Lobby Group

Reflections Can Create A Familiar Composite Image

Photograph copyright: DAVID McMAHON

This shot was taken in the lobby of the Perth Sheraton, earlier this week while we were on the west coast for a family wedding. I was in a hurry as I walked to the car park in the company of Mrs Authorblog, but as we crossed from the reception desk to the doors, this sight caught my eye.

I was concentrating on several other factors, so I couldn't immediately identify what it was that attracted my attention. But I knew that I had to take the shot. I had walked through the lobby of the hotel several times in the previous 48 hours, but the sunlight had never produced this effect before.

Mrs Authorblog, being a good sport, waited for me, although I must admit that I have a faint memory of her rolling her eyes and tapping one foot on the marble floor. Let's put it this way. Some husbands have a wandering eye for, well, eye candy. I have a wandering eye for art, wherever and however unexpectedly it may appear.

As always, I had my camera bag slung across my shoulders, so it only took me a few seconds to take the shot. It was only after we'd flown home to Melbourne and I looked at the solitary image on my computer screen that I realised what had attracted my attention in the first place.

The image, in totality, looks as if it has been shot in some mystical cathedral. Look carefully and you'll see what I mean. The dark shape of the simple wooden crosspiece now appears as a bold crucifix, dominating the middle of the frame.

And, quite in keeping with the spirit of the theme, the striking colours of the painting on the left, when viewed through the doorway, now look for all the world like an ethereal stained-glass window.

Visit MamaGeek and Cecily, creators of Photo Story Friday.