Hangin' Out

I guess this needs to be viewed even larger than large . . . .

Great night shot! I really like it!

I sometimes wonder about what I see sometimes as compared to the rest of the public out there. I really love this image. I think it is highly impactful and emotive. The dark area between the two doorways leaves a sense of foreboding that is quite special.

 

I see an image like this and for the life of me can't see why anyone wouldn't give it higher than a 6??? But 4's and 3's? Now AZ's 3 is like a 5 to me so I am never really troubled by his 3's, but the other scores trouble me.

 

I have found recently that I am drawn to images that are more left of center (I know my own stuff falls into that catagory well!!) but I am wondering this: If I like it does that mean that the general public generally won't? Which leads to: Is it better to have images I don't like? Which then follows with: Should I have a showing of my images I don't like so I can sell them all and make a ton???

 

Sorry about the babble. Slow Friday. Surfice it to say, I really love this image and would take a 12x18 and proudly hang it on my wall... Dave

If there is a sense of foreboding, I get no blame or credit, at least not on a conscious level. I think the impact may be compromised by the lens choice, but then shooting with a 20mm sometimes allows you to include someone near the edges of the frame without them being aware of it since they assume a narrower angle of view. Perhaps a 50mm would have worked better in that it would have made him larger yet maintained the necessary DOF. (Here's where the smaller sensor in a digital camera would work better.)

 

Other things being equal, we westerners supposedly enter the frame from the left which suggests that we either want to find the subject there or a at least a supporting element or leading line that will take us to the main point of interest.

 

Your contrarian views of image selection can perhaps be explained in part by your interest in light and composition, as well as the connection that you make with an image on a more emotional less technical level. I guess my job is to execute the image as best I can so that it at least doesn't get in the way of any association you might make, whether or not I intended it.

 

I'm flattered that you would hang this on your wall. For some reason it got me thinking about the rating process in the sense that it would be great if people would go to your portfolio and make one or two choices and explain why they like them. This would really tell you more than comments by themselves, even with the attached 6/6 or 4/4 or whatever. It would also confirm my strongly held belief that the variety of choices, and how they compare to your own personal favorites, reflect who we are rather than what the photographer has offered.

Carl, i think a color version works better.

I love that old Art Deco style. For me, what makes this photograph is the repetition of the subject, smaller, in the background. The lines of perspective draw me to the left edge of the frame, implying, to my eye, an infinite series of repetitions. A bit of mystery from the hand of David Lynch or the pen of Borges.

 

So ... not to be pushy, but if I understand your bio correctly, you might now go add a few words to an image of mine that you've rated.

Oh yeah, one technical comment. I briefly owned the lens you used for this, but returned it due to its weight and cost. I miss it though, I really liked its contrast and feel, and I think I may end up owning it again.