Bottomless pits are a thing of fear and wonderment. They pique our curiosity, causing us to question their depth and ponder at what might reside within their blackened recesses. Some, in a moment of boldness, have flung stones over the edge and listened intently as they cascaded down the sheer face of the pit in an endless, but ever-fading clatter. Never has a stone been said to hit the bottom, though dozens of ears have listened intently for the sound of impact. Much is unknown about these unending chasms, and nearly all men live in fear and uncertainty of them. The few that have been brave enough to venture into their depths have never returned to tell the stories of what lies below.
There have been many hapless souls who have fallen to their deaths (or so we surmise, it is impossible to know for sure) because of a misstep while peering over the edge, and several others are now assumed to have been pushed (though the true culprits have never been brought to justice). Dozens of lives are lost to the abyss each year, and many men wonder if they will be next to be swallowed up by the unceasing darkness, destined to plummet into the depths and never return.
A couple of my neighbors are so overcome by fear that they never set foot outside their front doors. Those with a little more sensibility go about their daily tasks, but maintain a safe distance between themselves and the pits. Yet humanity will always possess its fair share of curious minded individuals, and misfortune's hunger will always remain unsatisfied, and soon another name will be added to the list of those lost to the pits. The only consolation left us as survivors is the knowledge that we were spared to live another day, yet we can't shake the feeling that soon our own names will appear on that list, and we'll find ourselves falling into the infinite blackness of the same endless abyss. And what awaits us at the end of our descent? No one knows, and most don't care to find out...
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Not a whole lot of rocket-science behind this week's picture. This shot pretty much sums it up, it's a pretty accurate depiction of what actually happened (well, except the hole wasn't really that deep, and I wasn't really holding on for dear life, but almost everything else is like it was ;-) ). This was all shot using natural light (no fancy strobes or light modifiers on this shoot), and I used my fully-extended tripod to extend my camera over the top of the reservoir I was using for my scene.
The pit wasn't very deep, I'm actually standing in this shot (it made gripping the cement wall a lot easier). To exaggerate the depth, I darkened the bottom of the pit, increased the blur a little to emphasize the distance, and added some cooler tones to make it feel cold, long, and dark. It was a simple, yet effective method for accomplishing what I was looking for. I also did some extra sharpening to give the image a more dynamic, ultra-distinct feel; it really emphasizes the details in the image and I'm very happy with the effect.
That's it for this week, now it's on to the next project!
