Photo Story Friday
The Rest Of Your Life
The first thing I thought when I saw this wardrobe was how cool it was to have a wardrobe and a mirror in my room. Not that I’m vain or anything, but it is nice to not have to go into the bathroom to put in contacts and stuff like that.
But the next thing I think is more important, and that’s how much wardrobes and mirrors have come to mean in today’s society thanks to C. S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia) and Lewis Carrol (Alice in Wonderland and what mostly Disney has imported into that from Through the Looking Glass), and how I’m about to be thrown into an entirely different world whether I’m ready or not.
From Lewis we have a glimpse into a world that at first seems to be much different than the one we’re used to. But after spending some time there, you might come to realize that things aren’t really that different after all. It’s the same basic rules, just different people playing the game. And as long as you don’t let that throw you, you’ll be fine.
From Carrol we have a world where at first everything is familiar, but after spending some time there you might come to realize that nothing acts the way you’d expect it to. The strategies that got you through life’s tough situations before just aren’t going to work anymore. And as long as you don’t let that throw you, you’ll be fine.
On the other side of things, we have a door which could potentially lead anywhere. And while not exactly a Lewis invention, I instantly thought of the door in The Last Battle (I’m pretty sure, so don’t bet based on that), and of a door I saw on a dock while driving down Folly Road on James Island. Doors are not always where you’d expect them to be, nor do they always lead where you’d expect them to go. But when they show up they bring about an air of importance, whether you go through them or not.
Reflected in one of the mirrors we have a window. You might not be able to tell from this picture, but the window here leads to the same place as the door. To me, it’s showing that there are different paths leading to the same goal. One might be easier than another for a variety of reasons, but you’re getting to the same place. On the other hand, they can also look like they’ll lead to the same place and take you on an entirely different journey.
Finally, lurking on the right side of the reflection, we have a shadow. The agent of change, it could prove to be anything. Sneaking up and yanking away what you thought you had in your grasp and handing you something else. It could be something you want, maybe even something you thought you’d never be able to hold onto. Or it could be something that you’d hoped you would never have. But what defines us isn’t what the shadows in life hand us, it’s how we adapt to these changes.
On Wednesday I go back to Winthrop and unpack for a while until it’s time to go back work at a preschool. The next Tuesday classes start again. In September I start teaching a photography class. Pretty soon the paper will start back up and I’ll be getting sports photographs again. Eventually I’ll have to start putting my honors thesis together, and in January I won’t be able to put it off any longer. In May, 9 months from now, I’ll be graduating.
“Scary” isn’t the right word, but it’s the first word that comes to mind.
Very Lonely Shoe
One day some friends and I were walking around campus, and we found this shoe just sitting on the curb. I didn’t touch it at all, just chose a good angle.
But it does make me wonder how someone could lose a shoe like this one and not go back for it. I can understand when I see old shoes or flip flops on the side of the road. If they’re messed up or cheap anyway, why bother? But this isn’t exactly a $3 shoe.
Camera: Nikon Coolpix L3
Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/410)
Aperture: f/3.2
Focal Length: 6.3 mm
ISO Speed: 50
Exposure Bias: 0/10 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire, auto mode
Leaving Society
Everybody has parts of society that they just don’t like. The bad boss at work, the work that you have to bring home, the other students that for some reason think the class should revolve around their schedules and desires, the kids that come over to play that don’t realize when it’s time to go home, their parents who don’t care…. The list could probably go on forever.
But it seems that most of us just kind of let things happen. We stay at the job because we need the money. We deal with the other students because we have to finish the class sometime and if we’ve already started there’s not really a good reason to stop now. Our kids are friends with those other ones, and who wants to tell their children who they’re allowed to be friends with?
Sometimes, I wish I could be like the guy in this shot and just leave. Not that I thin my life is bad or anything, but every once in a while it’s nice to just leave everything behind.
For those who are wondering, this is really just my roommate crossing a bridge we came to in the North Georgia mountains over spring break. And the only thing he’s really leaving is the rest of us behind.
Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT
Exposure: 0.013 sec (1/80)
Aperture: f/16
Focal Length: 66 mm
ISO Speed: 800
Exposure Bias: 1/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire
Dangerous Games
I really like fireworks, but when you’ve seen a lot of fireworks pictures they kind of start to all look the same. My goal with this one was to do something different. Shooting off bottle rockets provided the perfect opportunity.
This is the only good thing I’ve ever seen come from a bottle rocket. And I really love how the smoke got colored as well. I won’t be taking fireworks pictures this year. I haven’t seen fireworks except through my camera for the past two or three years.
As a bonus, if you can find the woman in the orange shirt, look below her to find a dog. He wasn’t in the frame for very long, but it was long enough to catch an impression.
Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT
Exposure: 5 sec (5)
Aperture: f/4
Focal Length: 28 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: -2 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire
Strong Rebound
So here I am at my first basketball game of last season. I’d done soccer and volleyball games already, but those were different. At soccer there wasn’t anything really separating me from the “regular” fans. At volleyball there just weren’t really many people there (sad for a variety of reasons, but true). Even the basketball fan fest didn’t come close to preparing me for this. Sure, I got to see what settings would work during a game. But there was no real practice seeing the game at this speed.
So you can imagine how I felt when I saw this in front of me. The ingredients for my emotions at this moment? 1 part excitement (because this was right in front of me) and 2 parts fear (because I had no idea if it would turn out at all really and I had already taken a knee to the head not too long before this game and was still smelling hints of leather at odd times).
Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT
Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/500)
Aperture: f/4
Focal Length: 32 mm
ISO Speed: 1600
Exposure Bias: 1/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire
Hank Staring
This is one of the first pictures I took with my 350D. My dog Hank is a great model. Not only does he seem to like having his picture taken, but he actually does stuff worth getting a picture of.
This one is from my old house in Florida. There wasn’t all that much room for him to dig (one of his favorite things ever), but he dug anyway. Mostly after lizards and random noises that could have been lizards. This was one of the later instances. He spent at least 10-15 minutes trying to find what made the nose, but never could find it. I think it might have been me.
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