ABSOLUT BLACKOUT
July 10, 2007 by Jan Shim
Absolut Raspberry © Jan Shim Photography
Blackouts in my town seem to be a frequent occurrence lately, partly due to on-going road works during the day and weird weather at night. Last night in particular, there were strong howling winds blowing past the house and the noise just freaked the kids out a little that they needed to be tucked in.
I began collecting ABSOLUT Vodka bottles everysince I visited a friend’s place and saw how gorgeous they are. I do not normally drink and am certainly not a self-professed social drinker despite the bottles you see here. I get people to donate their empty ABSOLUT bottles in as many different flavours as available for my collection. Last night, however, I had the urge to pour myself a glass (in the spirit of giving came an unopened bottle of Absolut Raspberry) and had it mixed with cold 100 PLUS and ice. The combination of Raspberry and 100 PLUS gave it a nice sweet tang and in the darkness, there was nothing better to do than to sit by the window overlooking the neighbourhood lit only by the illumination of a flare tower in the distance.
Inspired, I lit a couple of IKEA candles and took this picture with my fairly new Canon EOS 5D and 50mm 1.8-II lens at f/1.8 aperture hand-held at 1/50 sec at ISO 1,600.
Here’s an earlier photo of my Absolut Vodka bottle collection photographed using an umbrella lighting. I thought a passed-out WOODY (Toy Story) adds drama to the scene 
Hi Jan,
So you couldn’t resist going the full frame route?! Nice shot btw!
Cheers,
Roland
Hi Roland,
It’s not because I couldn’t resist. It was more to do with needing a body right away and there was nothing else in stock. I do not want another 1-series body and suddenly the 5D made a lot of sense considering it has identical controls and form factor to the 20D that you and I like so much.
I shot my first corporate event with the 5D last Saturday and while I somewhat struggled with it without the BG-E4 Grip, it was a gem to use. The lenses that i once considered too long to use on the 20D all made sense and felt right full frame. EF17-40mm, EF24-70mm and EF70-200mm worked the night well. Focus accuracy of the 5D is also phenomenal compared to the 20D.
I cannot wait to get my 20D back. It’s still needed for long tele work especially EF100-400mm in golf tournaments.
Thanks for stopping by.
My favorite ‘bottle’ of vodka is Skyy. But I love the Absolute ads. Great photo man.
Gray Goose also has a beautiful bottle.
[...] This image is a satirical look at how often people seek refuge from alcohol as an answer to all problems, however temporary or permanent. I don’t normally drink, cannot even call myself a social drinker but when I do, it’s watered down with something like 100 PLUS. [...]