Friday, November 19, 2010

The Running Man


Reckless abandon
London, ON, September 2010
[Thematic explores candid this week. You can, too, by clicking here]

It was the first day of school and for some odd reason I found myself standing on the roof of our kids' school. I'd been asked to take a group picture of all the kids in the school, so I figured a high-up perspective would make the resulting shot a bit more interesting than the usual head-on pose.

This was one of those nice-in-theory, not-so-great-in-reality ideas of mine, because once I went upstairs through the smokey hallways (please, don't ask) and climbed out on an adjacent balcony before hopping the fence onto the asphalt and definitely not human-friendly rooftop, I approached the side of the building and realized just how much space now separated me from terra firma. So I tiptoed near the edge and, as I waited for the bell to ring - perfect time to shoot was when they'd be lining up to head inside - I practiced on my kids to make sure I could shoot without suffering from vertigo.

Little man made it easy, because true to form he was his usual happy-to-the-core-of-his-being self. He hadn't yet spotted me in my sniper-like perch, so I quietly snapped away as he went about the very serious business of being a munchkin. As you can see, It's hard to avoid feeling his energy, and wishing that more of it would rub off.

Your turn: What's he thinking?

13 comments:

T. Becque said...

Nice description of childhood behaviors and catching in such a moment. Greetings from Tucson.

21 Wits said...

He's absolutely enjoying life! ...and running! You eased yourself into a very nice spot to capture this so precisely, real action shot (candid) and totally honest view of what this boy was experiencing!

Max Sartin said...

I know exactly what you mean by the energy these little folk have. Many a time I've thought, while watching the middle school kids at lunch, "if only we could harness that energy we would have an inexhaustible, forever renewable source of unlimited energy." (whew! that was a lot of adjectives!).
"Youth is wasted on the young." - George Bernard Shaw.

21 Wits said...

Ooops, sorry forgot to mention what is he thinking? He's either very excited to tell about something very cool that happened, or he's eager to play video games or some other techy thing! Too young for girls, or borrow the car...!

Kalei's Best Friend said...

He's thinking " I hope I don't have to go inside" " I hope that man on the roof keeps on taking photos of me, cuz, I am cool!".

Steve Gravano said...

Rounding third base and on my way to the first home-run of the season.
Nice candid. That perspective is not one you often see, and it works well in eliminating possible distractions from the frame.

A Paperback Writer said...

I love the motion in this picture.

that guy said...

the beauty of it is he does not have to think. totally into being peter pan...

youth is action, movement and doing...joy for joy's sake...

the thoughts that come can only kill youth, slowly painfully if we let it. right now he is enjoying...and living..there is time for that later...but not now...

jobs, committments, responsibilities are thought provoking...and restrictive...captian hook

don't get me wrong...i am peter pan...but captain hook as well...

Anonymous said...

Great shot!
He's a boy, and therefore he's simply thinking about how fun it is to run.

srp said...

He does have great energy! I hope he wasn't running in circles... that might lead to feeling a bit dizzy and not a good feeling to have on top of a roof.

Nikki - Notes of Life said...

I was once asked to climb up on a roof to take a photo... I looked at the person as if they were crazy... I'm afraid of heights! :D

Unknown said...

How true! This reminded me of the glee I felt at that age when the bell rang! :)

Glennis said...

This is so cute. Such serious business, play is.