I mixed and matched from a couple different boxes to get the different heights, colors, and designs.
After lighting them, I learned that candle height doesn't always predict how high the flame tops will be; sometimes, short candles produce tall flames and vice versa.
I think the result is pretty, and it evokes the feeling of family and tradition I have when my daughters, wife, and I light them.
Chanukah (also spelled Hannukah and other English variations, but only one way in Hebrew) is the Jewish Festival of Lights. It commemorates events of 2200 years ago in Israel. Greek conquerors defiled the temple in Jerusalem, forced Jews to do things abhorrent to them, and banned certain Jewish practices. The Jews rallied behind Judah, the leader of the Maccabees. Although massively outnumbered and outarmed, they used guerilla tactics and forced the Greeks out.
During their occupation, the Greeks spoiled the oil burned in the N'er Tamid, or eternal light, which represents God's presence in all temples. Once lit, the eternal light is never extinguished. There was only one day's worth of oil left. According to legend, the oil miraculously burned for 8 days, giving the Jews enough time to create more oil. That's why Chanukah is 8 days long.
We remember the oil today by making latkes (laht-kuhs), or potato pancakes. Some people also make jelly doughnuts fried in oil.
Like all Jewish days (holidays and otherwise), each day of Chanukah runs from sunset to sunset. On each night of Chanukah, we light candles in a special candelabra called a menorah. It has 8 places plus one for the helper, or shamash, which we use to light the other candles. The shamash holder is higher than the others or off to the side (it's in the middle in this image, but it happens to have burned down so it doesn't look taller).
On the first night, we light the shamash and use it to light the first night's candle. On the second night, we light the shamash and use it to light the 2 candles for that night. And so on until the 8th night. So each night, we burn that night's number of candles plus the shamash.
We let the candles burn until they go out, which is why these special candles are small compared to normal dinner table candles; they burn for a couple of hours at most. Thus, for each menorah, each year we burn 44 candles: 2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9. It's traditional to put your menorah in the window to share the light with the world. We have four menorahs in our family; they create quite a bit of light and heat by the end!
Both Chanukah and Christmas involve gifts and children, at least in the US. However, it's incorrect to think of them as having similar meanings to their respective faiths. Christmas is a centerpiece holiday for Christians, focused on the birth of their savior. Chanukah celebrates freedom of religion and the miracle of the oil, but it's not a major religious holiday.
For those of you still reading, thanks for the opportunity to share my holiday with you. :)
Editing was the usual: sharpening, cropping, adjusting contrast and brightness. I also played with hue and saturation to tone down the glow and bring out the blue in the flame bases. One last bit of sharpening after resizing.
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Place: 103 out of 250 Avg (all users): 5.6055 Avg (commenters): 7.6000 Avg (participants): 5.3125 Avg (non-participants): 5.7754 Views since voting: 1326 Views during voting: 272 Votes: 218 Comments: 11 Favorites: 0
It is amazing you were able to get a such sharp focus and lots of details of the candles. (I think it is a very difficult shot to do).
Other than that, there is not much grabbing the viewer attention. I, particularly, would like so see vibrant colours, but they are rather faded. Also, the image is a lot dark, in spite of the 9 lit candles - so it doesn't evoke much of a happy Festival of Lights, but a somber sad holiday. But maybe the biggest issue is that the image is "bi-dimensional": there is no depth on it: for example, it is hard to figure out which candle is the Shamesh (it seems to be the middle one, if one would know what to look for, which is not the case of most voters here at all) - I think I got this same problem with my entry, but mine the focus was not as good as yours...
I guess it's just not much of a pattern... Or an interesting shot even. You say it's Chanukah candles... Why didn't you include the holder? That probably would have helped...
TC
I agree...it's in focus, has a variety of colors and seems well-exposed. The issue, I would guess (I didn't vote in this challenge) is that PATTERN didn't smack me in the face like most of the shots in the top 20 did (I didn't look past that). I can see how it could be considered pattern and I don't think that it doesn't meet the challenge...it's just missing that WHOA THERE'S A PATTERN! bit. Cool shot, though.
Personally, I'm suprised this didn't score higher. It's not a perfect pattern, but the flames are not over-exposed, the color tone is just right, it's a good composition, and the lighting on the candles is very appealing. I love your educating description, since a lot of people aren't sure what Chanukah is about, so it's nice that you can explain it.
Jeff,
This is a beautiful, evocative photo. I really love the colors in the candles, and think you did a very good job with composition (can be pretty difficult with this type of photo, I think). I have no idea how to do it myself, but IMO this would be even stronger with more color showing in the flames - they look a bit blown.
That aside, I think you've got a winner here in a different challenge. I also think this would sell well among both Jewish and non-Jewish audience.
BTW - I enjoyed reading about Chanukah, above. Thanks for sharing your traditions!
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