Road Signs Never Lieby
wwjdwithcaComment by Neil: I saw your comment about this and I thought I would offer my 2 cents worth of feedback.
Artistically, the photo is good. This is despite at least one significant technical flaw, the bright overexposed sky (which may be totally fog, one can't easily tell here, as the bleeding of the overexposure into the trees could also just be the spread of the fog.) I really like the way you've composed it, just in terms of aesthetics.
However, the message doesn't really come through here. I see a sign, which says icy. I presume you are near a bridge (issue: there's no context for us here), but at the very least, I don't see desert (which would be funny). I really couldn't tell where it was, nor can I tell what the white marks are on the sign (either ice or pock marks). I looked at this a while when I voted, not sure if that was ice. Given the white tops of the branches of the tree just below right of the main part of the sign, and the white-ish color of the grass, I actually presumed this was ice/frost. And living in the northeast I am no stranger to frost.
Whereas I think you particularly liked this because you saw a contradiction, at least I don't see it, which lessens it's appeal somewhat. I felt it was fair to consider it a valid entry, as I could see a government program to convince us of the importance of believing road signs. But I don't think this image supports such a propaganda effort (nor one to the contrary even, again because of it's ambiguity).
Hope this helps you understand a different perspective on an image--something important here. I haven't been here long either, but I believe understanding how your photos are interpreted by other people is one of the values here. And by the way, I gave you an average score on this.
Photographer found comment helpful.
