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Jennifer Zhou | all galleries >> Galleries >> Cityscape > Short on Life but Long on Laughs, Summer Palace, Beijiing, China, 2004
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23-DEC-2004

Short on Life but Long on Laughs, Summer Palace, Beijiing, China, 2004

This snowman, wearing huge red flowers as buttons, warmed my heart on a very cold afternoon. He will only be around until it warms up, while the Imperial Lion beside him has probably been guarding this palace for hundreds of years. But which give us more fun?

I wanna send this picture as a New Year gift to my friend Marek, I wish him a very very happy 2005! :)

Canon EOS 10D
1/320s f/8.0 at 15.0mm iso200 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time23-Dec-2004 15:14:14
MakeCanon
ModelEOS 10D
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length15 mm
Exposure Time1/320 sec
Aperturef/8
ISO Equivalent200
Exposure Bias-0.33
White Balance (-1)
Metering Modematrix (5)
JPEG Quality (6)
Exposure Program
Focus Distance

other sizes: small medium original auto
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Guest 29-Apr-2005 06:33
great subject
Guest 05-Jan-2005 10:30
It's incongruence makes it very funny, I've had a good laugh. As for my pesonal vision... well, it is like going back in time in a sence, the lion is there garding the doors during centuries, no matter of the weather it does, it is a strong stone figure that ispires fear as the Emperor had to do. While the snowman is the other way arround, it is fragile though a lot more friendly but it will end up melting while the lion will continue it's paper, I simbolize the lion with the emperor and the snowman with the people that had to live under their rool. Though I have laught quite a bit with this picture.

Mikel
Guest 01-Jan-2005 20:46
That's very sweet Jenny, thank you very much. I agree with Phil about how good the composition is. This is because by bleeding (or melting ;-) the snow(person, in today's PC language) you have amplified its comic effect, which contrasts with the solemn figure of the royal lion which is meant to look ferocious and intimidating. This image simply mocks authority and you must know me well to know that this will press all my (red) buttons ;-)
Phil Douglis30-Dec-2004 03:09
****I see two incongruities working for you here, Jen -- a child's snowman mocks the serious snowy lion behind it, and also the color in the flowers contrast shockingly to the grayness of the overall scene. Your composition is perfect -- you seem to have ripped a page right out of Elliot Erwitt's book here. This is an image that brings yesterday and today together with a breath of fresh air. Even though you are shooting on the darkest day of the year under deep gray, cold skies, the fresh white snowman with the big red buttons will warm any heart, and make a perfect holiday card from Beijing!
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