The “Toilet Paper” theme was from the start fairly uninspiring for me. As I’m writing this before the reveals, I’m sure a lot of my Scavenger crew will have wonderfully creative, silly and hilarious takes on the word (And, after publication: can confirm 🙂 ). But that’s just… not me 🙂 However, early in the Hunt, our cleaning lady had store a couple of rolls on top of the bathroom mirror (because the usual station under the sink was overflowing a bit). And that setup caught my eye for a reason in the morning shower, I went “huh”, and I knew what I wanted to do there – play the simplicity, the symmetry, the geometry – these are elements of aesthetics that speak to me, and for which that specific image could work.
Now, it so happens that the bathroom in which we have a shower (and hence the one we mostly use) has very messy reflections in the mirror – said shower, a wall in the middle, and the washing machine/tumble dryer tower. Luckily, the other bathroom is essentially a symmetrical of that one, with only a bathtub – so the mirror reflects the wall. Which works out, kind of.
Because obviously, the challenge there – getting a “clean” reflection in the mirror AND a “clean” geometry…. hrm. So as “boring” as this image may seem initially, it’s actually a composite 😉 And it is the only composite I submitted to this hunt!
These are the two “original” images (minor RAW development applied only – and exposed VERY to the left):
| Camera | Pentax K-1 II |
| Lens | HD PENTAX-D FA 24-70mm F2.8 ED SDM WR |
| Focal length | 40mm |
| F-Number | F/5.6 |
| Exposure time | 1/40 s |
| ISO | 200 |
(same settings block for both pictures.)
And these are the two images that ended up as layers in my GIMP window:
You’ll notice the disappearance of the shower holder and the geometry distortion to get the middle line of the mirror line up with the rolls in the final picture 😉 All in all, I’m quite happy with this picture, because I managed to do what I wanted to do, despite non-trivial challenges. I’m not entirely happy with the visible lens flare (… probably lens flare?) in the middle of the image, but I didn’t manage to correct it cleanly, sooooo it stayed there 🙂
For more interpretations of the theme, see the Toilet Paper Scavenger album!
