For the proper and full effect of this image, it is necessary to have the theme music playing in the background. Please go start it in another window, then come back. I'll wait, if you like...
So... I went out to shoot again, after not having even touched the camera for a whole week. I just started a new job, after being off for 3 and half months (during which I bought the new camera, found my way to DPC and just had a blast), so I haven't had any time to play. It was raining around the area, so I got to try out the rain sleeve I recently bought for the camera. I walked downtown to get some lunch, and afterwards, I walked around town and took a meandering path back home, passing a couple small parks. I was on the trail in one, when I figured I'd probably not be able to catch anyone jumping on their own, and I wasn't quite ready to start asking people (tho, I know I should get over that reluctance). I decided that I would jump for myself and capture that. For a moment, I wasn't sure how I was going to pull this off. I decided to use the LCD screen for composition, rather than holding the camera to my face. It seemed safer for both me and the camera. It would be embarrassing to wake up in the park with paramedics looking down at me.
I tried a test shot of my feet. Looked ok. It was composed, in-focus and bright enough. I jumped and pushed the button. Nothing. The auto-focus wouldn't lock. I tried a few times and got nothing. I switched to manual focus. I jumped several more times and got 4 shots, trying to vary it a little, and even adjusted shutter speed between some, so it wouldn't come out so blurry. Afterwards, I looked around and saw someone else walking along the path. He must have thought I was a few sandwiches short of a pic-nic. I moved on, smiling because I was both amused and content that I'd captured something for the challenge, even if not my first choice of subject. My later and more in-focus shots weren't well composed or interesting at all. I considered skipping the challenge, or holding off for a better subject, but I started to like this one of the series of shots and got it ready for the challenge. The sensor in my camera rotated the shot on me, and I ended up liking this orientation for this shot. It seemed quite a bit more interesting this way than in a landscape "looking straight down" view.
I was first thinking of calling this "The Photographer's Shoes", which, for a couple minutes I thought was clever and imaginative. It didn't take long for that bizarre notion to wear off and I realized that this would be a dull title. That's not necessarily such a bad thing, tho, as this is my first self-portrait on DPC. I'm not a terribly outgoing person most of the time. It's kind of fitting.
But, then I looked back at the image, and suddenly, I was caught up in the moment of spontaneity and saw that I was having fun by entering this image in the first place. I remembered my amusement while shooting the image and then discovering that there was another person nearby. The whole thing was ludicrous and the possibilities seemed to expand in front of me in an instant. And with that same feeling of discovery and reaching beyond myself, it was instantly clear that this image needed a better title. The music started bubbling up from my subconscious. I asked myself, "I wonder what that song is called?", as I opened a new browser window and set off to learn something more about things I knew not enough about. "Also sprach Zarathustra" by Richard Strauss. Hmmmmm... I may have heard the name before or seen it in the list of songs on a soundtrack album, but it was otherwise completely unfamiliar to me. I really only knew it as "the theme to 2001: A Space Odyssey". I reasoned that it was quite possible that others might not recognize it, either, so I decided to expand upon the title with the play on the familiar movie title.
I don't expect this will do that great in voting, but maybe the humor in it might draw an extra point from a few folks. It's not an amazing shot, but I wouldn't have entered it if I didn't think it had some potential. I had a good laugh viewing my picture with the music playing. I hope you did, too. :)
I knew this wasn't going to do well, but I got a few really encouraging comments that made it all worthwhile. Thanks to everyone, and especially to tanguera and bspurgeon, as even in my short time here, I recognize you both as respected and talented folks. Your comments mean a great deal to me.
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btw... There's no effect processing done on this image. This is just motion blur with a reasonably decent focus. Besides B&W conversion, I only adjusted contrast, dynamic ranges, and sharpened it.
Statistics
Place: 45 out of 55 Avg (all users): 4.7030 Avg (commenters): 5.8889 Avg (participants): 4.4545 Avg (non-participants): 4.7515 Views since voting: 574 Views during voting: 360 Votes: 202 Comments: 12 Favorites: 0
LOL! Watch out, Ben. Chris is going to steal your thunder, LOL!!! I love your story, Chris. And that is the emotion we should all have when entering an image. An happy and satisfied impulse greater than our worry about the score.
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