Caption This 81

Please caption this image
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San Francisco, CA, July 2008 [Click to embiggen]

If you're just joining us, this photo continues this week's Thematic Photographic theme, monochrome. Click here to get in on the insanity.

The scene: San Francisco waterfront, on the Embarcadero, 6:31 on a dismally gray and damp morning. I probably should have been back at the hotel, packing and getting ready to go to the airport. Instead, I got it into my head that I should take a rapid walk out to the Ferry Building in the shadow of the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge. I wanted to bring some pictures home from this very brief trip, and a morning photo-blast through the downtown seemed like a fun way to cram a lot of optical bits into a teeny slice of time.

So emotion trumped logic out as I jumped out of bed, grabbed my camera and tore out of the hotel. The weather was so gray that many of my pictures - especially the ones of the bridge - came out monochrome despite the fact that I was shooting in color. I was stunned at how many homeless people were here, and had to take great care to avoid getting too close or otherwise upsetting them with my lens. In retrospect, probably not the smartest place for me to be, far from home and alone. But you can't tell new stories unless you push your envelope a bit every once in a while.

I shot this image from the parking lot behind the Ferry Building. The shepherd-like statue seemed to be watching over the countless cars and trucks making their way over the huge structure. I tried to will the statue to cast its protective gaze over the poor, forgotten souls sleeping, hidden, under blankets near its base. No dice.

Your turn: Please give this photo a caption (or many captions.) Click on the comment link below and go to town. I'll post the winner next Sunday.

About last week's image of a gull in flight: Definitely a keeper, this image was. You obviously agreed, as you filled the site up with zillions of great captions. Here's a quick rundown of some of the honorable menschens:

• Robin: "Bird's eye view."
• B13: "Commence bombing run in 3... 2... 1..."
• Terri: "So long and thanks for all the fish."
• SPwriter: "Gull ever travels" and "Bird flew."
• Awareness: "Gull a vanting."
• Lynda: "Jonathan Livingston WHO?"
• Twobuyfour: "I just flew in from San Francisco, and boy are my arms tired!"
• R. Sherman: "Sadly, Bob's career was cut short following an unfortunate navigational error which placed over the Hamilton Skeet Club."
• Anne: "Where did i put my keys?"
• Killired: "Bird's eye view."
• Sara: "The one who flew over the cuckoo's nest."

In the end, I had to declare a tie in what evolved into a delightfully fun superpower arms race of Caption This. Steve (aka SPwriter) and Robin went at it all week and ended up making this a totally cool, majorly entertaining process. Steve's "Never a gull moment" and Robin's "Tastes like chicken" take the title this week. Please visit them both. Their words and images will captivate you.

Shameless plug time: I'm a sucker for repeat players. Keep tossing captions at the wall until something sticks, I always say. It's more fun that way, too!