The theme for April was chosen by the winner of our March competition -- Janet Petty

Her Photo Assignment: "The Human Condition"


Time-frame for shooting your image: April 1, 2007 to April 25th, 2007 (a Wednesday) at 9 pm EDT. [This translates to 1:00 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time.]


What info do you submit? Tell us when you shot the image, any shooting info you have (shutter speed, ISO, f-stop, filters used, post-processing (normal photo processing allowed - sharpening, adjust exposure -- this isn't the place for art filters [we have forums for that too!])

Feel free to add info about what/where you shot, and why you chose your subject/composition, etc. when you post your image in this thread.

What does the winner get? The winner gets to choose the next assignment PLUS gets all the nice accolades that come from being chosen "Winner".

Post your photo submissions in this thread, and we'll have the separate thread for discussion of this assignment and your comments regarding any of the entries that strike your fancy.

Well the Human Condition will always end something like this.
Took this today
Holy Trinity Church, Penn Street (thats the name of the town not a street), Buckinghamshire, UK.
Camera was set to auto everything!
Tweaked with shadow highlights in Photoshop thats about all really.

Peter

I took this near China Town in New York City with a Canon 30D. It's of a man fishing with multiple poles on the East River underneath the Manhattan Bridge. I was never sure what exactly to title the image... is the man fishing to relax? (he has multiple poles) Or is he just trying to catch dinner? I just found it interesting that someone who is surrounded by a busy modern city still practices an ancient hunting technique.

From an ongoing series of images taken at a distance of mental patients in a assisted living facility. The images are ghostly and eerie and it's hard to explain without the whole series. Only that this place has sat in this location since I was a child, with most neighbors having not a clue.

----- Note from Moderator (CJ Swartz)
I added an enlarged copy -- don't judge the quality of Sweet light’s image by my enlargement, but I wanted a better view.

A quick note to all of you who have contacted me helping me with this image and getting a readable size to you. I apologize. I lost my mother about the same day that I posted the original and things have been hectic needless to say. Dealing with all that, dealing with the re-shuffle of a crazy schedule and............ well you name it; it's been a crappy month. Anyways, here is a better size for you to view. Please consider the following. All of the images in this series are hand-held or at the best a bogen arm on my truck window. I have leeway in this town because I used to be a cop here but I want to be as stealth as possible, not to invade anyone's privacy but to truly engage these people and their worlds. It's a tough place to shoot because it's right on the main beach road AIA. If by chance one of them gets a glimpse of me, it's over for the night, they run in and all the shades clothes and I have had to leave on occasion to avoid confrontation. I wish not to disturb these people, nor do I think less of them. I have always had deep curiosity in those whom we as "normal" deem mentally ill. As a cop I came in contact constantly with them and have had ongoing nightmares, and often, oh so often wonder "WHAT if we the self titled "normal" are truly the ones who are "crazy" and THEY see it all so clear. Anyways, thanks to all who helped and if you are interested in more of them please feel free to go to my temporary flickr page while my website is rebuilt.
www.flickr.com/photos/sweetlight/sets

These particular images are in a set called "living inside themselves." Peace to you all.
c

Ok, ignore the entry above. It was not posted as a submission, only because it fit the theme and I couldn't decide between the pictures for just one.

The picture below is the one I'm submitting. The lady is Inez Cain. She was a very cooperative subject and looks like she has led a very difficult life, don't you think?

Janet

After a good bit of thought and wonderings about "The Human Condition", I decided to do something that shows the basic bond of humanity -- adult and child. There are some sports practices held in the greenbelts of my development for young children -- the parents sit on the sidelines with babies and toddlers while the older kids are given lessons in softball by parent-coaches. I took some shots Thursday evening and got a couple that included some successful skill-building being done by adults and children, then I looked at this image and decided I liked it better -- though the lesson is over for this girl, the joy she feels shone around her. The coach is intent on the action of the next player heading for the base, and is probably more intent on the lesson than the fun. The contrast between their focus -- one on what needs to be taught, and one on what needs to be enjoyed -- is part of what makes us human.

ISO 200, shutter speed 1/320 to capture movement. I used my new copy of CS3 to convert to black/white to reduce the distraction of color.

Get those cameras focused, and get those flash memory cards copied (or film developed) -- there's only one more day!!!

Time-frame for shooting your image: April 1, 2007 to April 25th, 2007 (a Wednesday) at 9 pm EDT.