A little humour helps.

Funny. Silly. Goofy. Sometimes, maybe not so much. But you can't blame a guy for trying. I have been playing with putting words to photos I have taken lately with the goal of achieving some degree of complete and total silliness. Partly because it puts a new twist on my shots and partly because it's just plain fun. There is also the pandemic and the need to isolate. What better way than to have a little fun?

I am very fond of older comics; my favourites are Peanuts, Herman, The Far Side, and Garfield. There is an interesting harmony between the four of them in that they all involve animals to some extent to convey humour. Two of them are based on single panels but all four have successfully employed this expressive form. Even cards celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, and other festive occasions use a similar approach albeit with often two panels instead of one. The point is that an animal and a caption can evoke a chuckle.

The interesting thing is taking an image and coming up with text that will tickle someone's funny bone. Some, like the white-crowned sparrow above, require balloons of thought or speech while others, like the one below, benefit from effectively placed words. The top image should be universally funny while the bottom image could go either way. The Bewick's wren, like all wrens, have a tail that stands erect when perching. If you didn't know that, you may feel that the photo is drawing cruel attention to the plight of an abused creature. Personally, I find it funny.

At any extent, I am hoping to try more of these. I would encourage you to consider your own caption for such photographs and submit them to me through Facebook or whatever medium you like. Your idea might be better than mine. Really though, my goal is to have a bit of fun and hope to make someone else's day a little lighter.

Thanks for reading.     Ericspix     Eric Svendsen