No, Gorin, you are wrong and that's exactly how I found it.

Seriously, why would you assume otherwise and even make an accusatory comment like that when as you say you have no background information at all?

Well....certainly didn;t mean for it to sound "accusatory". It was really just an observation "it looks too well placed/posed to have been abandined". The second half of my comment specifically indicates that I thought it is possible that you might have encountered it that way. But it looks like you got so "miffed" reading the first sentence that you probably didn't pay to much attention to the rest of the comment.

That's one of the challenges of WeeklyShot, since you don't have any background information, you ARE FORCED to make assumptions when you look at submissions. So "seriously" that's why I made an assumption ;) And I don't feel like a bad guy for making an assumption in this case. I also certainly didn't mean to offend you, and it looks like you were offended, so that's the only thing I feel remotely bad about.

No need to be so defensive. Try not to take comments so personally. They certainly are not directed at you as personal attacks, nor could they be, since submissions are anonymous.

Have a nice day.

BTW, I just re-read my original comment and there is nothing in that comment that suggests that I thought it was you, the photographer, that placed this stuffed animal in this position. That you immediately assumed that is what I meant is interesting, given your apparent dislike for "accusatory" statements ;)

Well... I'm not that easily offended or I wouldn't still be posting here, but if I disagree with a comment or find it unconstructive I will say so (some people seem to be sensitive about that, too)... and a recent spate of downright abusive comments to a couple of friends and probably others had used up my patience. I misinterpreted the "remarkable" as an implied "unlikely" so I apologize for jumping to conclusions and lumping you in with those miscreants.

Anyway, it's a lost toy that someone presumably found and put on the bench to make it easier to find if someone went looking for it... things like that are common enough in the park where I saw it that it's probably what I would think if I saw this picture somewhere. If you mean that it just looks put there and not lost then fair enough, but I thought the water damage and dirt made it look pretty forlorn. Putting it back on the ground might make it look more lost but this is how I found the scene when I was out taking my new camera for a walk.

Ana: I always wonder if i should give them a home or leave them in case the owner comes back.

you should take their picture, take them home, and put signs up for a found pet!

No problem Adam. Abusive and non-constuctive/non-informational comments irritate the crap out of me also.

Also, as far as the toy goes, I have two kids, one of whom is a three year old boy, and I can tell you that even the loved stuffed animals that would never get left behind are still covered in dirt and show signs of water damage, although technically, it is more like "saliva damage" LOL. So that's why the toy didn't look abandoned to me per se.

What is your "new camera" by the way?

Ah yes, with little kids the forgotten toys are the ones that stay intact. The little heart that says "be mine" made me think it was lost by half of an adult or adolescent couple, and I actually thought that was pretty sad... and that's why i thought of it right away when the "alone" theme came up.

The new camera is a D70S... yeah I know everyone likes Canon but it works with my Nikon film gear.

Canon is just fine, but I am a Nikon lover all the way. I use a D2X and just got my wife a D80 for Christmas!!! Nikon ROCKS!!! ;)

Vis-a-vis the tete-a-tete above (I couldn't resist), I surmised that the toy had been left there by a conscientious adult to make it easier for a child to find.

I've had kids and dogs...saliva damage, indeed!