HNT - Rerun Time

Busy, busy, busy. Lots going on, lots to do. And yet, another Thursday has arrived and here I find myself without a new picture to post for Half Nekkid Thursday. Worse than that, I haven't done anything for the "Terror in Toyland" storyline (although I do have about half a dozen shots ready to be modified via Photoshop, I haven't had any time to work on putting them together).

But I just can't bear the thought of not posting something for HNT.

So I pull out from the archives, one of my favourite HNT pics -- a picture of me unmasking Darth Tater (and of course the shot that kind of got that whole "toys attack Mark" storyline thing going - so you can blame this picture for all that nonsense)


There are a few things I really like about this picture. First, I took it -- by placing the camera on my desk, angling it at me and hoping I was framed in the shot, used the index finger on my left hand to snap it -- the framing worked out quite nicely, and I particularly like the fact that I've got almost all of Darth's head in the shot (for recognition of the iconic figure from Star Wars), the mask nicely off to the side. Second, I like the expression on my face. I was hoping to go for a more startled/shocked look for humour effect, but I like the way my expression turned out. Third, the background perfectly captures who I am. There's the sketch of the skull that Francine's Grandmother drew, a calendar of pictures of Alexander, my skull Yorick and, of course, my nerdy library in the background, complete with the messy piles of books that define my chaotic organization style. (It's interesting to note that since this picture was taken a couple of years ago, the number of bookshelf units in the den has grown by two, completely covering the wall behind me to my right)

I like this shot so much I also recently sent it to Paula B, host of The Writing Show podcast, to use as the accompanying author shot in the most recent episode of "Getting Publishing With Mark Leslie" that we recorded last week and which is going to appear on the website shortly.