One of the things that I've always found peculiar about flickr is the emphasis on photo titles. Before I started posting on the internet, I never really gave much thought to titling things, but now it feels like a mandatory part of the creative process. This is good and bad. The good-- it often makes me think more constructively about my photography than I probably would otherwise. In other words, giving something a title really makes me think "what is this photo about?" or "what do I want to draw attention to?" The bad-- sometimes I just can't think of anything.
This particular photo fell into the latter category, so I actually emailed a couple of friends and solicited ideas. Here's what the three of us came up with:
"High Five"
"Lost and Found"
"Hand it Over"
"Goodbye."
"Will I ever see you again?"
"With or without you"
"Left Behind"
"A Helping Hand"
"Hand Out"
"Pssst... I've Got Something to Tell You"
"Hey, You See an Arm Around Here?"
There are some serious sounding titles in there, but I ultimately chose the last one-- I'm easily swayed by my sense or humor in these matters.
Have a better idea? Leave a comment and let me know.
Photo Notes: Nikon D90 with 55-200mm lens, 1/200sec at f4, ISO400. This photo is featured on the front page of Chicago Public Radio dot com today.
2 comments:
At times the titles on flickr can be a little too clever. I'm not saying this falls into that group... I'm just sayin'.
I agree. I think it's a fine line. To me a title should add something, if possible, but not overwhelm the photograph. ie: the title should never be more interesting or clever than the photograph itself.
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