More Than One Photo
Not As It Seems
When I started publishing a photo a day as My Final Photo almost twenty years ago, life was, in some ways, much simpler.
The web was slow, and there was no streaming.
There was screaming at the 1200-baud modem, which uploaded very small photos to the early version of My Final Photo. They were required to be small because dial-up connections were tenuous at best and rarely matched the speed capabilities of the modem or the copper wire phone system.
Despite the slow-speed connection, the early versions of My Final Photo often published more than one photo from the day. Because few pieces of software or scripts would publish my photos as I wanted them displayed, I wrote my own code.
It was rudimentary, as all I needed was a flat-file database I could update locally and then upload the file, along with the photos, to a server using the FTP protocol. It was a simple Basic program that I later converted to PHP when I switched servers.
Today, I use WordPress and have for more than 10 years. I publish only one photo a day on My Final Photo. The title is singular so no reason for more than one.
I recently began publishing newsletters where I can publish more photos from the day or from the large archive of my life making photos.
Yesterday’s MFP requires more photos to complete the story and explain the circumstances for the photo at the top of the newsletter.
Seen as an isolated photo, it shows an accident that shouldn’t have happened—one that an observant driver would have avoided. That is one of the problems with a single photo—it doesn’t always tell the complete story.
The Sheetz where the accident happened is built on former farmland that faced two-lane Worthington Road. The original roadway was renamed Old Worthington Road when redirected during Polaris Parkway's construction. A section of that road remains as the rear entrance to Sheetz from the new, six-lane Worthington Road.
Customers entering Sheetz have a single road sign directing them from the abandoned road to the store. The road then continues open to the closed end with old sections of two connecting roadways. One led to the old parking lot for the amphitheater, and the other led to open land. Here’s the Google Maps street view showing the road before Sheetz construction.
The photos below present different views of the accident scene from an ever-widening perspective.
See how this accident might have happened, especially for someone unfamiliar with the road. It took me only a moment to realize I needed more than one photo to tell the story.
My Final Photo News is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my photography and commentary, become a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe to The Westerville News and PhotoCamp Daily. My Final Photo News also recommends Civic Capacity and Into the Morning by Krista Steele.