
Often when I am photographing birds and other critters in Siouxland, I strive to get tight shots when permissible. For one thing, with small birds, they tend to get lost in the foliage of nearby bushes or tree limbs. And when taking their images I think about the movie quote from the Billy Wilder film “Sunset Boulevard” that has most likely bantered about for ages since its original usage.
As noted on the website “shmoop” dot com:
” This misquoted line is spoken by Norma Desmond, played by Gloria Swanson, in the film Sunset Boulevard, directed by Billy Wilder (1950).
At the end of Sunset Boulevard, delusional crackpot (i.e., actress) Norma Desmond stalks toward a camera, thinking it’s a movie camera, saying, “All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up.” In reality, it’s a news camera and everyone is there because she’s about to be arrested for murder. What a misunderstanding.
Many people misquote the line as “I’m ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille.” It’s a minor mistake that doesn’t change the meaning of the quote. But hey, that’s what we do. We take a close-up look at quotes and find all the flaws. Check yourself before you misquote yourself. “
But in a way, it is true. There are good angles from which to take a person’s or object’s photograph or portrait, and then there is probably a better angle.
Jerry Mennenga
Sioux City, Iowa
