This is a revision of the original. I tried to bring out the shadows well enough to make everything more visible and compelling. I think it is more iconic and compelling, especially at small sizes.
Category: Photography
Posts with photos, about photos, and about photography itself
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You’ve Been Served
For some, this is an eviction notice.
One thing I’m beginning to realize I need to work on is taking photos with iconicity, photos that are clearly pictures of something. I think if people can’t tell what a photo is of from a one-inch-square thumbnail (as shown on Flickr in a person’s photostream ribbon or in the “Photos from your Contacts” and/or “Everyone’s Photos” strips on the Flickr home page), then they won’t click and view the image.
And yet there are photos worth looking at that don’t look like anything in a 72×72 pixel thumbnail. Or are there? Perhaps the test of a good photo is its iconicity, or its ability to convey a compelling message even in a one-inch-square icon. If that is true, then my challenge is to tell stories like this one is a more photogenic way. Perhaps if I had squatted down and taken the photo from an angle looking across the Official Notice from the bottom-right corner to the Tickle Me Elmo doll in the upper-left corner? Maybe that would have been a more visually compelling and easy-to-read ironic juxtaposition. To borrow a stage term, this image just doesn’t “read” from the “back of the house.” Just as one wants a “stage picture” to be dramatic even when seen from the last row of the audience, a photo should be compelling even when viewed in a one-inch-square thumbnail.
Am I wrong? What do you think?
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Introducing Lady
We have a new family member: Lady. We’ve already known her for more than a year now. She’s our neighbor lady’s dog, and our neighbor decided she just can’t keep up with her anymore. Buxley already fell in love with her when they first met. Adopting her feels like the most natural thing to do since J.J. died and our neighbor wants to put Lady in a new home!
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Remembering J.J.
Andy lit candles and laid J.J.’s collar and leash on the table. I wrapped the collar and leash around the candle and took this photo to complete the artistic expression of our loss.
J.J. suffered several seizures in early December but rallied after taking medications for a couple of weeks. After a few weeks of seemingly good health, he suddenly took a turn for the worse. His hind legs gave out and he became incontinent. He started trembling and chattering his teeth. After a week of this, we made the decision to put him down.
I’ve never loved a dog so much, or felt so loved by a dog. He took to me right away when I started dating his daddy (my partner, Andy), and we had many great times together for almost five years. He had a good life, was loved, and will be missed. Thank you, J.J.!
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LOVE Sculpture by Robert Indiana – Scottsdale Public Art
I never realized their were multiple copies of this sculpture until I saw in at the Scottsdale Center for the Arts. I think the first time I saw the iconography was on a postage stamp. Taking this photo was funny. It seemed that everyone wanted their photo taken with it, and there were several photographers around. I waited patiently as one photographer took a series of shots of a couple in various poses around the sculpture. Just as they were leaving, I got ready to take my shot. Simultaneously, these exuberant little girls came running onto the scene. I snapped this photo figuring I might never get the sculpture alone. When they saw me, they stopped and stared at me like does in headlights, and I said, “I just wanted to get a photo of the sculpture by itself. It’ll just take me a second.” They left and I got my plain photo of the sculpture before they came back to play (or pose for their mother with the camera), but I like this one better.
Daniel Greene 