Sunday, June 9, 2013

The Imaginary Hurdle: June 9, 2013


Have you ever had a vision for something but just couldn't get it to come together despite your best efforts?  That's how I felt about this photo.  I knew that I wanted to capture the runner in mid-air but the "pose" had to be perfect; the arms, the legs, the hair and the face all had to be just right .  Even if the runner did her part, there was the small matter of  my timing with the camera, which also had to be perfect.  Well, it turned out that it was very difficult to get all of these elements to come together to create the perfect image.  So I shot and shot and shot, at least 15 or 20 times.  And then finally, I got it! When I looked at the photo, I couldn't help but feel the sense of triumph represented by the hurdling runner.  I started to  imagine  her in a different setting, perhaps as a hurdler in the Olympics.  Then I thought, yes, she appears to be hurdling but there is no actual hurdle behind her, under her, or in front of her.  I got a little irritated with myself for creating a hurdle, albeit imaginary, when there was nothing facing her but green grass and blue skies.  That thought led to a question: how often in life do we fail to take action because of imaginary hurdles that we put between ourselves and our goals? 

2 comments:

  1. I love your "photo of the week" concept! And your eye is so on point.

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