Just For Fun

1/170 second, F 4.0, ISO 800

Ribbon Cutting: San Mateo had scheduled a ribbon cutting for the grand opening of its newest playground in Central Park. I've done many ribbon cuttings, and might not had attended had the Editor In Chief of the paper asked if I could make it. My response? Roger That.

I arrived early, only to find that the playground had been open for some time, and the children were thoroughly enjoying themselves. Rather than wait for the "official" opening, I followed my editor's advice and attempted to create a photo where the playground was actually being enjoyed by its target demographic. This I found in abundance, as you can plainly see. 

This novel climbing structure caught my eye. I liked the color and the layout, so I found a vantage point where all five of the green hideaways could be seen in one shot. I felt that I didn't need to include all of the nearest pod because the viewer could infer its shape from the other four. With the composition set, I just waited until the right child entered the frame. And here, young Jayce started climbing the rope ladder. Two things set him apart. First, he was one of the very few children to face my shooting position. Second, he looked directly at me and smiled.

I didn't realized that this would be the money shot, so I spent the next ten minutes following Jayce as he helped me find his mother to get permission, and to secure an email address so I could send them the photo when it was published. This has worked very well for me, as I can emphasize that my editor ultimately decides what runs and what doesn't, and that Jayce will get a copy no matter what.