Girls standing next to her spilled ice cream – My Final Photo for May 3, 2013
Graeters Ice Cream in Uptown Westerville is double test of my strength.
It’s a rare day that I don’t walk or ride my bike past Graeters in Uptown Westerville. It’s rare I stop for a photo although I often step inside to fill a water bottle. The test arrives to see if I can leave without buying ice cream.
When asked I tell people that there is no way I can go home with Graeters on my breath. My family would never forgive me for going without them. Sometimes I fear my family.
Today I shot a photo at Graeters.
Usually the benches out front are filled with kids and their parents enjoying cones and cups of the sweet creamy confection. It would be easy to photograph a youngster with melted ice cream dripping from their chin or a mom cleaning it away. Those photos are common so I very rarely take time to shoot it. The photo’s storytelling value diminishes because it is so common.
Finding a photo that creates a dialogue is primary to good photography. When I saw this girl wearing pink shoes standing next the spilled and melting teal ice cream covered with sprinkles I knew I had a photo that would create that dialogue.
The conversation may be internal, spoken and heard only by one person. There’s no requirement that it be shared. There’s no need to speak to another person about the conversation. It’s only necessary the photo be the beginning of the conversation.
Common photos aren’t compelling. They don’t have the capability to start a dialogue.