. Sometimes there is a great image hiding inside a mediocre one. Playing with possibilities is also a great learning experience. In this case, I could have zoomed in tighter and gotten this shot directly without cropping. Obviously, that would have been better, but I still wouldn’t shy away from printing this 24 inches wide.
If I really wanted a turd on the wall.
One response to “Golden Turd”
Memo to self: resist any comment about a photographer who is unable to pass (groan) photographic opportunities …
I like all of the abstracts here.
‘Watch your step’ is possibly more effective than you suggest. Yes, the nighttime images work well but so do the highly visible contrasts in shape here. If this image had been presented on its own, I would have been even more intrigued than I still am despite knowing aspects of the context.