# 2cool Photo Contest - Tell Me a Story



## RustyBrown

O.K. since Cutter deserted me I'll take the ball here. If someone with administrative priveledges could sticky this it would be greatly appreciated. This month's topic *Tell Me a Story...*

Photography can be a very powerful medium. If you're like me, you have shots that are special to you for the story behind the shot - even if the shot might not be technically perfect. The challenge here is to post an image that you have strong feelings about and convey (in as many words as it takes) why this image is so special to you. I envison this as having stories that will make you laugh and make you cry, so this may be some tough reading at times. The voting here should be every bit as much on the story behind the image as the image itself.

Examples may be a special memory, fishing or hunting trip, gathering, moment, person, sporting event and so on. It's my hope through this contest that we will all get to know each other a little better and give some more thought to what's really important to each of us about our imagery. It will also be an excellent opportunity for you lurkers who read, but don't post to get involved.

*Here are the rules. 
*1.) The photo *must be your's* or your family's
2.)* Submit one photo per person.*
3.) *Submit the photo to this thread.*
4.) Keep the photo *less than 640 pixels wide* so that we dont have to scroll.

If you have some honorable mentions or if you want everyone's opinion on some photos before you submit, fire up a separate thread and share the out takes and potential entries with us there.

*Photo submissions for this month will end on Monday August 31st, 2006.* After that time, we will take 1 week to vote for a favorite. The winner can help choose the next month's theme.

Pelican can you please provide the Webshots data?


----------



## RustyBrown

*Ummm...*

The silence is deafening...


----------



## Freshwaterman

*Tough one this month...*

Rusty, you might have "stumped the band" with this one. I think every photo I have taken has a story behind it. It's going to be hard to pick just one. I am sure everyone is going through their scrapbooks though and sorting out their memories to try to decide what to put up. I have started sorting through mine.

Good topic, it will be tough, and it should be fun.

Good Luck to all........

T..


----------



## Pod

tmunsch is right...this is a great topic but one that requires some thought. I think there will be some great entrys!


----------



## pelican

*August Webshots Album*



RustyBrown said:


> Pelican can you please provide the Webshots data?


Sorry guys, been a little distracted this week. Here's the link:

August Webshots Album - Tell Me A Story


----------



## GoingCoastal

Just a thought, when you post your pic ya might include a little story of why you took or chose to post the pic. what do ya'll think ?

I do like the Idea behind this months photo's. and I'm sure we'll get some good one's as usual. 

Dave


----------



## MsAddicted

Very tough decision. I went through many of my 35mm photos and scanned several. Ultimately, I decided on this one. Not the best quality but it definately has a voice.

A small cemetery of unnamed graves in what was once Glenn Springs Village, Big Bend National Park. The village was attacked by Mexican raiders May 5, 1916.


----------



## Bruce J

*Persistence*

Okay, I'll bite. First the pic, then the story:










I took my two sons to Christmas Island two years ago for a very special trip. One day we went offshore in a small boat to catch some Trevally. My older son, Phillip, caught a nice 30 pounder after just a few casts. After Phillip's success, Paul was itching to get one for himself.

Here he puts an unbelievable load in the big rod as he launched a super-sized top water plug about 80 yards out there. After about 100 casts he was triggering ICBM alerts across North Dakota, but still no big fish had done the right thing for him. He got a couple "swings and misses", but no hook-ups. When our great guide Moana suggested he take three more casts before we went looking for bonefish, Paul was quiet, but determined. As he reeled up the last time, we all thought we were quitting. But, without saying anything he opened the bail and fired another missile off into the blue. Then he launched a fifth cast, then a sixth before finally calling it quits. He was very dejected, but we all moved on to catch some bonefish while the tide was good.

Several hours later, on the ride back to the lodge, Moana told me "I really like Paul's attitude". I agreed with him, but wasn't sure what he was thinking about and asked why. He said in his very quiet, shy voice, "When we were out trying to catch a Trevally, I told him to take three more casts, and he took six. He really wanted to catch one of those fish very badly. I like that."

So do I.

When we got back to Texas, I took him down to Port O'Connor and he went nuts catching big jacks that put a big smile on his face. All was right with the world again.


----------



## chicapesca

Great picture and story Bruce. How fortunate to have had the camera out and ready for such an action shot!


----------



## MsAddicted

OK, I posted the wrong pic. I re-read the instructions...should have done that first  Need a pic with a story behind it, I can see that now, lol. Great story Bruce!


----------



## OUTLAW

Late afternoon in Offats bayou with my girls. This is my youngest really doing a number on some good sized sand trout. First time for her to catch several good fish in a row. After that, now she's hooked!


----------



## MsAddicted

Nope, on second thought (thanks for the votes of confidence SS and GC) I am going to leave the photo as is.  Thats my entry.


----------



## Lonestar Light

*This is what I chose....*

I am fairly certain that this picture doesn't do for others what it does for me. To me, this is the reason I hunt and fish. This is nature at it's finest where all the troubles and stress of the real world seem to disappear for a short time. I don't know, maybe the sun rising on a crisp morning and the sound of wildlife all around is just a big piece of humble pie for a guy like me.

Maybe not a picture that tells a story, but the reason I have so many stories to tell in the first place!!!!


----------



## Walkin' Jack

Thank you Rusty!! You told us you had something special in mind for this month. I think this just may be the best one yet. I can't wait to see and read all the entries. I am eager to see what I can come up with myself and can't wait to get to work on it.

If I may say so, you are not only a talented photographer but you have the kind of creative mind to compliment your talents. 

I feel absolutely inspired. And it take a lot to get me to that point these days LOL!


----------



## Shed Hunter

*Life is good!*

I'm up at 4:30AM waiting for Swampus, Keith, Johnny "the knife" and Raven to pick me up at my house to go surf fishing at Surfside next to Freeport TX. I am sleepy and to tell you the truth, not much good at this time of day. I have all my camera gear, sun tan lotion, coffee, ready to go. Swampus has enough fishing gear for 5 people because he is a real fisherman and has at least 3 poles going at the same time. Swampus pulls up in my drive and we load everything into the truck. Next stop -- Forrests house to pick up him and his 3 kids. By 5:00AM we are on our way, with lots of hyper kids. Three adults, six kids in the Swampusmobile. The kids and Forrest are soon asleep leaving Swampus and me awake. Still not very talkative we make it to the ice house in Surfside. For all the fish we are going to catch we need a lot of ice for the coolers, right? Sold out! Well we will stop at the next ice house. After one more stop for ice and bait we make it to the 5 mile road cut off. Now to find a spot . Can't be too soft or we will get stuck in the sand, but we have to be in a spot that is shallow for the younger kids to be in the surf. We find the perfect place and smelling the surf everyone is out in an instant. Swampus gets Keith and Raven ready and Johnny got himself ready. Swampus and Forrest lay out the ground rules and I am in charge of the whole group of kids. This is nothing new for me as I have been raising kids for 40 years so I took charge. Old drill sargent Shed Hunter! Swampus and Forrest go out to the second sand bar then out to the third. I am back on the beach watching and counting little bodies, 1,2,3,4,5, yep they are all there. Now here is Keith in his wheel chair just grinning and having the best time, as good a time as anyone there. 
All of a sudden, here comes Swampus making a bee line to the beach, so fast he is leaving a wake. I ask " Whats up"? He tells me that a four foot shark had put its mouth on his leg and and he screamed like a little girl and wanted out of the surf to think a little while. I asked Forrest about this and he said he thought it had taken a bite out of Swampus leg. Well, there was nothing but teeth marks and the rest of the day went fine. All I caught was a sunburn and a great photo of Keith. Life IS really good!


----------



## Bruce J

Hey Walkin' Jack, no fair! If you start writing a story about any picture, this contest is over! Just kidding. I can't wait to see it.

Shed, that's a great story. It's easy to come up with excuses not to go to all the work you did to get a group of great kids out fishing. Thanks for the inspiration for getting off the couch and doing something good!


----------



## Shed Hunter

*Casting*

Bruce J
Thanks for the kind words. Sounds like you do the same for your boys. Thats what it is all about. Your photo is awesome. It really shows the action of casting. Thanks for the story and the pic.


Bruce J said:


> Hey Walkin' Jack, no fair! If you start writing a story about any picture, this contest is over! Just kidding. I can't wait to see it.
> 
> Shed, that's a great story. It's easy to come up with excuses not to go to all the work you did to get a group of great kids out fishing. Thanks for the inspiration for getting off the couch and doing something good!


----------



## Bimini Twisted

Walkin' Jack Moncrief is in and the story carries as much weight as the photo? Maybe i'll wait till next month to enter my first 2cool photo contest. Take it home Jack and good luck to anybody else that enters this boat race. 

heh,
Rick


----------



## Swampus

Shed Hunter--GREAT PIC!---Yes I did a triple SOW COW back to the first bar and did reflect a bit on that little LOVE TAP! Kinda scared the BE-JESUS out of me--screamed like a little school girl--275lb school girl--Forrest just laughed at me--Heck "I" laughed at me! Ha! Funny! That shark prolly don't like swetty hair leg!--and NO I'M NOT SHAVING THE REST SO IT WILL MATCH JEFF!--thanks shedster!--good times!


----------



## FLAT FISHY

*Big Bend Windmill*

A few years ago we went to Big Bend on spring break anyone knows that that is a long ride yankin' a trailer and two weeks of gear . My stepson needed to take a number two break ,noone was around of course for miles .So we had him stradling the trailer tongue (which is a picture i am saving for his yearbook )when i looked around and saw this coming together quickly . I never can plan on a good picture they always just happen kinda like me getting into a limit of specks! Here it is but take me out of the running cause ShedHUNTER HAS THE BEST PIC !!!!!!!!!


----------



## activescrape

Gosh, I love those old windmills. Really takes me back, I like the train sounds, coyotes and geese migrating. Good picture.


----------



## JeepnTX

My entry:

I'd like to introduce ya'll to Chance. One weekend during hunting season '96, we were stopped at the front gate, and this tiny little dog limped up to us. He had been peppered by a shotgun and his leg was cut from a run-in with a barbed-wire fence. We got signed in and went on our way to the camp, which was about 4 miles down the road.

An hour or 2 later, this out-of-breath dog comes hobbling up and plops down on our front porch. We couldn't believe it, but there he was. Sadly, we took him back to the front gate and dropped him back off (he had a collar, but no tag). We went down a few back roads, thinking he wouldn't follow, but when we got back, he was already there... waiting. The next day we went around asking if he belonged to anyone, but noone had ever seen him before. Since he took the "chance" to follow us, we decided to keep him, and that would be his name.

He followed me everywhere, slept in my bed, and sat at the door until I came home everyday.

2 months ago, we had to put him to sleep. It was very, very hard for all of us, and I couldn't bring myself to go. My dad took him, and even he said it was rough. R.I.P Chance :frown:


----------



## NaClH2O

I'm sure many of you have seen this picture before, but what's in the photo has some special meaning to me now. For years, my Dad has had dreams of owning another boat, but never had the time to bother with one. Several months ago, started looking for a new hobby since he decided to give up golf. He used to play every other Friday, but too many people were abusing the system and not working their intended hours. So back to working every Monday through Friday they went. 

With golf now out of the picture, he needed a hobby to take up some of his free time, or create it depending on who you ask. So his mind started thinking more and more about the possibility of owning another boat. He always enjoyed fishing, but didn't have the means to do much about it since Lake Conroe is the closest body of water.

After some negotiations with his better half, it was decided that a used boat would be his only choice, and a pretty cheap one at that. With boat shows and the internet not turning up anything that met his criteria, we turned to a family friend that had a boat that he hadn't used in about two years and proposed buying it from him. He readily agreed, and the wheels were in motion toward making Dad the proud owner of his own boat again.

Since that time, he's been obsessed with it. It runs better than it did when he got it, it has new seats and it's been on numerous fishing trips. Which is why it's now so special to me. It has rekindled a relationship with me and my Dad. It was never bad, but we never did much of anything together. In the four or five months since he go the boat, we've been on five fishing trips together. We're also planning another trip this weekend to try our hand at trolling for the first time. We would have never done this many things together without a boat.

This photo was taken at Lake Somerville on June 3. We awoke to the sun rising and the lake as flat as a sheet of glass. It was the perfect beginning to a day.


----------



## TXPalerider

*The Ultimate Father/Son Weekend*

The weekend trip was in January 2005. My son and I spent 3 days hunting and fishing together all by ourselves. We shot deer, caught fish, shot hogs, and shot more deer. When it was over, my son had shot his best buck ever, and I had been on the best hunting trip of my life. What a super weekend!!

If you'd like, you can read the full details of the trip here: *The Ultimate Father/Son Weekend*

This picture certainly isn't the best picture I took that weekend, but, it was the last. And it effectively depicts the the joy we shared, and the culimination of the ultimate weekend together.


----------



## Freshwaterman

MAN THAT MADE MY EYE`S WATER,I`M A DOG LOVER AS WELL. SOORY

FOR YOUR LOSS.I KNOW IT`S NOT EASY TO DO THOSE THING`S.
GOOD STORIE
BIG ROB


JeepnTX said:


> My entry:
> 
> I'd like to introduce ya'll to Chance. One weekend during hunting season '96, we were stopped at the front gate, and this tiny little dog limped up to us. He had been peppered by a shotgun and his leg was cut from a run-in with a barbed-wire fence. We got signed in and went on our way to the camp, which was about 4 miles down the road.
> 
> An hour or 2 later, this out-of-breath dog comes hobbling up and plops down on our front porch. We couldn't believe it, but there he was. Sadly, we took him back to the front gate and dropped him back off (he had a collar, but no tag). We went down a few back roads, thinking he wouldn't follow, but when we got back, he was already there... waiting. The next day we went around asking if he belonged to anyone, but noone had ever seen him before. Since he took the "chance" to follow us, we decided to keep him, and that would be his name.
> 
> He followed me everywhere, slept in my bed, and sat at the door until I came home everyday.
> 
> 2 months ago, we had to put him to sleep. It was very, very hard for all of us, and I couldn't bring myself to go. My dad took him, and even he said it was rough. R.I.P Chance :frown:


----------



## Walkin' Jack

*The Last Ride*

THE LAST RIDE

One of the things I have always wondered is; if I was doing something that I loved, something that I'd love all my life, and doing it for the last time, and knew it would be the last time, would I have done it any differently. Would I have tried harder to imprint each moment in my mind so that I could relive it later when this time was relegated to the past?. Or would that knowledge spoil it and cause me to spend the entire time brooding about the end of an era.

I'ts kind of hard to say but knowing myself as I do I kind of suspect that it's best that I didn't know this would be my last ride.

As a result of my mothers vehement refusal to let even the tip of my little finger come into physical contact with any motorized object with only two wheels I was forced to wait until I was on my own before getting my first motorcycle. It was May something-or-other of 1963. I was stationed on Okinawa and bought a 1962 Honda Dream 125 in mint condition. That was the beginning of an era that lasted approximately 39 years.

I sold my last motorcycle, it was a Honda 1100cc V-65 Magna. Custom pinstriped by Bucky and sporting lots of goodies including custom seat and handlebar grips, in 2002. When the guy that bought it rode it out my driveway and around the corner, and I saw it and heard it's low, mellow roar for the last time, Pam and I were standing out on the driveway. It caught me completely off guard but as I got my last glimpse of it and it's throaty rumble for the last time, something in me just broke. I felt a punch in the gut and a lump in my throat.....there goes the last motorcycle I'll ever ride. It was all I could do to keep my knees from buckling. I almost went into shock.

Pam was standing right next to me and she must have been looking at my face at that moment because she moved around in front of me, put her arms around my neck and caught me with her pretty blue eyes. She told me not to feel bad. She said she understood the emotionl trauma I was going through and she would help me through it. She reminded me of the reasons it was time for us to "get off" and that we had many years of great memories to sustain us.She kissed me and told me she loved me and hugged me real tight.

Inspite of the fact that my heart was breaking (I was not selling the bike because I was tired of it, I still loved to ride, but it was just "time" and that's another long sad story.), I knew she was right and her strength and the power of her love would see me through.

And it did....and it still does....and it always will.

********************************************** The Ride ******************************************

My best friend, who was stationed with me on "The Rock" and had a motorcycle of his own, and I had been wanting to get out and go on a long road trip. We hand't done that for a while and we were itching to get out for a few days and get a good mix of super-slab and back road. It was a sunny morning late in March of '98 when we took off and headed west. Our destination was Big Bend Nationl Park, then on to points north and west. We spent the first night in Ft. Stockton. The ride was very pleasant. Uneventful but a nice easy first day of the 5-day adventure. We had a big steak dinner, hit the pool for a bit, and turned in early so we could get rolling all the earlier the next morning.

We went across Lake Amistad (SP?) and visited Judge Roy Bean's Law West Of The Pecos. When we got to the entrance of the Park we stopped for a rest at the entrance sign and took some pics. Then we went on in and rode through the Chisos Mountain range. We rode to the top of Chisos Mountain and had a burger in the souvinere shop. The road going up the mountain was STEEP! It was a little on the hairy side too as there was a trench in the middle of the "going-up" side and there were rocks and gravel all over the road. Some excitement added to the day.

Later we went through Marathon and had a nice meal at the Gage Hotel. Finally we arrived at La Jitas, on the Rio Grande. We stayed at the Badlands Hotel there for two nights. We spent our time there just riding around the countryside and seeing the sights. Alpine, Terlingua, etc.

When we left there we went farther west to Presidio and turned North. We went to the McDonald Observatory and on through old Ft. Davis. We wound up in Leaky Texas, in the hill country and brother, let me tell you, there are some mighty fine roads for motorcycles in that area. Every inch of pavement offeres challenge and thrills. We spent our last night out at the Whiskey Mountain Inn outside Leaky.

We woke up the last morning of the ride and guess what?!? It was 34 deg. F.!! A couple of days before, at the ranger station in BBNP it had been 110 deg. Neither of us had expected such extremes in Temperatures. But, Always lookin' on the bright side, we didn't see one drop of rain the entire time.

We took a winding little county road down from Leaky to old HWY 90 and rode until we got to a little town called Sabinal. We pulled in and ate a big breakfast and drank coffee until it warmed up some.

Then we mounted up and began the last day and the trip home. I can never express what that trip meant to me. We had thrills and chills but no spills. We started out on an early Friday morning and arrived home Tuesday afternoon. It was five full days on the road and just a wee bit over 2,000 miles on the bikes. 
*****************************

I took this pic the second morning at La Jitas. A dust storm had blown through during the night and totally obsucred all color from everything in it's path. I wish that I could adequately describe what it means to me. It haunts me. Every time I look at it my mind is flooded with memories and with the erie feelings that overtook me as I rode through that part of the country

Before the sandstorm, the Goldwing was a metallic pearl with gold trim and my Magna was a deep wine color with red, gold, and pale blue pinstriping. You wanna talk about "sand camo"....Everything, as far as the eye could see in any direction, was exactly the same color...the color of the ground. All this under a sky so blue it hurt your eyes to look directly at it. Had a very profound effect on me that has stayed with me all the years since. I should have taken the shot before I "saddled up" I guess. you can tell that my gear wasn't on the bike during the storm.

This was a little before the days of the digital camera and I took this with an Olympus OMG outfit I was using at the time. What I was hoping to capture in the shot was the stark effect of the sand storm rather than just another shot of the bikes. In many ways, being there was like being on a different planet.Attached Images









__________________


----------



## hooter

The picture pretty much tells the whole story. Sometimes the best laid plans just bring undesired results!

hOOter


----------



## Charles Helm

*This is a hard one.*

I have a lot of pictures that I could have posted and told a hunting, fishing, or family story. But for some reason I decided to shoot a new one, really more of a still life than anything else.

My mother died just before I graduated from high school. She had been in the hospital with a heart problem and was moved from a private room to the cardiac care unit while the doctors tried to resolve the problem. One of the last times I was able to visit her she showed me a card from the church. She said that it looked like they were trying to make sure she went to heaven, but she was not ready to go yet. Just about the time the doctors decided she was improving and was ready to leave the CCU for a private room again her heart gave out. I remember arriving at the hospital for visiting time and being pulled aside by my grandfather as he told me there was a problem. That day saw the end of a lot of things for me and I suppose I did not always react to the changes in the mature manner my mother would have wanted, but I hope she would have been proud of me as an adult.

For the picture I gathered a few of the things of my mother's that I have as well as a portrait of her. There are not many thing there -- some book-ends that her boyfriend made for her in high school. She graduated second in her class at Industrial Consolidated after growing up in the Mobil camp in Vanderbilt. I also have an academic award she received in college. If you look closely at the picture you will see her wedding ring. I gave it to my wife well before we were married, as a sign of how much I care for her. The only condition I placed was that she could not keep it if she put on a wedding ring from someone else. Later I gave it to my wife again in church, as I like to say "In front of God and everybody" and we were married.

There is one other thing in the picture -- a wedding picture of my wife. Although I regret very much that my mother did not live to see my children, I think even more I regret that she never met my wife. My grandmother has taken to my wife like another grandchild, and I know my mother would have loved her just as much.

They say these things are supposed to be cathartic, but I am not sure. I am the kind of person who keeps these things locked up tightly inside so I would have been better off posting another picture from Africa or the deer lease, but I felt like this was something I needed to do.


----------



## pelican

Hey folks, I'll add all the pics to the webshots album tomorrow ... it's been a little hectic around here lately. I haven't even had time to read all the stories yet. 
Bob


----------



## Walkin' Jack

Charles, that was beautiful. I was touched by your picture and your words.


----------



## Charles Helm

Walkin' Jack said:


> Charles, that was beautiful. I was touched by your picture and your words.


 Very kind words from a master raconteur. Now if I could just get to sleep.


----------



## limey

*SS Sir Walter Scott*

The SS Sir Walter Scott was built in Dumbarton Scotland on the River Clyde in 1899. The ship was then disassembled and transported by barge, over Loch Lomond, & pulled over land to Loch Katrine & reassembled. The boat was put into operation in 1900 & still sails on a daily basis.

Loch Katrine is 370 feet above sea level, is 12 miles long, 1 mile wide, 500 feet deep and has an annual water temperature of 39F. The water is a natural water supply to the City of Glasgow which uses 38 million gallons/day, this drops the water level 3/4-inch/day. The 26 mile water pipe line was built in 1859 all through solid rock.

The ship is 110' long, 19' wide, weighs 115 tons & is powered by 3-cylinder triple expansion engine & 2 locomotive-type boilers.

Picture taken 30 Aug 2006.


----------



## limey

When the SS Sir Walter Scott was originally built it was capable of carring 300 passengers. Today it is limited to 82 passengers.


----------



## RustyBrown

*Closing comments...*

Thanks to everyone that participated. I guess one of the reasons I liked this topic is because I think we regularly get caught up in equipment, technique and the end result of the image. Photography can be so much more than that.

For me it has been alot like when I began wadefishing 20 years ago. I placed way to much emphasis on quantity and size (part of my competitive nature I guess) of the catch. In time I reminded myself of why I really liked fishing and it was to be outside and active. I have viewed catching as a bonus ever since.

Just this year I've learned so much. Sure some was about photography, but just off the top of my head there were beautiful sunrises behind the Bolivar Lighthouse which lead me to alot of reading about that building and historic Galveston. Ray made me aware of a state park (BBSP) that I never knew about and that got me up close with the gators. From those experiences I met Cutter, fishphoto, Zac and James 1960 - who eventually saved me from a copperhead bite there (still can't believe I didn't get a picture).

As summer got in full swing I headed down to Kemah for fireworks practice and got to meet NaClH2O. The shots were a learning experience to say the least. Then it was off to CO. I haven't shot a frame since 7/17. The shot below is my loving wife Jill, me and my mother who at 73 years will spank you on any hike in the park. *It is not for contest consideration*. It's merely an image that I hope will one day be an heirloom.

In hindsight it has been a wonderful year and there are still 4 months to go. Thank you so much for the stories and the enlightenment. This one shouldn't be a contest because they are all wonderful posts.


----------



## Charles Helm

RustyBrown said:


> Thanks to everyone that participated. I guess one of the reasons I liked this topic is because I think we regularly get caught up in equipment, technique and the end result of the image. Photography can be so much more than that.


 For me it is an archive of those moments in my life I want to remember. That is something I can do even if my equipment and technique are lacking.



RustyBrown said:


> I haven't shot a frame since 7/17.


 There is definitely a lack of balance in the Force because I have had the camera out a couple of times this week, which is unusual for me.


----------



## galbayfisher

thanks Charles. Last nite we took my dad to the hospital for chest pains. I was thinking on the way how unfortunate that I was not able to take pictures of him with my daughters the day before. I was praying that he would be able to see his new great-grandson later this year. 

He's doing fine now. I guess it wasn't time.


----------



## Charles Helm

galbayfisher said:


> He's doing fine now. I guess it wasn't time.


 I'm very glad to hear that.


----------

