“It’s Fun To Stay At The …”

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"It's Fun To Stay At The ..."

For some reason 70s music is really popular on the Death Star.

« see more of my Stormtroopers series

Notes

While it’s easily the most popular photo I have ever taken, this image was a completely unplanned afterthought. True story!

At the end of an evening of tabletop photography in May 2009, I was playing with a Star Wars stormtrooper action figure and absent-mindedly put him into the shape of the letter “T.” I then wondered, “What could I spell out with stormtroopers?” I was immediately transported back to the late 70s, a time when, thanks to the Village People, everyone was forming the letters “YMCA” with their bodies. Thinking it might be funny, I setup a very quick and simple shot and uploaded it without much post-processing. Shortly afterwards it went viral. The StumbleUpon network spread the image all around the Internet, the photo climbed onto the Digg home page, and by the next day it was #1 on the front page of Flickr Explore.

If I had known how many people would eventually see this image at the time, I would have pulled it into Photoshop and spent hours cleaning it up. In retrospect, I’m glad I didn’t; I think the gritty imperfections make it more “realistic” and fun.

Speaking of realism, it’s interesting to note that I took this photo in my kitchen with a simple CoolPix point-and-shoot camera: no fancy equipment, no studio, no special lighting. Never let a lack of gear keep you from being creative!

Thank you to everyone who shared this photo with a friend or loved one. Giving others a smile a big part of why I do this.

Seen elsewhere

• Flickr
• Flickr Explore (#1 on June 1, 2009)