from Awesomeness to Panic by mcsiegle

from Awesomeness to Panic

My get pushed partner, Francoise @francoise gave me the challenge of doing a diptych that tells a story - any subject. I hope she will accept this two-panel vertical collage instead of a horizontally oriented diptych. The photos I took were oriented landscape, and putting them side by side would have made them smaller and harder to "read."

I've again neglected the dinosaurs in the last couple of weeks, and the natives were getting restless. So I sat down with their themes committee and looked at possibilities. They noted that Thursday was "Day of Awesomeness" and that appealed to them. When that was put to the whole crew, those among them who are always enthusiastic about feats of daring do came up with a Harry Houdini escape of some type. The male half of the Triceratops Twins volunteered to be straight-jacketed and lowered into a tank of water. They made an big sign advertising the stunt and thought they would charge 10 cents admission (see sign in top panel). You will also note in the top panel that the glass is almost full. I pointed out that it would be a mess of water all over when he went into the tank and his body displaced a corresponding volume of water. They adjusted accordingly.

When it came time for the big event, they had ditched the idea of charging admission -- realizing that very few of them could afford it and they couldn't really charge me as I helped them set it up and was all set to document his escape with the camera. That left Frank and Dan, and Dan probably wouldn't come. It didn't see worth making change for a likely take of no more than 10 or 20 cents.

They were a little peeved that the photo shoot didn't come off until Friday - a day AFTER the "Day of Awesomeness" but I was busy on Thursday -- had to work all day instead of my usual 1/2 day.

I must say I was very impressed with the lowering of the Triceratops into the tank with great fanfare. (Credit should be given the Rhamphorhynchus for doing a masterly job of it.) Please note that the scissors which he could use to extricate himself from the straight-jacket were deliberately left OUTSIDE the tank for greater effect. I wasn't too worried, as I knew I could pluck him out in case of emergency. (As I have stated many times before, Frank would KILL me if anything happened to those little guys.)

The whole thing started off pretty good. but as the minutes and seconds ticked by, with him still struggling to free himself, worry set in. The apatosaurus youngsters headed out for help. His sister climbed on the back of the Stegosaurus and was trying to claw her way up the side of the tank to help him. Neanderthal Man was all set to smash the tank to bits with his club, but I persuaded him that glass bits all over were not a good idea.

In the end the Triceratops did wiggle free of the restraints and rose (with some difficulty) to the top of the water. Phew! I didn't have to come to the rescue. Kudos to the Triceratops for pulling it off. Well done! They were disappointed that the bottom panel showed the moment of panic, instead of the triumphant finish, but I told them that they had missed Panic Day (Wednesday) by only two days, and I intended to celebrate with my posting. Had to duck and cover for that.
@francoise Here is my reply to your challenge.
March 13th, 2016  
panic day !!! ha ha ha !! In addition to the fun narrative, I love the prehistoric purple rock background!
March 13th, 2016  
@francoise prehistoric rock, huh? Hee hee - love it. So that's what they're calling a scarf that needs ironing these days.
March 13th, 2016  
I would have paid a full $ (Canadian)
March 13th, 2016  
Oh my goodness, those dianasors like to live on the edge. Very creative narrative, I like the diptych. I too like @bette would have paid in full but with Canadian money.
March 13th, 2016  
wonderful capture ...
March 13th, 2016  
Brilliant love these guys. 😀
March 13th, 2016  
Great story and diptych!
March 13th, 2016  
Thank you for the push. It is true. I do very, very, very little architecture. I will see what I can do for you this week. We've partnered before. I remember you were using your iPod. I see you now have a Coolpix. For this week I'd like you to try and get a silhouette with the Coolpix. I found this tutorial that should be helpful: http://www.digital-photo-secrets.com/tip/320/photo-critique-a-point-and-shoot-sunset/
If that doesn't work, let me know and I'll set another challenge. Good luck!
March 14th, 2016  
So creative!
March 14th, 2016  
Brilliant!
March 14th, 2016  
@aecasey thanks -sounds like a good challenge. I've been learning, bit by bit to use my camera on manual. Thanks for the link to the tutorial.
March 14th, 2016  
@mcsiegle I'm glad you are game. I'm not even sure if this is a manual setting. I tried reading the camera's manual, but I wasn't sure I found what was relevant. I know there is a sunset setting ... but I can't tell if that's all you would need to use. If it proves too frustrating, I can set another. I do hope, though, that you discover something new. Good luck!
March 14th, 2016  
@mcsiegle Do you still have your manual? You can view it as a PDF online here: http://download.nikonimglib.com/archive2/6Qc2E00y523b01ELKof85fnyjU03/S9900RM_(En)03.pdf
I like online manuals because they are easy to search!
March 15th, 2016  
Very cool
March 15th, 2016  
hahahahahahha! So much fun! But please DO NOT show this to Piggy and the Critters!
March 17th, 2016  
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