One of the required products of a weekend field trip is a group photo.

On our Big Loop Trip this summer, we joined up with the Essig Museum group for one weekend in the southern Sierras, and had a very fun time with them.  Just before Kip, John, and I departed for New Mexico, we took a group photo.  Here it is. and I would claim that, while nice, it is relatively boring.  We are all standing up nice and straight, which is good, but it just doesn’t have much compelling about it.

Much more interesting is the progression toward that point.  Instead of a group photo, why not a group stop-motion animation, frame by frame?  It might start with this picture

and then one of the players might move to the side, making room for other folks,

and there can be a dash as one of the photographers (Joyce Gross) runs into view after setting up her camera

and then the other photographer (me) steps in

and we are almost ready

and now that we have established our boring poses, the default group photo:

If I hadn’t had the camera going earlier, I wouldn’t have realized how much I prefer one of the less static images.  The one I like the best is one of the middle ones, after we were all in view, but with just enough dynamism in it to be interesting, and to give a sense of spontaneity. This one:

Much better.  We look much more lively.  By maybe all of us should be running around?  We should have taken a picture while we were all pretending to be scurrying insects.