Photo Study: Funnel Ball

In my day, it was tetherball. Our common playground game, that is. So this picture came about one day on a photo walk and I had to find out what this strange sculpture on a stick is called. I found out the common playground game today is Funnel Ball. According to an entry on WikiPedia, Funnel Ball is a common playground game in use today. A giant funnel, roughly 5 feet in diameter with a 45 degree pitch, is placed atop a post. The funnel is traditionally made of fiberglass and usually painted white.

Around these parts, the funnels are painted orange, which provides all kinds of contrast possibilities for my eyes. The challenge here, in my opinion was the restraint exercised in the use of the color orange. The color provides the effect on its own, so my job was to let it appear natural and let the color do the work without external controls or enhancements. In pre-visualizing this image it was kept in mind that warm colors advance toward the eye while the cooler colors recede.

©2016 Funnel Ball Eric Wells Hatheway All Rights Reserved

To continue with the Funnel Ball explanation, the exits of the funnel are four 1 foot diameter holes or tubes, projected parallel to the ground, and 90 degrees from each other. Play consists of tossing a basketball or small medicine ball into the mouth of the funnel and waiting for it to exit through one of the holes. Each hole is marked with a point value, 2, 4, 6 and 8 points.

The ball usually processes around inside the funnel for a short time, making the outcome of the shot nearly random. Shots which exit through a desired hole are rare because they require incredible accuracy, and because the target is somewhat hidden. There is no formal score to which games are played, and games can be played with high score winner or low score winner. Both team and “every-player-for-her/himself” games are commonplace.