I must give credit to Jeff, though, since he's the one who insisted we enter a photo contest sponsored by a studio where we got some artsy black-and-white portraits done when Elijah was a baby. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Jeff NEVER turns down an opportunity to enter a contest. I usually just roll my eyes and go on about my day, which is what I did this time while he searched diligently through the hundreds of photos we've taken this year (no pre-2008 photos allowed!) to find an entry. I think the theme was travel or vacations or something along those lines, and as luck would have it, we actually took a vacation this year! Fat chance that'll be happening again anytime soon, thanks to a constellation of economic ill luck that has befallen us along with much of the rest of America (thanks, subprime mortgage lenders!)
Anyway, he decided on the following photo, which honestly has a few "issues" but apparently caught the judges' eyes anyway:
It was taken on the Celebrity Millennium cruise ship last winter, when we escaped subzero Midwestern temperatures for a week in the sunny Caribbean. It's supposedly the original "Love" sculpture that has been copied in many forms over the years. (You've no doubt seen it on paperweights, posters, coffee mugs, etc.)
Our prize is an "instructional lunch" with the photographers at the studio, which hopefully will result in my being able to take more photos that I'm proud enough of to post here. Since I work with professional photographers on a daily basis, my standards tend to be a bit on the high side (quite honestly, I could tear apart this photo -- the crop on the right is awful, it's not a true silhouette, it should have been taken in black and white, and on and on....).
But who cares? It turns out there IS such a thing as a free lunch! And ever since those subprime mortgage snakes ruined our economy, we'll take any free lunch we can get!
Especially if I can get some usable tips on taking professional-quality photographs on a decidedly unprofessional-quality camera. All I want is a little depth of field. "Flat" photos, with background matter in focus, drive me crazy. (As of the date of this posting, the photo you see at the top of this page is a perfect example of this. Honestly -- is it even possible to look at it and not be distracted by all that lettering in the background? It's just awful! Please note that I was NOT the photographer.)
So, once again, Jeff's mania for entering contests has borne fruit. Thank God it's not another set of Springsteen tickets!
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