DPChallenge: A Digital Photography Contest You are not logged in. (log in or register
 
Challenge Entries

 
You are viewing 1st place.
2nd
Portfolio Images
This image is not part of a public portfolio.
Urban Reality
1st PlaceUrban Reality
Patents4u


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: City Life II (Basic Editing III)
Camera: Canon EOS-300D Rebel
Lens: Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM
Location: Detroit, MI
Date: Jan 1, 2006
Aperture: 5.6
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/25
Galleries: Cityscape, Urban
Date Uploaded: Jan 3, 2006

Just a standard alley in Detroit....really surprised at how well this scored! Predicted a 6. Satisfying because I actually went downtown to shoot for this challenge, something I have not been able to do for quite some time due to other commitments.

Statistics
Place: 1 out of 173
Avg (all users): 7.3255
Avg (commenters): 8.3158
Avg (participants): 6.8205
Avg (non-participants): 7.4542
Views since voting: 10619
Views during voting: 589
Votes: 384
Comments: 84
Favorites: 15 (view)


Please log in or register to add your comments!

AuthorThread
03/01/2006 08:26:48 PM
If you don't mind me asking what part of detroit are you from? I live in southwest. Awsome picture.

Message edited by author 2006-03-01 20:27:10.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/17/2006 11:53:13 AM
This photo has a timeless quality about it. It could've been taken in the '40s, '50s, '60s, etc.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/15/2006 07:31:57 PM
Congratulations on your wonderful image and your Blue Ribbon
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/14/2006 05:55:03 PM
Congrats on the ribbon. You shot captures exactly the image that comes to mind when I think of City Life.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/13/2006 10:03:25 AM
Congratulations on this image and your blue ribbon..it was my favorite in the challenge...it has all the bleakness and hard edges of an alley; this would not have had the impact in color..
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/12/2006 10:57:16 PM
You lucky bastard....

before anyone gives me grief for calling him names - he's my little brother. I'm allowed to talk to him like that!

Congrats! The B&W photo really captures the feel of that place. I'm just glad we got out alive!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/12/2006 11:00:11 AM
An image that is indded worthy of a thousand words. Congratulations on your BLUE!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/12/2006 07:02:49 AM
A visual patchwork; a completely busy and manic expression; you have captured the essence ofthe city in this photo; well done.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/12/2006 03:12:01 AM
I was trying to think of reasons why this city "space" photo is more successful than others. It seems as though this type of shooting can easily lead to lifeless photos that only point out the fact that there is no subject in the picture. I realized that somehow this particular photo gives the feeling that something big just happened. Like we just missed something exciting, and this is the wake that it left behind. At least that's why I enjoy your picture.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/11/2006 09:34:45 PM
Congrats. Matt on your first ribbon and personal best.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/11/2006 07:55:44 PM
just out of interest, did you burn and dodge this? Just wondering as im exploring the technique.
01/11/2006 12:36:22 PM
Congrats on your win, well deserved.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/11/2006 12:33:11 PM
This is remarkable! There's hope for us! This is by far the most "cluttered" blue-ribbon winner I have seen here. I mean that well, btw; I love cluttered, complex, "busy" images but they rarely score well. Congrats!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/11/2006 11:25:19 AM
u know what is funny? When i looked at this pic, I thought "wow this looks alot like detroit"...then i saw where it was taken, haha. good job and congrats!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/11/2006 10:19:10 AM
Powerful photo, gave it a 10, congrats on the Blue Ribbon.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/11/2006 09:23:16 AM
Nice black and white. Great contrast! Congrats on the blue.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/11/2006 12:52:56 AM
Congratulations on the Win. Enjoy!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/11/2006 12:42:03 AM
congatulation and also thanks for inspiration...I could be staring at this picture for hours and would never get bored 8) I love it !!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/11/2006 12:36:37 AM
Nice Contrasts
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/11/2006 12:35:30 AM
That sums up City Life. LOL - congrats on the blue!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/11/2006 12:34:10 AM
Congratulations on a first place finish. I think this challenge was perfect for such a busy and stark image. You captured a feeling with this.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/11/2006 12:13:46 AM
i think the contrast and sharpness distracts the viewer. But perhaps it distracts just enough to confuse them into thinking that this photograph is profound. Because it isn't. But that's sort of the point. Dirty, coarse. There is not a subject in this particular scene which I find unfortunate, but again it reminds the viewer of the city and its "nastier" corners. detriot, no doubt.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/11/2006 12:10:03 AM
Really great photo, congrats on the blue.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
01/10/2006 11:27:42 PM
Very nice processing here, definitly lends to that gritty city feel.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/10/2006 10:28:32 PM
I love the "busy-ness" of the composition and the contrast and texture of this photograph!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/10/2006 10:27:23 PM
I really like how there's SO much to look at. In many photos that is often distracting, but that's what makes this photo imo.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/10/2006 09:18:43 PM
Sad, but true. You've done a nice job composing this with your choice of viewpoint. The angles and lines come together very well. Good luck in the challenge.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/10/2006 08:02:46 PM
Like the use of b&w in yhis shot
good luck
8

kev
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/10/2006 06:53:28 PM
I really like this, very gritty.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/10/2006 01:06:48 PM
Great capture. The detail is awesome
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/10/2006 12:37:24 PM
This is terrific. 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/10/2006 03:24:36 AM
Nice shoot-
I would have loved to take it using the foreground of the puddles a bit more and using them to draw you into the photograph
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/09/2006 08:45:59 PM
this has a undisputable urban feel to it. nice job. good use of b&w.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/09/2006 04:57:14 PM
Stunningly dismal! In a good way, if that is possible. This photo captures an emotion of dismay or despair to me. The look of a neighborhood that has lived past it's "glory days". Windows bricked over or covered with tin give the feeling of abandonment, yet there are still garbage cans waiting for the trashman. The B/W treatment and high contrast is wonderful.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/09/2006 10:20:44 AM
Nice! BW makes it in my opinion
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/08/2006 11:09:27 PM
Wow, B&W suits this image perfectly. I'm expecting/hopeing for at least a top 5 for this one! Congrats!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/08/2006 11:04:11 PM
awesome shot, very real! 9
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/08/2006 10:12:23 PM
Great work - busy image, harsh constrast, no colour - really makes a statement. I really like this shot - I'm not offended or upset at all about shots of the city like this. Keep up the good work.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/08/2006 05:34:25 PM
this is an excellent composition..stark and unforgiving...well done
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/08/2006 11:01:46 AM
A great scene. Very good b&w I really like the feel of this. Well done
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/08/2006 10:12:16 AM
gritty, cluttered & dirty... but real
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/08/2006 08:40:25 AM
A strong B/W image of urban life in the city.....
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/07/2006 09:56:46 PM
This is great. It really says City Life to me! Great concept for this challenge. Good Luck!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/07/2006 06:42:34 PM
I like urban decay images, especially if they're B&W and processed as sympathetically as this one. However, I think this one is just too busy, too packed with chaotic detail, to be totally successful. I'm thinking of the well known aphorism "Less is More" (by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe - appropriately enough, an architect). I think my difficulty may be not so much with the scope of the scene, but with the fact that there's no dominant element in it, so my eyes and attention wander about, not finding somewhere to settle. The result is that I make a superficial scan and pass on. That's a pity, because it had the potential to be terrific. 6.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/07/2006 11:39:44 AM
NICE! My top pick! Good job.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/07/2006 11:28:29 AM
Excellent! This has a great feel to it, I almost feel teleported to the street itself! I hope you do really well. 9 :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/07/2006 01:16:57 AM
Cool Pic. I like
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/06/2006 10:47:39 PM
Superb! Love the high contrast in this B&W image, every detail and texture has been brought out. I really like this shot. I wonder if it could do with a little bit of human interest or something to pull you in a little, but I still think this is fab!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/06/2006 08:44:15 PM
great tone and clarity
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/06/2006 08:41:48 PM
Generally, I love high-contrast B7W images; this however, is overkill. I love the shot, but there's just too much contrast; a little less might have bumped this up to a "7."
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/06/2006 07:54:30 PM
I like the lines and DOF.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/06/2006 05:58:37 PM
ba dap bap bap baaa im lovin it
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/06/2006 03:23:01 PM
Sometimes colour isn't needed to show what you want your viewers to see.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/06/2006 01:53:32 PM
Really like the clarity and perspective and choice of B+W, seems a little cluttered though
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/06/2006 01:20:29 PM
The realism of this shot is what gets me. Good choice of scenes. Flat, stark and dank. My eye likes those horizontals in the foreground leading to the verticals in the background. You made a busy shot work well. Apt title. Nice going!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/06/2006 12:56:29 PM
very urban, i like it!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/06/2006 12:17:46 PM
Love the contrast and the textures. Works very well. 8 - good luck in the challenge!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/06/2006 08:11:22 AM
I aspect this pic to finish in top 5, graphicfunk kinda work.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/06/2006 01:55:44 AM
yessss! now this is what i am talking about!!! this totally portrays city life!!! ((unlike many of the others))... the black and white looks phenomanal here! this should do very well 10

...just revisiting this pic... i really love it!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/06/2006 01:12:05 AM
So uniform in its busyness, makes it work!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/05/2006 10:10:23 PM
Excellent black and white.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/05/2006 01:34:42 PM
love the dizzying effect
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/05/2006 12:29:16 AM
Very interesting subject, lots of good contrast!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/04/2006 10:21:11 PM
What city is this?? Oh, wait - I know now....
Mayor Coleman Young Jr., errrrrrrrrr, Kwame Kilpatrick won't be happy with this. Not with Super Bowl XL right around the corner......It is a very telling picture with a very fitting title. It's no tee shot with the ball in the frame, granted, but a good photo none the less.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/04/2006 09:51:29 PM
that is some wicked-crazy contrast...i like it
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/04/2006 09:36:49 PM
I like the shot and use of black and white - gives it a dirty, gritty feel to me. The black is just a bit oversaturated for my personal tastes, but good shot. 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/04/2006 09:02:56 PM
Excellent tone and contrast...excellent POV and textures...excellent everything...completely fantastic...this is such a fine documentary image, the kind of image where one just needs to sit and stare at it to let it all sink in...very well done...I'm gonna have to fav this so I can come back and look at it some more.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/04/2006 08:32:29 PM
Challenge
- Relevant to the Challenge? Yes
- Is subject unique (vs. unoriginal or rehashed)? Yes

Compostion
- Good or Bad? How can it be fixed? Good It shows the dark side of citylife. Things that people don't want to think about.
- Good use of Depth of Field? I think a shallower DOF would work to make the buiding at the far end of the alley less sharp.

Lighting
- Good use of light? Yes
- Are there any over-blown highlights? Yes
- Good use of shadows? Yes. The add to the dark nature of the image.
- Are there any overly dark shadows? No

Aesthetics/Artistic Appeal:
- What is my reaction or feelings? I like the image because of the unique viewpoint. It's a part of citylife that most people avoid. It's dirty. It's scary. It's the city.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/04/2006 05:57:13 PM
I love the sharp contrast. It reminds me of the alley behind the building I work in. [10]
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/04/2006 05:43:56 PM
Very nice. Great clarity and detail.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/04/2006 03:51:01 PM
looks like a picture I took a few years ago
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/04/2006 03:48:15 PM
Wow this shot is amazing!!!!!!!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/04/2006 03:45:54 PM
I like how crisp the blacks and whites are everything is very sharp and adds so much to the overall feel to this shot. well done
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/04/2006 03:22:36 PM
This should be the blue ribbon. 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/04/2006 03:08:00 PM
Excellent!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/04/2006 02:38:10 PM
a bit sharp but awesome pic
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/04/2006 12:49:37 PM
Very effective photo, the high contrast b&w works well to emphasize your point.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/04/2006 11:13:31 AM
great shot, no 'life' though.. but signs of it.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/04/2006 08:29:20 AM
Very nice b/w conversion. The detail is excellent. The range of grayscale shaeds is very well done. Nice job!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/04/2006 07:13:52 AM
Cant find live in tis one or was it City Scape or City Life not sure :(
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/04/2006 06:47:00 AM
Awesome photo. Thanks for stepping outside the 'take pictures of pretty lights at night' mold.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/04/2006 05:37:23 AM
Unreal representation of city life.... I really like this photo! 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/04/2006 02:11:09 AM
very nice - I like the high contrast
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/04/2006 12:45:11 AM
True, gritty picture. Congrats.
  Photographer found comment helpful.


Home - Challenges - Community - League - Photos - Cameras - Lenses - Learn - Prints! - Help - Terms of Use - Privacy - Top ^
DPChallenge, and website content and design, Copyright © 2001-2024 Challenging Technologies, LLC.
All digital photo copyrights belong to the photographers and may not be used without permission.
Current Server Time: 03/28/2024 08:43:33 PM EDT.