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Saturday, May 10, 2014

Dismembered

Timing a routine photo just right can often create a completely different meaning.


Three swimmers on a lake in Tyngsboro, Ma. appear to be one person separated into pieces on a hot summer afternoon (© Michael Maher, The Lowell (Ma.) Sun).


The Photo:
As three kids happily frolicked in and out of the water to stay cool, they reminded me of the movie “Jaws”, as different pieces of their anatomy protruded at different times, looking like someone had been cut into pieces. I stood on the shore with a long lens, trying to time my shots so I could capture a moment when they looked like one person dismembered. They stopped playing and returned to shore, but I wasn’t sure I had captured the moment I wanted, so I asked them to continue playing. Finally, I directed them a bit to get my photo before they were too tired to swim any longer.

3 Tips:
1) Simple play can often be photographed to convey an entirely different meaning.
2) Watch kids playing for an extended time and from different angles to see if there is an unusual perspective or idea.
3) Swimming photos provide many options for creative pictures as the water hides part or all of the swimmers’ bodies.

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