COMMENT THREAD FOR OCTOBER CONTEST

[Tindalos]

Please use this thread to post your comment on the photo submitted for the October Photo Contest.

Submit your photos here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/103622278


Thank you.

~Tindalos

[Solly Mack]

1. I'm in.

Thanks, Tindalos!

Looking forward to everyone's take on the theme.

[Blue_In_AK]

2. Okay, I give up.

GREAT shot.

[Solly Mack]

5. Thanks! I had a hard time with the theme.

Several ideas but couldn't really see my way. I even learned how to make miniature origami books. I researched zombie make-up and decided to give it a try. I'm just glad I got a shot.

[mnhtnbb]

4. Ready for Halloween!

Very clever.

[Solly Mack]

6. and the show starts back up soon...I'm a fan.

[Tindalos]

13. Impressive.

Thank you, Solly Mack. An excellent start to the contest.

[Solly Mack]

15. Thanks.

I had all but decided not to enter this month when it got to be Oct. 2nd and I still didn't have a shot. I couldn't bring my other ideas to fruition. The shots weren't turning out like I planned. I was probably over-thinking everything. I tend to do that. So Thursday evening I committed to trying a zombie make-up and going for humor and a portrait of sorts.

The theme pushed me in new directions and that's a good thing for me. Thank you!

[alfredo]

17. Your efforts paid off.

I had to go to my archives.

[Solly Mack]

18. Thanks. I like yours. I wonder what the kids are staring up at and what the girl with the heart is

thinking. Looks like magic is happening, to me anyway.

The girl with the heart is causing the heart to float and in the doing is causing something we can't see to float as well....and that's what everyone is looking up at.

That's my story.

[alfredo]

20. The real magic is what Cambo the clown is doing. I remember when Cambo was just a young

man practicing his juggling in the park. http://www.cambotheclown.com/ He's very photographer friendly.

[Solly Mack]

21. Thanks for the link!

Spreading happy is a great thing to do.

[alfredo]

22. Most clowns I see have some creepiness about them, but Cambo exudes nothing but good.

[mnhtnbb]

3. I'm in. Storytelling from a people who left no written word.

[Solly Mack]

7. Thank you for your photo. Not only is it a nice shot

but I got the chance to learn something new.

I did a search and read about them.

[mnhtnbb]

10. Oh, good! I'm hoping people will do that. Fascinating stuff.

[Tindalos]

14. Well done.

That must have been an amazing trip. You've convinced me to read up on some history later.

[Mira]

8. I'm awed by both the first two shots.

I have an aversion to photos that depict gruesomeness. Its idiotsyncratic, I know.
But I don't know how to comment on them usually, even when well done.
But Solly - you outdid even yourself with the entry. I think beating that will be very tough. It's a masterpiece to me.

The Peruvian photo stopped me in my tracks enough to google and learn. When I was 28 years old I was in Cusco and therefore close to this marvel and did not even learn about it. The depiction with the native Indian as a foreground, and the small tiny people showing the real size of the terracing is stellar.
Congrats on that wonderful photograph, it tells a story without words.

Now I'll hope for a chance to go see it in my old age , like now!

[mnhtnbb]

9. We (hubby and I) continue to marvel at the things we saw and learned

when we went to Peru. Freddy, our guide, shown in the photo,
was a wealth of information. The Peruvians have a system
of training--education and experience--to be certified as a guide
for a particular area. Freddy was with us for most of the trip--
but another guide specialized in the Cusco area joined us
when we were in the actual town of Cusco.

[Solly Mack]

11. I honestly thought people might laugh more so than anything.

Guess I was wrong. (Not a new thing for me)

Thanks, Mira.

[Tindalos]

12. And we're off to a great start!

I'm jumping for joy here. Keep up the good work, photogs. Can't wait to see what else you have in store for us.

[Solly Mack]

16. I love sidewalk book sales.

I like the shot. I can see myself in it.

[Solly Mack]

19. MichaelSoE: Nice shot!

Blue_In_AK: I see someone planning a hook-up (guy on phone).

JCMach1: I like it! A second-hand store that also tells the future.

Mira: Those are The Beatles ('space alien' version) and you caught them on the day of their invasion of America.

What I see anyway.

[Tindalos]

23. Looking good.

Keep up the good work.

[JohnnyRingo]

24. I have to admit I've been stumped on this one.

I had some excellent shots that told a story, but it wasn't immediately clear what that story was. I felt I was faced with the same pressure that Larsen and Adams suffered when they had to cram an entire thought into a single cartoon panel. It was even harder than I imagined.

Finally... I found a series of images I took a few months ago at an iron scrap yard near Youngstown. The sun was on the wrong side, but I'm not about to set my alarm and drive the ten miles back there to seek perfection. All I need now is the right title.

I feel this is a great theme and I can't wait to see how others interpret it. I think it'll be a wonderful contest.

[mnhtnbb]

25. I really like your shot!

I finished reading The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America by George Packer not long ago.
One of the people he focuses on in the book, a factory worker trying to survive the collapse of her city, is from Youngstown.
Now I have a real image to go with her story.

[JohnnyRingo]

30. I always loved that sculpture....

Titled "The Steelworker", the artist's name isn't present, or I'd give him/her credit. It's located about 7 miles NW of Youngstown proper.

I'm sure the artist made it as a positive tribute to the American steelworker, but time and the fact that Niles Iron and Metal was likely instrumental in dismantling the Youngstown mills, has tendered the piece a more somber meaning It now appears the worker is literally cutting his own job into scrap to be sold by the ton.

I was going to name my image including the phrase "Scrapping the American Dream" to reflect that interpretation, but I wanted to relate to the theme.

Here's a great govt film about Youngstown during it's glory days in 1944, when steel was king. This will really put a face to the person you read about, and it offers a lot of local references. It was 10 years before my time, but I could have been any of those kids in the clip. My dad worked at Copperweld Steel near the end of the era:

And this is an illustrated recounting of the end for Youngstown, barely 40 years later. It includes before & after pix of the locally infamous Youngstown Sheet & Tube plant, that came under the cutting torch in 1979:

http://www.allthingsyoungstown.net/articles/in_youngstown_we_made_steel/article.htm

All is not doom and gloom in Youngstown however, there is still some hope for the city. Though I'm sure steel will never be the employer it was here 50 years ago, a shuttered steel mill has reopened. V&M Star was reactivated thanks to our congressman Tim Ryan carving out a $560m earmark from the Stimulus Act of 2009. Hundreds of Steel Valley workers are back on the job earning union wages and benefits for the foreseeable future. -They make pipes for fracking *sigh*.

As an aside, our aforementioned representative, Democrat Tim Ryan, met his usual Tea Party challenger last year. Ms Agano is an OBGYN from Ryan's home town of Niles, and she ran her campaign on three promises: On day one of her term she would repeal Obamacare. Secondly, she would refuse any Washington earmarks for our district. Her final promise was that on her second week in office, she would return full time to her medical practice. I'm sure she's there now, as Ryan found a good use for her on election day: He mopped the floor with her.

I imagine Ms Agano is presently eying her waiting room with great anxiety, fearful that poor people might show up anytime with Obamacare cards in hand. I feel for her.

[samplegirl]

50. Excellent Picture

Depicts Ohio's perfectly! Great work!

[Solly Mack]

26. More great photos!

DintwL- Creative and a great shot!

GL - Very nice! I can hear the story being told.

JR - Cool!

L PMaD - I like that!

[groundloop]

28. Thanks Solly.... I was really stumped, was forced to THINK for a change

That's really really really not the type of photography I do. I was considering entering the following, it could be said it tells the story of a kid whose team has just won the county cross country meet. I decided that kinda' wasn't in the spirit of the theme and just wandered around the house looking for ideas and saw the old dolls and stuff my wife had. I'd been working on lighting technique lately (I highly recommend Strobist - Lighting 101) so I set up the umbrella, cobbled together a background using some old posters, and had at it. It's not perfect, I see some stuff in it I'd fix if I did it again, but I had fun.




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[Mira]

29. This is a masterpiece.

I don't know enough to say why -LOL- but to my eyes this photo is not missing a beat from being perfect.
I'm awed.

[Solly Mack]

37. Thanks for the tip. I like your photo for many reasons.

It's a really good photo. It's creative and it made use of different photography skills. The theme challenged you and you met the challenge. Seems fairly perfect to me.

[handmade34]

46. groundloop your

entry is great and this one tells a story also... stories are nice because they engage our imagination or jog our memories...

I know for a fact that there are a few stories behind the runner's photo, always are ... my kids were all runners and the 2 boys were the VT State champs in their respective senior years... the oldest has a photo similar to yours but his legs are all bloodied... he loves to tell the story of how early in the race he fell over another runner who slipped in the mud and then a number of runners ran over him before he could get himself back up and back in the race... he delighted in his injuries (looked worse than what they were) because he went on to win the race...

[MattSh]

27. After being told not to over-think it...

Oh, why not. Being yourself is allowed. Maybe the BS would be a better title?

[Mz Pip]

32. I picked something

I got stuck trying to find a photo that showed storytelling versus a photo that told a story.

This was my second choice. Storytime with Grandpa.

[Mira]

33. It is so very beautiful.

I like your entry, am intrigued by it, and understand the difference - but this one is my choice hands down.
OMG
what a picture.
That origami-paper action is riveting after the beauty of the scene is absorbed.

[Mz Pip]

34. Thank you

I like it too. She loves her books.

[handmade34]

40. Mz Pip

[Mira]

35. For what that info is worth, I swapped out my photo

I wasn't all that happy with the one for "Tell me a Story", and as time goes on new ideas come.

Here is one from this past weekend, I was at a play, and got this shot:

".....we just did"

[JCMach1]

36. Me too

[Mz Pip]

38. Me too.

I don't usually change my mind, but I do like this one better.

[Mira]

39. Applause!

I'm glad I was so vocal about how much I liked the one you swapped in.

[Mira]

41. Handmade 34 - is there a smilie

for grinning from ear to ear?

[Solly Mack]

42. I know! How adorable is that!?!

I love it!

[handmade34]

44. thanks!

been busy but wanted to get something in... frustrating... this is the one I was working on but was having trouble getting the light right --and keeping the campfire going-- so I settled for the simple... (had to move on to making costumes, starting with Robin Hood for my youngest )


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[handmade34]

45. :7

I laughed a lot while working on it... I really enjoy the contests, mostly for the incentive to do something different and have a little fun

[hermetic]

47. Those are so fun

I actually laughed out loud when I saw your entry. And I'm only halfway through my first cup of coffee, so that's quite an accomplishment.

[Solly Mack]

43. teamster633: Nice shot.

[Solly Mack]

48. There is still time. Get your photo in!

I love this group and wish we had the participation we once did. When a theme challenges you, that's a good thing! It helps you grow as a photographer as it forces you to see things differently, to learn something new....to take a second look at familiar objects, to be more creative.

OK. That's my 2 cents.

[Tindalos]

49. 1 Hour left

Submissions will be closed in 1 hour.