Last week, I put up this photo as my first entry to my new Monday Story Photo post. I decided the first post would be a photo contest and asked people to submit a story about this photograph. Each story had to be 100 words or less.
I want to thank everyone who submitted a story. I enjoyed all the entries and regret that I could only pick three.
And now without further ado, (drum roll) I am pleased to present the three randomly selected photo contest winners! I hope you enjoy their stories as much as I did. Also, I highly recommend visiting their sites. Each has a different and unique way of sharing their thoughts!
Sterling Okura submitted this entry. You can learn more about Sterling at his blog, Bizlift Blog , which focuses on small business growth. There is always something to learn about helping small businesses grow and improve. I enjoyed his beginner tips!
This secluded shore of the South Pacific island Taha’anui is a historical battleground. Natives used the branches of this tree to create a giant slingshot with which they lobbed coconuts at the canoes of an invading enemy.
Spearheads and other artifacts of the battle can still be found if you sift through the sand.
Evita Ochel from Evolving Scenes, submitted this entry. Evita’s blog is a place where she shares her passion for nature and our world with inspirational words. If you visit Evita’s blog, you’ll be in for a treat. She uses her unique and beautiful photography to express her thoughts about the world.
There once was an Arctic moose who had the most unique antlers in the entire world. He would often walk around with his friends the woolly mammoth and saber tooth tiger, posing for all to see his unique antlers that were like no other. The arctic moose was in fact a little too full of himself, as he thought only his antlers were worth looking at.
One day the arctic moose was busy admiring his antlers in a nearby mirror glacier, when the Ice Age hit. This was all that was left of him:)
Julie, from Random Meanderings submitted this entry. Her blog tag is moseying, observing, pondering… and finding little gems in the oddest ordinary places. Welcome to my world! I encourage you to visit Julie’s blog…you will not regret it. She shares her world and her words in a wonderfully calm, peaceful and loving way!
The ancient one quietly remembered how when young she gently opened to release seeds to the wind, scattering young far and wide. How her form was sculpted by the events of wind, water, and sand. How her roots kept her firmly grounded and gave her strength as she rose tall to meet the sky, branches proudly spread wide… She contemplated how she is now, old and bared clean, still happily contributing to life as the perfect perch for children playing games of searching for pirate ships, their giggling and laughter adding continued strength as she patiently waits to return Home.
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Hi Sara. I loved all of these! Each so different, yet similar in one way. There is a deep reflectiveness about them all — a quiet melancholy spirit. Excellent work Sterling, Evita and Julie!
Davinas last blog post..When Surgery is a Laughing Matter
@ Davina — The only credit I can take for this is the photograph. It is amazing what people can come with in 100 words and I am very pleased with the results of this photo story:~)
Well lobbing coconuts would be fun but not at enemies. Julie is so amazing. She gets all of this from looking at that photo.
What she writes relates to my life
As a mom of 4 grown daughters living in various places scattered far and wide in the U.S. My body has been sculpted Laugh lines, wrinkles, etc!
over the years of living life good times, stressful times, sad times, joyful times (wind, water and sand).My faith (roots) has kept me grounded and given me strength.
As a Nana I’m a perfect perch for my grandchildren.
However I don’t think of myself as “old and bared clean” and I’m not waiting to go home.
I think this new idea is going to be fun.
Tess The Bold Lifes last blog post..Magic Mondays = 1/7 of Your Life
@ Tess — It was amazing to read the submissions and what people got from the photograph. Of course, you can be a Nana and still be a wild and crazy lady, if you want to. I don’t have grandchildren yet, unless you count cats, dogs, horses and other furry creatures :~) However, my eldest is getting married in September to a wonderful guy she’s been with for many years. The wedding will be in England, as that’s where they live. We’re all looking forward to it.
I’m also pleased that you liked the new photo story idea. Not every one will be a contest, but there will always be a challenge. I love photography and find that pictures often tell many different stories to people.
Sara, thank you very much for your wonderful introduction. And thank you for offering this exercise! This was fun. I had no idea I could actually stay within a “100 words only” rule! I surprised myself.
Davina and Tess, thank you, too, for your gracious hand clapping!
Sterling and I must have a similar sense of humor, because I saw a slingshot, too, at first glance, but couldn’t find the story. He has the knack! And Evita is just peerless at matching insightful wisdom to awesome photos. She does it so beautifully at Evolving Scenes.
Sara, it’s fun to see how we can intersperse our writings with photography posts. Several of us have experimented with this, each in a different way of engaging our readers. It’s fun to see our creativity take new forms. Thank you, again, for this.
Julies last blog post..Dawn
@ Julie — You are so welcome. I enjoyed your “take” on this photograph very much. Your writing was so much fun because you managed to do it in exactly 100 words. That’s what I try to do on Twitter is see if I can write something that exactly 141 characters. It makes Twitter a bit more challenging:~)
It is fun to use photographs as triggers for writing. I often find when I take a photo that there’s something I didn’t see when snapped the picture or the picture will take on a different meaning when I look at it. Lastly, I agree with you about Sterling and Evita…I just wish I could have put all the entries up. Thanks for surprising yourself, Julie :~)
@Sara, thanks for the fun contest. Love that my entry was one of the random selections.
@Tess – I agree that lobbing coconuts is more fun if it’s not at an enemy. That’s why I made it past tense, as an ancient historical battleground. Sadly, polynesian cultures (and pretty much every culture) has a much more brutal and violent history than just lobbing coconuts at canoes. On another note, I enjoyed how you personally related to Julie’s entry.
@Julie – What an amazing way with words you have. I got goosebumps reading your entry. Almost seems like it should be heard as spoken word. beautiful!
Sterling Okuras last blog post..Recent Projects Built With Free Tools
@ Sterling — I’m glad you had fun. I think everybody enjoyed reading what you, Evita and Julie had to say about the photograph. The whole idea of Story Photo Monday is to look at photographs in a different way. As I said to Patricia this is a new venture for me and I’m excited about it. I hope you’ll come back and visit next Monday as well as check out my regular Thursday post:~)
Coconuts in slingshots, moose full if itself and the full circle of life for a grandmother tree….this was a delightful contest and I enjoyed reading your winners and the picture. What fun! Thank you.
Patricias last blog post..Book Review: Everything Bad is Good For You ~ Steven Johnson
@ Patricia — Thanks! I’m glad you enjoyed the post and the responses — Sterling, Evita and Julie did a great job! I’m trying something new and doing two posts a week now. The one on Monday will be called Story Photo and will always use a photo. It won’t always be a contest, but will have a challenge for my readers regarding the photo. My Thursday post will continue as usual — sharing life lessons:~)
LOL
What great stories!
This was such a great idea Sara and I so enjoyed reading Julie’s and Sterling’s stories! Isn’t it amazing how we each can see such different things. This to me says a lot too about life and how so many people can look at the same things and see completely different stuff.
Anyway it was such a pleasant surprise to see my story up there too, again I had a fun time with this and I look forward to your future Monday posts Sara!
And Julie and Sterling – awesome job! And thank you for the beautiful words about Evolving Scenes.
And Sara thanks again for the opportunity and as well I am touched by what you said about me – I love looking at life through the lens of nature and that is why I think I have such a fun time with Evolving Scenes too!
Evitas last blog post..The Potential Within
@ Evita — I am so glad you enjoyed the contest and appreciated all the entries! I thought each story was unique and also fun! I agree with you that it’s amazing how people see such different things. This is what I love about using photography…you never know what someone will see in a picture…as I’m sure you know! I have one picture of a pine tree that has a bug on the tree, but I didn’t see it when I took the picture…it was a surprise!
Regarding my comments about your site, I always enjoy the way you “read” your photographs…there’s something special there!