# SDMB Monthly Photo Competition - rolling discussion thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** photo\ **Created:** [November 27, 2022, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-monthly-photo-competition-rolling-discussion-thread/975642 "2022-11-27T20:27:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 70
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2025, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-monthly-photo-competition-rolling-discussion-thread/975642/1384 "2025-02-03T01:42:17Z")
@Bullitt, he’s not in motion, he’s just hanging out, not moving…in mid-air. Jeez. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2025, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-monthly-photo-competition-rolling-discussion-thread/975642/1385 "2025-02-03T04:27:40Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > @Bullitt, he’s not in motion, he’s just hanging out, not moving…in mid-air. Jeez. I know, right? I told him to move but he just wouldn’t. Damn kids these days! > [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > @Bullitt, that’s awesome! You must be so proud. 🥲 You bet I am. He fell in love with dance and he followed his heart and has made a career out of it. The story behind this picture is that you’re usually not allowed to take photos of dance performances. Proprietary choreography and all that. But at this performance there was no such announcement. Using my DSLR there was no shutter lag. This jump was near the end of the performance and by then I realized that the most expressive positions happened on the beat. So I just snapped on the beat, every beat. I didn’t know he was going to do that! It’s simply amazing that I was able to catch it. Sometimes it’s better to be lucky, than good. ---
**Author:** ![Karen\_Lingel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karen_lingel/32/18649_2.png) [@Karen\_Lingel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karen_Lingel)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2025, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-monthly-photo-competition-rolling-discussion-thread/975642/1386 "2025-02-03T05:38:02Z")
Does he dance with a company? ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2025, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-monthly-photo-competition-rolling-discussion-thread/975642/1387 "2025-02-03T06:21:00Z")
Yes he did, with a company that was based in Manhattan after he graduated from college there in NYC, and he danced there for most of his performing career. But now that he’s about 40 he is mostly teaching. He teaches at Boston Conservatory at Berklee and at other universities. He does some occasional performances. ---
**Author:** ![Karen\_Lingel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karen_lingel/32/18649_2.png) [@Karen\_Lingel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karen_Lingel)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2025, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-monthly-photo-competition-rolling-discussion-thread/975642/1388 "2025-02-03T19:14:26Z")
If he ever toured to Berkeley, CA to perform, I probably saw him. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2025, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-monthly-photo-competition-rolling-discussion-thread/975642/1389 "2025-02-03T23:22:35Z")
Yes he did. Cool. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2025, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-monthly-photo-competition-rolling-discussion-thread/975642/1390 "2025-02-05T15:22:30Z")
Damnit, Janet! Stoopit Bird Flu!!! I’m the master of the persistent photo; I have one shot that took me 2½ years to get, & another that took me 5 years to get! Of course, when your shot is only available, at most, a couple of days a year & then it’s rainy, or just cloudy, or the dew point is too high (fog - like Stonehenge or Manhattanhenge, (a failure of) [the 2½-year shot](https://www.flickr.com/photos/74663312@N08/53882820418/) that I previously used here should have been a bridgehenge, with the sun lining up right down the bridge but a too high dew point in a deep river valley meant it didn’t work out like I had hoped; while it’s a great shot & the fog burning off adds something to it, it wasn’t what I set out to shoot that morning) or the winds are too high, or in the wrong direction or my schedule just doesn’t work then you can see how it takes so long. This would be the third year I’m working on another shot but as of _this morning_, the beginning of the season, they’ve closed the area due to HPAI - Highly pathogenic avian influenza (bird flu) & I doubt it’s going to be open again in the next few weeks to catch this year’s snow goose migration at all. One can’t legally get near the lake & while I _might_ be able to get away with it, it’s too much effort if there _is_ a game warden or cop out there as there is a possibility of just because it’s closed. I typically only go once or _maybe_ twice a year because it involves a lot of planning of looking at the semiweekly counts & trying to ~~extrapolate~~ guess when the best day to go is (migration can vary by a couple of weeks every year based on weather conditions), then cross reference that to the current weather forecast (if it’s accurate, did that once when it wasn’t!) - sunny, no snow in the past 24 hrs (did that once; it’s hard to eat stuff on the ground when you can’t _see_ the ground so they don’t stick around; hence the above ‘guess’) & coordination of my work schedule (I can’t make it back on time) & whatever I may be doing that night (currently in class until after 10pm). Once I’ve chosen my date then I need to get up around 3:30 in the morning, gather lots of warm clothes, drive 1½-2 hrs to then put on the other half of said warm clothes in the confined space of a driver’s seat (don’t wear too much in the warm car or you’ll be freezing once you get out), walk ½ mile & be there & setup _before_ twilight to catch them take flight out of the water where they overnight. If it all comes together, the sky should be a wonderful pink/orange of morning sunrise silhouetting hundreds if not thousands\* of birds just hanging out in the sky, much like **Bullitt** ’s slacker kid 😉 Here’s a really cool [full-color-but-black-&-white](https://www.flickr.com/photos/74663312@N08/54019649141) variant I took a couple of years ago on an (obviously) grey, cloudy morning. -\* Peak count day from the past couple of years have ranged from a _low_ of 70,000 to a high of 150,000, but have been trending downward, probably due to development along their migration area so every year delayed means that many less turning the sky black (white?) at once. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2025, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-monthly-photo-competition-rolling-discussion-thread/975642/1391 "2025-02-12T03:42:19Z")
I was trying to decide between two photos for “motion”. Then someone posted some water fowl so I decided against my geese photo. I photographed the whole fight between these two ganders and it was cute the way the goose was so chill just waiting on the result. Neither gander was badly hurt and the winner and his mate went on to have several goslings. [![](https://i.imgur.com/GTH3hED.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/GTH3hED.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2025, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-monthly-photo-competition-rolling-discussion-thread/975642/1392 "2025-02-24T22:05:55Z")
I wasn’t sure whether to post here or in the actual monthly thread, but it looks like the link @Twoflower posted is broken. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2025, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-monthly-photo-competition-rolling-discussion-thread/975642/1393 "2025-02-24T22:17:05Z")
Hmmm - I can see the photo fine. Strange. j ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2025, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-monthly-photo-competition-rolling-discussion-thread/975642/1394 "2025-02-24T22:20:48Z")
Maybe it’s just me and my phone then. I even tried to tap on the broken link to see if I could get the photo to load, and nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Twoflower](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twoflower/32/22_2.png) [@Twoflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Twoflower)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2025, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-monthly-photo-competition-rolling-discussion-thread/975642/1395 "2025-02-24T22:54:53Z")
I wonder if google photos is acting up again. I had a similar problem with Treppenwitz‘s photo. In my iPad, clicking on the photo just opens the Google photos app, without taking me to a picture. On my computer, the photo opens just fine. Must be time to reconsider photo hosting sites. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2025, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-monthly-photo-competition-rolling-discussion-thread/975642/1396 "2025-02-24T23:11:40Z")
For what it’s worth, I can see your photo on my work computer, but when I open the thread on my phone the photo is broken. And I recall having similar issues in past threads with photos hosted in Google as well. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2025, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-monthly-photo-competition-rolling-discussion-thread/975642/1397 "2025-02-24T23:38:28Z")
OK, @minor7flat5 , how’d you do that one? Panning the camera at just the right rate? I, also, can’t see @Twoflower 's, on a Mac desktop. ---
**Author:** ![Twoflower](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twoflower/32/22_2.png) [@Twoflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Twoflower)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2025, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-monthly-photo-competition-rolling-discussion-thread/975642/1398 "2025-02-24T23:50:46Z")
[![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczPqb5F_3UnFJFO_rQYUv-BUSrRyTiom8B7e3u_-_PDFNRqEJIEbykDYUqNKjmv4b4REgwWT2qZrU6pUWCk_IUVTm0rn5UIOzo2nf-8TrNuf5laqr6_vII9gLaBCggiNtNnYTla3AxUW2hjUE614NwfihA=w2168-h1626-s-no?authuser=0) ](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczPqb5F_3UnFJFO_rQYUv-BUSrRyTiom8B7e3u_-_PDFNRqEJIEbykDYUqNKjmv4b4REgwWT2qZrU6pUWCk_IUVTm0rn5UIOzo2nf-8TrNuf5laqr6_vII9gLaBCggiNtNnYTla3AxUW2hjUE614NwfihA=w2168-h1626-s-no?authuser=0) This work any better? ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2025, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-monthly-photo-competition-rolling-discussion-thread/975642/1399 "2025-02-24T23:51:59Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > OK, @minor7flat5 , how’d you do that one? Panning the camera at just the right rate? That’s precisely how to get a shot like that. Choose a slower than normal shutter speed (e.g. 1/15 sec), pan in a way where you are following the subject, and go for it. In this case, the merry-go-round was rotating counter clockwise from the top, so I panned left to right to match the front-facing motion and follow my daughter. It took a few tries. This is a great technique for taking photos of your kids riding their bikes. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2025, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-monthly-photo-competition-rolling-discussion-thread/975642/1400 "2025-02-24T23:52:39Z")
Yes, that works. Want me to edit your post in the photo thread? ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2025, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-monthly-photo-competition-rolling-discussion-thread/975642/1401 "2025-02-24T23:53:06Z")
> [@Twoflower](#): > > This work any better? Yep. What shutter speed did you do for that one? I seem to always go overboard, with a killer 10-stop filter and way too long of an exposure, but yours is just right. ---
**Author:** ![Twoflower](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twoflower/32/22_2.png) [@Twoflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Twoflower)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2025, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-monthly-photo-competition-rolling-discussion-thread/975642/1402 "2025-02-24T23:55:11Z")
That would be great. Looks like I have to be extra sure to open the photo in a separate window, and use Google’s “copy image address” function. So the URL for this version is correct. ---
**Author:** ![Twoflower](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twoflower/32/22_2.png) [@Twoflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Twoflower)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2025, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-monthly-photo-competition-rolling-discussion-thread/975642/1403 "2025-02-25T00:00:47Z")
Actually, I almost feel like I cheated. It’s an iPhone shot using the Live function, converted in the phone to present as a long exposure, then exported as jpg. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-monthly-photo-competition-rolling-discussion-thread/975642.md?page=69) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-monthly-photo-competition-rolling-discussion-thread/975642.md?page=71)