Decaying Beauty
by stephan

Comment by JamieWillmott:
A bit on the dark side.

Decaying Beauty
by stephan

Comment by Annida:
Sometimes photographs just make you speechless, and this is one of them. I can't tell you how much this is my favorite. But it is. 10! -Annida

Abstract
by stephan

Comment by crabappl3:
Critique Club Comment:

Well other then the actual colors and pattern there isn't a whole lot to critique on this shot. :-D

I believe that I scored this high. I love abstract photography and those who use the medium for more then portraiture. The pattern you choose has enough randomness in it to make it interesting, but enough similarity with the greens that it is pleasing to the eye. Your color saturation is good as well as your sharpening and jpeg compression.

Way to think outside of the 'box'!

-danny

Abstract
by stephan

Comment by stephan:
The image of course was legal by DPC rules. Someone submitted it for disqualification and I sent in my description. It was a real photo which I scaled down to 4x4 pixels and then up again to 512x512 pixels.

So on the one hand it's technically still a photo but on the other hand also a computer generated pattern. This contradiction was what I liked. But I agree that it's not really a photo fitting to this site and the score shows it ;-)

The final decision to submit this was because I personally like the pattern and the colours and it's much closer to the type of photography I recently started to like.

Again, thanks a lot to everybody for the numerous comments. It's really interesting to see such a broad variety of opinions on a single photo ;-)

Decaying Beauty
by stephan

Comment by joanns:
Waited too long to take the photo, did you? Just kidding. I wish it wasn't quite so dark, I would like to see the whole flower.

Abstract
by stephan

Comment by jjbeguin:
Impressive down-crop !

Abstract
by stephan

Comment by 'Pong:
It's very sharp. I even think it's generated directly fron PS. The image itself is not stunning much. IMO

Abstract
by stephan

Comment by Becky:
This looks like a tv malfunction. I like the colors.

Look At Me!
by stephan

Comment by Kavey:
Critique Club


Initial thoughts
Great colours and quite dynamic.

Composition/ Content
I like the squared crop (despite what you say below) ΓΆ€“ I am a big fan (and user) of non-standard-ratio crops.
Interesting content though my point of focus is a little confused ΓΆ€“ I find myself looking more at the bright blue object beneath the sign than at the sign itself. I also find the road lights leading my eye away into the distance ΓΆ€“ this is actually interesting as the objects on the left then pull me back to the foreground.

Background
Nice converging lines ΓΆ€“ I like that there is detail towards the front but less as we look further away ΓΆ€“ and the colours really convey night time road conditions.

Camera Work - Technical
Seems very grainy but I like it ΓΆ€“ enhances the night-time feel.

Digital Processing - Technical
Image quality seems fine ΓΆ€“ a little jagged around the white of the road sign.
I find it hard to say much as it's obviously a deliberate over-processing - I am not very knowledgeable about such processing.

Fits The Challenge
Yup!

Your Opinion On The Photo
Interesting and invites another look. Unusual colours and composition retain the attention.

Message edited by author 2003-01-31 10:01:03.

Abstract
by stephan

Comment by PaulMdx:
Composition: Good
Technical: Good but some texture would be nice.
Meets challenge: Yes
Overall impression: Interesting picture, but not sure as a photo. 5