opinions desired

[Phragmites]

ive recently come back to photography after many years away. and ive been thinking of what constitutes a good photograph. is it that it draws emotion from the observer? that it simply fascinates them? i took the photo Stuck in Colour during the summer, and was struck at the time by the colours – the blue in particular, as it was simply a reflection of a clear sky on black paint and corroded paint flecks. so i created Stuck in Blue to draw that element out.

i soon realised that what i did in photoshop to isolate the blue, and thought so clever of me to figure out, was easily done and done often by pretty much everyone and his uncle – just walk past your local high street digital print company and look in the window. that led me to wondering what makes a good photo in today’s world of ubiquitous digital manipulation software.

it also made me question whether or not what i thought of as a good photo – namely the one i had taken – really was in anyone else’s eyes. one of the reasons i take photos and show them to people is that i want to make them see something in a way they havent before – the way i see things sometimes – or to evoke an emotional response.

so what im looking for is feedback on these two photos in particular – do they draw a response from you? if so what? and is the Blue version just another (yawn) highlighted colour or do such images still have value despite their overuse?

i wont say yet what response i get from them, as i dont want to prejudice anyone’s opinions.

😉

http://img213.imageshack.us/my.php?image=stuckincolourbyphragmitbp6.jpg
http://img213.imageshack.us/my.php?image=stuckinbluebyphragmitesni2.jpg

– P
(phragmites.deviantart.com)

[Curious]

i like the B/W one better for two reasons. 1) i’m partial to B/W for shots like that and 2) the color one is too busy. however the blue being where it is pulls your eye off the center of interest. when you look to the left and see it the path from there is up and out of the frame.

also if i were to print that from a negative there would be some dodging and burning involved but w/o actually playing with it i can’t say where. the white/light area at the upper right distracts me. in both shots.

my $.02

[anneb]

I, too, prefer the B&W- the red is just too much, right behind the cobweb, I end up seeing it instead. However, you might get something you like by desaturating it some.

The blue is nice. It looks to me like it’s falling out of the cobwebs and down into the gears- or, maybe, the blue brings me around the gears and up into the cobwebs, I’m not quite sure.

[Phragmites]

thanks for all that. now that youve mentioned it, i agree about the light area at the upper right, it IS distracting. but as much as i like the b/w version for bringing the texture out and creating a different mood, i do prefer the colour one. i guess i have a thing for colours, and this particular image is chock full of ’em -bright and primary. because i know they were all real and not altered in photoshop i marvel at it, and its for that reason the object caught my eye in the first place. the cobwebs and corrosion offer an interesting contrast of decay to the brightness of the colours.

thanks again for your comments. i’ll certainly be looking out more for where my eye is drawn by the image itself.

– P

[Author]

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