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Canon DSLR Challenge | all galleries >> Challenge 27: The Darker Side (Hosted by Angela Johnson) >> Challenge 27: Eligible > What, Ain't Reality Scary Enough? * By Jonathan Nissanov
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10/24/2004 Jonathan Nissanov

What, Ain't Reality Scary Enough? * By Jonathan Nissanov


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Jonathan (Yoni) Nissanov31-Oct-2004 20:03
I guess desensetization treatement for lolliphobia is doable. Wonder what they would do for necrophobia.
Guest 30-Oct-2004 21:02
For the record... no dolls were dipped in dye for the purpose of my image - just selective oversaturation will do the trick without the mess... not that it matters, the doll wasn't the dark part of the image - neither literally nor figuratively.

Re your image*... nice feeding bird. I just hope someone here doesn't have a phobia about lollipops or we'll see one next :)
Jonathan (Yoni) Nissanov30-Oct-2004 15:28
I appreciate you humour. Didn't really mean to come off so serious, but since we are on this line of discussion....

What is an unnatural end to life? Cancer at 30? Bystander shot to death? Suicide by hanging? Is it it the intent of perpetuator? None with cancer, the death of the bystander was an unintended accident, and who would label the sufferer of depression as evil. The consequence of death by "evil" deeds too in the end is the same-cessation of life. I fear the cessation of life and not how it comes about.

Personally, I am not really so maudlin-philosphical well yes, but not an activist in the sense of wishing to alter bird behavior and direct them to a vegitarian lifestyle-oops, I have to take that back- I am a biomedical researcher that is trying to do something about death-hmm I guess I am an activist. Am I scared of death-natural" or "otherwise"? Yes. Doesn't paralyze me, but yes I am scared of it. I am scared of many things that limit my self determination and death certainly does.
Guest 30-Oct-2004 12:34
Hi Jonathan,

I of course, was writing mostly in jest with my last comment... it's my sense of humour. However, what I would suggest is that to go through life afraid of death is not to have lived at all. Yes, we are all going to die. BUT, if you dwell on this... you can't really live. Oh my Gawd... I almost quoted "Brave Heart"!!! ;)

Seriously though, I actually do tend to avoid most horror movies, mostly because I have enough horror at work. If I have been desensitized, it was there. I have seen things that would probably keep you up for a month and what sends chills up my spine is how some of these things came to be... ergo, not death itself but the mechanism or reason behind death.

So with that in mind, death in and of itself is natural when it is part of the life cycle. This fish is participating in that Circle of Life. (Now I'm on to The Lion King! LOL! ) There is nothing unnatural about what is photographed. It's the unnatural termination of life that causes me chills and the psychology behind a person who would end your or my life so quickly and without reservation that they are in a word, just EVIL.

If that bird came after me though.... man... I'd get chills... I've actually heard of one of these birds caught in a trap, a hunter happened upon the bird a great blue heron I believe, and tried to free it. The hunter for his trouble and thoughtfulness had his eyes pecked out and died.

Nice huh?
Jonathan (Yoni) Nissanov30-Oct-2004 03:49
PS, the boo was pretty funny!-Yoni Nissanov
Jonathan (Yoni) Nissanov30-Oct-2004 03:34
A) being scared of dolls dripped in red dye is hardly scarey to me. B) zombies are certainly not frightening. They are simply stereotypes. Planes flying near tall buildings do scare me. Reality, man, is scary because you are not given the opportunity to switch channels. Fear is inescapable death. That fish is facing that condition. John, you should avoid R rated movies because they have dulled your responses to reality ;-). Yes this scares me not because I am worried about being eaten by herons but because I empathize with the fish.

Cropping is a bad idea. The bottom contributes by giving the head height. Looming overhead figures are particularly effective triggers of predatory escape in fish-a system driven by giant reticulospinal neurons which include the identifiably Mauthner cells. We too are quite easily startled by looming objects. Experienced herons strike laterally to fool fish. This one was a particularly effective bird. I saw him strike maybe 10 times and succeed twice. Quite a success rate. The tension in this image is due to the following factors: The two eyes creates visual tension; the unbalance vertical position; the strong color against monochrome background; the harsh lighting and hard sharpening; and the plume of the bird (mirrored by the delicate fins of the fish). The last factor is rather amazing. Block out the plume and the bird softens.

I am not implying evilness in the act, but the hard scary business of reality.
ctfchallenge30-Oct-2004 02:08
I'd crop it in really tightly - so just the fish is most of the frame with the bird not given much real estate; perhaps just including it's eye. I must admit that I had to laugh at "Boo!" LOL! ~ Lonnit
Guest 30-Oct-2004 00:27
Check out the look on the poor fishy's face! I know this is just me lending human attributes to animals, but the fish looks scared and the bird looks mean. I'd crop this so it was more of a square, the bottom half of the image doesn't do much for context or composition to my eye. Might work on the water in the background so it isn't drab gray (I'm not sure how, but maybe your Photoshop skills are more advanced). - bee1000
Guest 30-Oct-2004 00:05
LOL. Sure... I guess so, but quite frankly I still think that's a stretch.

If this picture sends chills down your spine... you should probably limit yourself to G rated movies... you don't want to give yourself a heart attack and face that primal of fears. ;)

Seriously, it is a nice picture though...
Happy Halloween!
BOO! Sorry... hope you didn't fall out of your chair... ;)
Canon DSLR Challenge29-Oct-2004 23:48
No, I intended to put it here. Just a statement that reality is really scary. I realize that this was not the intent of the challenge-that the idea of the challenge was to dig things from horror movies, but horror movies don't scare me. With this, though I for one get connected with a primal fear. This is the end of the road. At the end of the day, mortality of a fish does not differ from my own. So, in accordance with the challenge, I put in an image that sends a chill down my spine.
Guest 29-Oct-2004 23:29
Ummmm.... perhaps I'm missing something.... or perhaps you have posted in the wrong area/challenge?

Nice picture... but, not really on this topic...