Monday, April 28, 2008

Monday photo shoot

   It's been a while since I have participated in the Monday Photo Shoot. In fact, I haven't done one of these since John Scalzi was hosting it at By The Way. Not that I have any problem with the new host, Outpost Mavarin. On the contrary, Karen has been on my blogroll for quite some time. 
   The photo shoot was always an occasional thing for me, and since my camera got broken participating has been, shall we say, a challenge. But when I saw this week's theme, I knew I had the perfect picture to offer. In fact, I have been looking for an excuse to use this picture here for some time.

   Last summer Matt and my wife visited England and Wales. They took hundreds of pictures. Along the way, Matthew made it a point of taking the occasional photograph "just for Dad." What he meant was he was taking an odd, or out of the ordinary picture; and 'artistic' picture, if you will. He was referring to my wife's complaint that when we were in Italy, I took dozens of pictures of holes in the wall of The Colosseum, or sign posts pointing to Mount Etna, or broken doorways in a mountain village in Sicily. But I didn't take very many pictures of my family at The Colosseum, or at Etna, or in Mandanici. Next time we go on vacation, I was informed, we are taking two cameras.
   So Matt took pictures of big rocks, and close-ups of iron scrollwork, and old signs. And my wife rolled her eyes every time he did. Along the way, he got a shot, entirely by accident, that has become one of my favourite pictures ever. It was a product of the failings of an automatic point and shoot camera in a difficult situation, but the result was...how would I say it...serendipitous, perhaps.

   The theme of
this week's Monday Photo Shoot is "Unreal." The more I look at this picture, the more I think I see in it. Of course, there is a perfectly rational explanation for what happened to produce it, but that isn't any fun, is it?

Wales 272

What do you see in it?

(A larger version is available at my Flickr photostream. Click on the picture to get there. It makes a cool wallpaper.)

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't see anything.  But, I am tired, very very tired.  And, in pain.  :(

What do you see???

be well,
Dawn

Anonymous said...

Um, Casper's uncles, the Ghostly Trio? Or out-of-focus Cybermen? Either way, it fits the topic!

Karen

Anonymous said...

Not sure what's in the picture, but considering it's England, I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's a picture of a drunk guy at a fish and chips stand.  

-Dan
http://thewisdomofadistractedmind.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

So, did Matt tell you what it was before you had a chance to guess at it?  Because I'll be honest, this would never be one of my favourite pictures ever based solely on this virgin sighting.  I think context is going to be key for this one.

Simon

Anonymous said...

  Quite frankly, I have no idea what it is, But it reminds me of the cover of Pink Floyd's album, Obscured By Clouds...only better. I suspect raindrops on a window played a significant role. Which would make Dan's suggestion even more British; a guy at a fish and chips stand...in the rain.
-Paul

Anonymous said...

Bubble tea? --Cin

Anonymous said...

It has to those English ghosts that walk the streets of Whitechapel.

Anonymous said...

Hmm! It looks like a very blue sky, sun dappled, but very out of focus. A happy oops, as I like to say.

ryanagi.blogspot.com