I promise, you have nothing better to do than look at these photos of funny signs, submitted for this week’s Shooting Challenge.
Silly[Cross]Walk
Best official municipal crosswalk sign ever! I saw this week’s photo challenge subject and absolutely had to shoot and submit this one. It’s in Tempe, Arizona, on Mill Avenue. I woke up early, picked a parking spot strategically equidistant between the sign and the Starbucks, shot the sign and then grabbed coffee. I used my Canon T3i with a Sigma 18-200 lens.
Darrin Robertson
Please Be A Joke
I took this pic with my Nokia Lumina in Kemah Texas outside of Houston TX...
Jami Williams
A Reasonable Request
As I was entering the north gate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, I passed this sign. Needless to say, it took a second for me to process what I had just read and I had to turn around to go back.
Taken with an iPhone 5s though a rental car window.
Chris Backus
Times Square
So I haven’t been back to NYC in about 5 years and I thought let me get up and film some street photography (and a sign or two) while I am up early in the morning. I have my Canon 6D and a 35mm lens ready to simply photograph Times Square which is a lot less crowded at 7 am.
This was the first time I had seen all the construction taking place in Times Square so landscape shots of the area were all going to involve barricades and fences and other things that could take away from that “ironic” shot of a peaceful and quite times square.
As traffic is pretty chaotic with the construction I noticed a crew directing traffic through the area. Knowing it was still dark enough to utilize a long exposure I decided to snap this shot of the construction worker holding the stop sign up as traffic was going by. The sign is actually reversed saying ‘SLOW’ on the other end, but I appreciated the ‘STOP’ sign more because capturing the motion in log exposure so rarely has a situation where the word stop appears, let alone on a sign.
Justin Bennett
A Need To Know
Have you ever been to the Scottish island of Skye? The “island of the clouds”, the iconic Dunvegan Castle (the home of the Clan MacLeod), the place they make the malt whisky Talisker… wait.. who am kidding… Don’t believe the romantic rhetoric, it’s a harsh, bleak place, that pairs well with it’s own whisky that has a kick unlike any other, and it never stops raining, never. Furthermore despite it’s proximity to civilisation (and the new road bridge), it’s a good 6hr drive from Edinburgh, and don’t think about stopping to get out of your car to admire the scenery because the roads are lined with feral goats that will kill you…
The photo was taken leaning out of the car window on the road journey to Skye. We saw the first sign on our way up the road, and nearly died of laughter. So around about 2 miles later we got the camera ready, and kept checking the rear-view mirror in the anticipation of the associated sign on the other side of the road, and to our delight - it was there… Enjoy. Shot with a Canon 6D, EF 24-105mm f/4L IS lens, ISO 160
Rick Hawkins
“Blow” Can Just Mean Wind, Guys
Blow-Me-Down Provincial Park is a lovely little spot on the Bay of Islands, near Corner Brook in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Blow-Me-Down Mountain was named by a diminutive fishing captain who was worried that the onshore winds would blow him overboard when he anchored nearby.
Newfoundland is renowned for its place-names. Sadly, I didn’t get a chance to visit Dildo Run Provincial Park, but I did visit Cow Head and Goobies Junction. On my next trip my travel itinerary will include Cupids’s Crossing, Heart’s Desire, Come by Chance and Conception Bay. I might pass up Placentia Bay though.
The photo was taken on my trusty iPhone 5s on a very windy day.
Rick Miller
Everyone Sees What You Did There
This is why Washington, DC can’t have nice things.
As soon as the theme of this week’s contest was announced, I knew what my subject would be. Taken during the golden hour to really heighten the beauty of the subject. As my wife helpfully explains, “It’s even pointing at wood.”
Taken on a Canon T6s with a 40mm pancake lens, ƒ/4, 1/160 sec, 100 ISO.
Andy Eklund
Hey, I Live On That Road!
Jackass Hill Rd! Taken, fittingly, in Southpark, CO with a Cannon SX 50.
Abby Matousek
NOPE NOPE NOPE
I found this sign on the south side of Maui toward the end of state road 31, where it goes through the Ahihi-Kinau Natural Area Reserve. It’s in a lava field that had been been used for Navy target practice during World War II. The warning to not touch unexploded bombs seems like it ought to be obvious, but maybe it isn’t for everyone. Canon G7X, 1/400 at F4.0, ISO 125, with fill flash.
Ken Moore
Time Machine
This sign is in a park near a local art school - the wordplay always brings a smile to the face of whomever notes it. FujiX-T1, ISO 400, Shutter 1/500 f 6.4 with XF50-140 lens. Converted to B&W in lightroom CC to accent time travel analogy
Daniel Jones
We Did It Our Way
This sign points to an alleyway behind the Italian embassy in downtown Toronto
Fuji X-T1, ISO 400, f5.6 1/500 shutter speed
Sarah Wenger
Yeah, You
On Saturday afternoon, I packed up my entire D7100 kit (5 lenses, filters, and more) and headed out in search of interesting street signs. Not 15 minutes after getting onto the interstate, I spotted the sign in my submission. Of course, I missed it. Knowing that the DOT programs all of the signs to display the same message, and that there was no way I could just stop in the middle of the interstate, I dug my iPhone 4s out of my pocket and just kept driving. It took passing under 5 different signs and 19 separate shots (with both hands on the wheel AND the iPhone - in the 11:30 and 12:30 positions) before I finally got one that was legible.
Win Barker
Tough Choice
Shot at the north shore of Oahu, HI. While deciding which beach to go to next.
Gonzalo Merayo
Work Scars
This hard working sign has seen better days. But, I think it speaks strongly about the men and women of our working class who toil in 100 degree weather to make everyone’s life a little better everyday. Taken at 8:00 at night in Southern California when temps still reached the high 90’s. Slight color boost with Pixlr.
Tim Erling
Ironically Out Of Focus Though
I participated in a photowalk happening in Miami last friday Aug. 14th. We walk during a couple hours, going from McCormick Place to Bayfront park.
Some 100 or more photographers participated in the Walk. In our way back down Downtown’s 3rd street I saw this sign, I bet it was the first time that more than 100 photographers pass by this little photography school at the same time...
Victor Prada
Who Reads Kanji?
I live in Tokyo and have been documenting street signs over the last few months at Signs of Japan (as featured on Kotaku.) I find the use of cartoon graphics to be an effective way of conveying messages, especially since I can’t read the kanji. It’s often a fun insight into the culture as well. Construction signs are a common target of mine, as there’s always new buildings going up, and they usually feature workers either apologizing for the construction or signaling you to stop. The latter is on display here, although it could also be interpreted as an invite to hug a construction worker. Shot this with my Fujifilm X-E1 equipped with a Fujinon 27mm lens; ISO 400, f/7.1, 1/350.
Luca Eandi
“Chicago” Avenue
My high-zoom point-and-shoot was ready from repairs and I decided to use the challenge to test it out, and I knew where to go on my way home. Since I love to compose in lens with the zoom, this is uncropped, just with a 25% “Smart Fix” from PS Elements to make sure the layers of black paint on the post were visible.
Here in Chicago, brown street signs are used for “Honorary” street names that allow councilmen to pass an ordinance to “name a street” for a person or group without messing with the official map and confusing first responders. But to my knowledge, of the 1500 such honorees, this is the only one I am aware of that uses a custom logo instead of the street sign standard font.
While a street nearer their Depaul University roots might technically more accurate, if a sign honoring one of the best-selling American bands ever was on any other street, you know folk would say “I’ve been searching for so long” or “Baby what a big surprise”
Keith Privett
Made With Love
Location a busy highway exit in Phetchaburi Thailand. I set out to photograph a sign that completely blocked a view of a freeway exit. I was hoping to make some social commentary about the incorrect placement of signs. But it had been removed. So instead I decided to take a picture of what goes on behind the signs. Photo taken on a Sony ILCE 5000 Alpha, f/14, 1/160 second, focal length 24 (35mm equivalent). Some cropping around the edges, but no other touch ups. I don’t believe in them.
Nick Smith
Analog Glitch
There’s something telling about revolving billboards like this one I see daily in Tallahassee. It’s perpetually stuck in a time that was wire-based. Digital billboards, essentially very large flatscreen televisions, are slowly becoming the norm which can provide an unlimited source of different media in two or three dimensions. Granted, of course, there’s electricity.
Jerry D. Elmore
Dog Humor
Canon 60D — F8 — 1/80” — ISO 100 — 52mm
Mike Case
Is This A Trick?
A friend of mine told me about this photo walk that was happening in Miami Friday night so I grabbed my gear & headed downtown. This “No turn on red” was the best I could muster.
I was using my tripod so I went with the long exposure.
Javier Valencia
OK, you got me. All 21 signs weren’t necessarily funny. But like 17 of them were. And the headline ‘17 Photos Of Funny Signs And Like 4 That Weren’t Trying To Be Funny But Might Still Be Worth Checking Out Anyway’didn’t exactly roll off the tongue. Thanks as always to everyone who entered this week!