This was made for Dalene back in November 2008, and really started me on a path I try to continue today .. that of using pictures that tell the story without using words. The bicyclist isn't really the focal point of the photo, but I wanted him to be a part of the finality of the caption. Once I figured that out, it was up to me to find out what the story was behind the picture and augment it with text.
I could see that it was an early morning street crossing, since there was no one else around and the streets were deserted. I figured that Dalene was returning home from a night out, and was almost on a walk of shame we've all been through when we return home from a night of partying wearing the same outfit we were in the last night. By the time I was done, it reminded me of "Sunday Morning Coming Down" by Johnny Cash, so I titled it that: even posting some of the lyrics which I'll reprint here...
'Cause there's something in a Sunday, That makes a body feel alone.
And there's nothing short a' dying, That's half as lonesome as the sound
Of the sleeping city sidewalk, And Sunday morning coming down.
Discussion question: What makes you choose the pictures you choose when making a caption? Is it dependent on the person or idea you have, or do you have a definitive method of choosing?
I think it can be both. Sometimes I immediately see a person in a picture and sometimes the pic screams out a certain situation for a transformation.
ReplyDeleteWhat I definitely can't do is finding the pic after I've written the story. I would have the feeling that something doesn't fit. Moreover I like to use as many details as possible in a pic, so I need a good picture first and then write the story.
That tends to be my route as well, finding a picture that is interesting then crafting the story around it.
ReplyDeleteI tend to change about a bit. In some of my stuff I tend to see a picture and the story practically writes itself! Other times I find myself scouring the internet for an appropriate picture with a storyline already in mind.
ReplyDeleteIn the latter case though, that often creates a situation where the picture isn't quite right and I have to start tweaking the story slightly here and there....
Retrospectively, that's probably the cause of a lot of captions that leave me dissatisfied even when I can’t see what's particularly 'wrong' with them.
I have a vast collection of pics on my HD and a folder with pics I belive would be good material for captioning as I saw bits of a story when I looked at them. However when I'm doing trade caps I often have to go looking through the other folders where the pictures are sorted in categories.
ReplyDeleteFor my part I had to work with the picture to craft the story since I tend to use some details of the picture in my caps.
I have never wrote a story and went looking for a fitting picture afterwords and I don't think that would work for me.
I really enjoyed this caption as well Dee, I'm so happy you made it for me and I'm gushing that its something you deemed this important and you made it for me!
ReplyDeleteI started out my looking for series that had some sort of plot line either already suggested or easy to add to then wrote the story by finding an excuse for someone to get turned into a girl and go into graphic detail of her sex acts. I added humor and descriptions on how everything felt, and eventually added more emotions. Then I got into a rut where a lot of my stories were the same.
ReplyDeleteSo I started coming up with more before and after plot and developed my dialogue more. Now I almost always go looking for pictures that match the stories I like to tell and then have them on hand when I get an idea.
I still sometimes see a series and think "MUST CAP THAT!" and make up a story to fit it no matter what. I will hit that story with a hammer to fit it in sometimes. heh.
The picture dictates the caption. Usually. The normal method used to be seeing a story or oncept in a picture and finding out how the story went while writing it.
ReplyDeleteRecently that's changed. A couple recent images were searched for for how they would fit the story. In these cases the story was based on the captionee's preferences, not a specific image. When writing captions for others I prefer it that way. It feels less like cheating. It takes a lot longer for me to finish one that way, though. A LOT longer. Using the old way I could finish a caption in under a week. I've been working on the most recent ones (including yours) for over a year. I am trying new things with them to try to make them worth the wait, though.
I would have to say that it is a combination of an idea fitting the image, and the image telling me a story. For example my normal method at the Haven is to look at someone’s preferences and get the basic idea of a story (Goth guy gets transformed by his teacher into a mallrat). I then look for images that will fit this basic story (could be of a mallrat pouting, a clean cut girl looking into a Hot Topic store, a teacher scowling at a school girl… anything that fits that basic premise). Then using that image I flesh out the story allowing it to give me the details.
ReplyDeleteMost of the time that works out fairly well. But occasionally while searching for the image I come across an image that doesn’t meet my original story idea, but just screams out with its own cap/story. I re-look at the persons preferences and see if the new story will work for them. The only time I tried to find a specific image was when writing a cap that originated in a dream. I didn’t just want the image to match; I NEEDED the image to match. I searched high and wide and finally settled on an image that was close. I don’t ever want to go through that agony again.
Caitlyn
I wish I had an ex who would put a spell on me, if she made me look so Sexy
ReplyDelete