5 Sep
2012
Posted in: Composition, Creativity, desert
By    6 Comments

Silhouette This


Anxiety. If you are you human you know it. It comes in many forms. There’s the deadly serious anxiety of life and death.  I’ll call that a 10 on the anxiety meter. Then there’s the “not enough money to pay the bills” anxiety.  A clear 6 1/2 to 8 on the meter depending on your level of medication and/or level of comfort with identity theft as a concept. Then there’s the “do I have enough change for my latte?” anxiety. On the surface this appears to be a 1 to 2 on the meter, but depending on the level of addiction, for some this can clearly go a lot higher.

Then there’s the “the sky is on fire, right here, right now, but its in the wrong direction and I can’t find anything to shoot!” anxiety. Once again this can appear a little deceiving on the meter. To most this looks like a minor inconvenience, somwhere in the 2 to 3 range.  But one must factor in a couple of things to make this fair to a given individual:

  • The length of time between decent images for this poor guy (lets face it, this is a very tough situation).
  • How much time, effort and money it took to get him in this position (this includes time spent on GoogleEarth etc.).
  • How good his competitiors did at the same location.
  • The overall beauty of the place - this is like the “degree of difficulty” in diving competitions; it’s a multiplier. The anxiety meter numbers rise exponentially with increased expectations.
  • The shooter’s medication level - self inflicted or otherwise.

And so it’s relatively easy to see how a measly 2 to 3 on the anxiety meter can turn into a full blown panic attack, complete with the frantic “tripod over the head” scrambling. Been there, done that. This is what happened in today’s image. I couldn’t find an actual image amid the wonderland of boulders as I ran in frenetic shin bruising circles searching for anything at all.

So in desperation, I turned to all that was left; the cliche of cliches, the silhouette. As the sky turned its best colors, there I was, admiring the intracacies of the boojum contrasted angainst the sunset all the while huffing rapidly into my handy paper bag I carry for just these situations.

boojumality

Bronica GS-1; 65mm lens, 1/2 second @ f11

About George Stocking (52 Posts)

George Stocking is a professional freelance photographer, residing in Phoenix, AZ. He works regularly as a contract photographer for Arizona Highways, and his work often graces the pages of Arizona Highways Magazine, Calendars and Books. In addition to capturing the natural beauty of the Arizona Landscape, George also photographs the western United States and Canada. His work has appeared in numerous national publications, such as: Backpacker, Outdoor Photographer, USGA Golf Journal, Country Magazine, Audubon Calendars, Adventure West, America West Airlines Magazine, Portal Publications (posters), Impact, Towery Publications (books) and Smith Southwestern. Other publications include: Oregon Outside, Arizona Foothills, Arizona Adventure, and Plateau Magazine


6 Comments

  • yardstick September 5, 2012 at 2:11 pm

    George, here’s how I try to meter events in my life. If my current reality does not include the words “inoperable” or “indictment”, it’s just small stuff.

    BTW, tremendous image.

    • George Stocking September 5, 2012 at 2:33 pm

      Yardstick, many thanks; good to hear from you.

  • James hamilton September 5, 2012 at 11:57 pm

    George,

    Dr. Bob Eliot, a cardiologist and perhaps the world’s expert on the effect of stress on the heart, also grades stress on a scale of 1 to 10. A lot of people rank everything a 10. As an amateur, photography helps me relax. Maybe you pros have to look at it differently. Dr. Eliot once said in a lecture that I attended way back in 1980 “Don’t sweat the small stuff… and it’s all small stuff.” Thirty-two years later I’m still having trouble following that advice!

    • George Stocking September 6, 2012 at 3:41 pm

      James, thank you for your comments. Heres how I look at it. Many people play tennis to relax. But nobody would expect a pro playing for his living to play with the same intensity level as the ametuer. To parallel that with what I do – to me, my “match” is the length of time the light is magical. Like the tennis player I have no say in the calls – the ball is out; the cloud blocks my sun. Like everything else I’ve ever done, I have to give it my all until the match is called because of light. So I actually resemble the scene depicted above. I do give it some poetic license for entertainment purposes.

      I’m with you there, I believe that most of us manufacture our own crises; this particular “crisis” is of my own choosing and I’m really happy to still be in the game..

  • Randy September 6, 2012 at 12:48 pm

    Been there plenty of times and often walk away with far less than this silhouette. If this is what you come up with when hyperventilating into a bag, keep at it. This is Dr. Suess(ish) and it tripped my imagination.
    I also agree with Yardstick; may become my new mantra.

    • George Stocking September 6, 2012 at 3:44 pm

      Randy, I hear ya bro. thanks for taking a few seconds to drop in.


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