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Celebrating 200 Years of Braille (1809-2009)
2nd PlaceCelebrating 200 Years of Braille (1809-2009)
mchalmers


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Language (Basic Editing)
Camera: Nikon D90
Lens: Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D
Location: My Dining Room
Date: Mar 24, 2009
Aperture: f/3.5
ISO: 500
Shutter: 1/80 sec.
Galleries: Emotive, Studio
Date Uploaded: Mar 24, 2009

 POST: Oh man.. I don't know what to say. This means so much to get a ribbon on a photo that I am so proud of.

I'm a man of my word! I'll be making a $100 donation to my local CNIB to help them with their awesome work.

GO SNOWMEN!!
____________________________________
This photo is really special to me.

When the challenge was announced, I had a difficult time figuring out how to visually represent language. I figured that sign language would probably be overdone. Aha! Braille!

I called up my local CNIB, and spoke to the librarian in charge. She said that they didn't have a lending library, but I was welcome to borrow one of their braille books. Later that day I met Mary-Ann, the librarian, who is blind. We spoke for almost an hour about braille, the history behind it, and how it works.

She showed me all kinds of really cool gadgets, like her Bluetooth braille display, which is a screen reader that raises pins on the display to form braille letters.

I left there with lots of reading material, and this book pictured here. This book is actually 'The Life and Work of Louis Braille'.

I will be making a donation to the CNIB when I return the book, to help and support this fantastic organization. If I win a ribbon, I promise to double it. :)

If you want to learn more about the CNIB or the celebration of 200 years since Louis Braille's birth, please visit www.cnib.ca, or www.braille200.ca!

Statistics
Place: 2 out of 116
Avg (all users): 6.5271
Avg (commenters): 8.6250
Avg (participants): 5.9211
Avg (non-participants): 6.6667
Views since voting: 4519
Views during voting: 325
Votes: 203
Comments: 24
Favorites: 2 (view)

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AuthorThread
 04/05/2009 09:28:35 PM
Those great stories always give nice shots! Congrats for your ribbon!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/01/2009 12:12:12 PM
Great story and a beautiful image. The lighting on the book is wonderful. I'm SO pleased this did well for you, Mark. You really deserved your ribbon.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/01/2009 10:52:57 AM
Congratulations on your second place finish. Your entry was my pick for blue. This was a tough challenge to convey language, the use of your son's hand emphasizes the importance of teaching our children about language even at an early age. Braille is such an important language and is prevalent every where we look, unfortunately most people over look it's existence. Stevie Wonder used to leave his braille magazines on airplanes in hopes of capturing someone's attention. He even joked about leaving his Playboy magazines. Now there's a thought provoking idea.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/01/2009 09:14:18 AM
I'd also like to highlight a comment by linustgl which read:
"overall I like this picture. the on thing that bothers me is the use of a child's hand. Probably not old enough to read a book like this."

You are absolutely 100% correct, and what an astute observation. It is my son's hand, and he is not quite 3 years old.. He has JUST started to understand the concept of reading. And considering this is an autobiography of Louis Braille, he certainly is too young for it.
 04/01/2009 07:11:02 AM
I didn't get round to voting, but this one stood out for me as my pick for the blue so I'm so glad you got a ribbon, not least as it means the donation goes up ;-) Well done for the ribbon and a further well done for highlighting an important charitable cause :-)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/01/2009 06:58:45 AM
Very nice ,top two photos. excellent finish.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/01/2009 06:44:53 AM
Go Canada! Congrats on your 2nd place finish.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/01/2009 05:44:40 AM
Very well deserved ribbon Mark. And cudos to you for highlighting CNIB ;)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/01/2009 01:55:09 AM
Wow! Well Done! A 1-2 finish for the Snowmen!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/01/2009 01:42:40 AM
Congratulations, well deserved
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/01/2009 12:33:57 AM
Congrats on the ribbon ....great lighting and composition
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/01/2009 12:30:14 AM
Well done, congrats on a good image. The story behind is very nice and I think the donation is very worthy!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/01/2009 12:15:42 AM
Go Mark! Awesome image!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/01/2009 12:06:08 AM
Yeeee Haw!!!! Go Snowmen!!!!!!!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/01/2009 12:02:33 AM
Sweet... GO CANADA... awesome finish Mark.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
03/30/2009 10:13:24 PM
Great idea and composition. My only real comment is that I would have liked to see the hand attempting to read the writing as a blind person would, rather than just resting on the book.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/30/2009 10:07:12 PM
Great lighting to really highlight the braille
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/29/2009 05:05:58 AM
beautiful work. well thought, well composed and well executed.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/28/2009 08:25:12 AM
Nice!!!! Go Snowmen!!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/28/2009 06:40:53 AM
Great job!

No vote.

Go Snowmen!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/27/2009 10:16:12 PM
Love the lighting.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/27/2009 10:08:04 PM
overall I like this picture. the on thing that bothers me is the use of a child's hand. Probably not old enough to read a book like this.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/26/2009 10:02:25 PM
to me this image tells a story of some sort. i love the child's hand. 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/25/2009 03:26:34 PM
Really like the lighting and the composition of this photograph. Great Job
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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