Once again, there was a healthy amount of submissions for GOVERNMENT. Apparently many of you decided that GOVERNMENT wasn’t all that bad. Or at least better than anarchy.

But you didn’t come her to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates. You came to see the submissions.

Andy Sharp

Andy Sharp

Andy Sharp

Becky Parmelee

Bill Wentworth

Kio Dettman

Kio Dettman

Kio Dettman

Kio Dettman

Tamara Peterson

Christopher D. Bennett

Kim Barker

Micky Augustin

But enough dwelling on the past. Time to look to the future. We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives. And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future! This week’s theme:

UP IN THE AIR

First thing to note is that next Monday is Memorial Day. While the GOVERNMENT, banks, and possibly your job takes the day off, there are no holidays on the Photography 139 Calendar (not literally). If you are going to be going to the cemetery or to a service or camping or grilling out, plan when you submit accordingly.

UP IN THE AIR! Another great theme for Year 8 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.

But what is a UP IN THE AIR photo? It is simply a photo of something that is UP IN THE AIR. A bird. A plane. Superman? Well, if Superman isn’t standing on the ground. A good idea is to just throw something into the air and photograph it. Or a good candid portrait is to throw something in the air and have them try to catch it. This is a great candid portrait technique.

But whatever you do, do not think about this quote from the movie UP IN THE AIR while composing your image:

How much does your life weigh? Imagine for a second that you’re carrying a backpack. I want you to feel the straps on your shoulders. Feel ’em? Now I want you to pack it with all the stuff that you have in your life. You start with the little things. The things on shelves and in drawers, the knick-knacks, the collectibles. Feel the weight as that adds up. Then you start adding larger stuff, clothes, table-top appliances, lamps, linens, your TV. The backpack should be getting pretty heavy now. And you go bigger. Your couch, bed, your kitchen table. Stuff it all in there. Your car, get it in there. Your home, whether it’s a studio apartment or a two bedroom house. I want you to stuff it all into that backpack. Now try to walk. It’s kind of hard, isn’t it? This is what we do to ourselves on a daily basis. We weigh ourselves down until we can’t even move. And make no mistake, moving is living. Now, I’m gonna set that backpack on fire. What do you want to take out of it? What do you want to take out of it? Photos? Photos are for people who can’t remember. Drink some ginkgo and let the photos burn. In fact, let everything burn and imagine waking up tomorrow with nothing. It’s kind of exhilarating, isn’t it? Now, this is gonna be a little difficult, so stay with me. You have a new backpack. Only this time, I want you to fill it with people. Start with casual acquaintances, friends of friends, folks around the office, and then you move into the people that you trust with your most intimate secrets. Your cousins, your aunts, your uncles, your brothers, your sisters, your parents and finally your husband, your wife, your boyfriend or your girlfriend. You get them into that backpack. And don’t worry. I’m not gonna ask you to light it on fire. Feel the weight of that bag. Make no mistake – your relationships are the heaviest components in your life. Do you feel the straps cutting into your shoulders? All those negotiations and arguments, and secrets and compromises. You don’t need to carry all that weight. Why don’t you set that bag down? Some animals were meant to carry each other, to live symbiotically for a lifetime – star crossed lovers, monogamous swans. We are not those animals. The slower we move, the faster we die. We are not swans. We’re sharks.

RULES

The picture has to be taken between 12:01 PM today and 11 AM next Monday. This isn’t a curate your photos project. This is a get your butt off the couch (unless you are taking your picture from the couch) and take pictures challenge.

You can send your images to either bennett@photography139.com OR you may text them to my Pixel 5.

That is all I got, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will all be sharing our idea of UP IN THE AIR in this place that travels from my server to your computational device through the air next Monday.