Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Mowing the Lawn is NOT a Euphemism Here!


Ever see a picture that you really just HAD to caption? It was filled with glamor and elegance, and ... cooking implements?


Believe it or not, this was part of a set of photographs that I had found while surfing the intertubz, and I just KNEW I had to caption it, and figured Simone wouldn't mind receiving it. The tiny back story you need to know is that at one point, Simone was not living in America as she was taking care of business elsewhere. That is why there is a line about "halfway across the world". I figured it would be nice if she was back in North America. Other than that, this photo is about as WTF as you can get and still be recognizable.

This is what I had to say in the comments on the Haven about this caption:
It was part of a set, and pretty much all of them had her with the lawnmower and a spatula. I think she's wearing an apron, though you can't see it in this picture. Perhaps it was some sort of "having a garden party or cookout" or something, however, in her free section, it was only her all dressed up, pushing a lawnmower with a spatula in her hand.
I made a comment on Caitlyn's awesome caption, "Are You Strong Enough to Be My Man?" about her doing a great job with a "Static Picture" and I figured I would talk about that here. To me, that means a pretty neutral picture that doesn't give you much context as to any of the situation that you see in the photo. While she had 3 naked women in her picture, there wasn't anything overtly sexual about it. I could've written a story about a coven of witches, Annebelle could've written something about a mother and two daughters modelling for some charity calendar, and neither would have infringed at all on what Caitlyn had done.

This picture I used in the caption though. DEFINITELY not static. We probably don't really know WHAT is happening, but it is obvious that something IS happening. If you make a caption with this, you probably would have to refer to some element of the photo. Viewing the source leads you to some sort of storyline.

Though not at goofy as my usual choices, I love photos like this one, that just write a story for me in my head, even if its not what would usually be represented by the picture itself. There is usually something there that can anchor the plot to what I wish to write about. Perhaps some sort of jewelry, a piece of art on the wall, something in the background .. or even just a smirk on the model's face.

Perhaps Caitlyn will tell us here that she didn't consider her source photo to be static, that there was something that drew her in and made her write. Here is what Caitlyn said in the post:
When I came across this image set, I almost skipped by as I had seen it last week.  But then I remembered that it had inspired a quick story... one where a woman is teasing her lover, and showing off her two previous lovers who hadn't pleased her.  And when I looked at the images again, I got the same vibe, but with a different focus.  Instead of making fun and taunting a man, she was pleading with him.  Warning him that if he wasn't strong enough that he'd end up like her two girls.
 I mostly get "we are good friends with kick-ass vaginas!" I might be hard pressed to generate something with any of those pictures, but they definitely spoke to her .. to apparently make more than one caption! Hopefully you can understand that inspiration can come from many different sources depending on who is viewing them and how they see the world.




2 comments:

  1. Hey... there's nothing wrong with mowing the lawn with your spatula in hand and your apron around your waist. I mean that's how we all mow are lawns right? Right? Hello... is this thing on?

    Seriously though, fun cap Dee. I think that's just about the only way that a cap could have been made from such an offbeat picture!

    Thanks for mentioning my cap. While I wouldn't have used the term 'Static' to describe the picture I agree with how you described it. There isn't anything beyond the subject(s) in the photo to pull a story from. I normally don't bother trying to make a cap from a 'static' image as I too like to pull items from the background to inspire a story. Even when I get a basic idea to work from, it general fizzles out before becoming a full cap.

    I think what inspired me with that particular image set is that there were three distinct personalities. The center girl had a look of ownership... she was presenting HER girls to somebody else. Sure, sometimes she had a haughty look while other images had her looking more emotional, but she was obviously always in command. The other girls in different photos looked pleased, upset, guarded or calm. All of which could be complimenting to their owners look.

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  2. Indeed a funny caption Dee.
    Uh, Caitlyn, you just gave me a very weird image of how you mow the lawn. I always thought mowing the lawn is something to be done by the neighbourhoud kids;)
    Dee, you did a great "Mad Men" job for Caitlyn, as I'm of to visit her blog now.

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