Losing my marbles
by frisca

Comment by pncowley:
Use of the glass marbles (and the way they sort of spill out of the glass) is very nice. Colors complement well... --9

Rental Bikes
by frisca

Comment by dsidwell:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

I concur with all of the compliments below!

This was a memorable image from the challenge, so I'm thrilled that I have the opportunity to look at it in more detail! First and foremost arises to my eye the patterns created by the parked bikes. This obviously shows your good skill and seeing such patterns and capturing them well. The point of view is very effective at revealing the pattern without it becoming either lost or boring or trite.

I find the photo's mood to be lively and fun, though there tends to be a hint of tongue in cheek about it (and I can't explain why), and you make the bikes look fun to ride. Their quirky style, additionally, is enhanced by your point of view and composition, and makes them even more engaging and enticing.

Your explanation as to the desaturation is nice, but I don't find it all that necessary. The photo speaks for itself rather nicely. The blue is a nice color to isolate, and really makes the bikes pop. This may be where the tongue in cheek-ness lies, too. By isolating the blue color, you hint that this pattern and these bikes are unusual and possess a kind of special-ness that defies the rest of the mundane world around them.

To improve the shot, hmmm. You already mentioned the removal of the lower left bike, and some folks below noted that a tighter crop would be nice, but I'm not sure. I agree with your cropping inasmuch as the bikes really need the handle bars to be bikes. Otherwise, they would just become patterns and lines, and the fun of the photo is that these are special and unique BIKES, not isolated patterns. On the other hand, the parking lot beyond isn't all that interesting, and that is where the patterns ultimately lead the eye. Perhaps if you'd come at a later or earlier time, when shadows would help you. I'm kind of a light fanatic anyway, and can't help but think that the blue on the bikes would be that much more saturated and enhanced were the sun to be lower in the sky. However, you'd have to be careful not to sacrifice the fun mood of the photo. Wow. Complex!

Just goes to show you what a tough shot this is, and how appropriate the choices were that you made while there.

This is a really pleasing, skillfully executed image. Congratulations!

Keep up the good work!

David

Losing my marbles
by frisca

Comment by adine:
Nice composition, the ribbon adds a nice touch of color. The light and thus the background is a little pink/warm. Get the background white-white and bump the contraxt a little.

Losing my marbles
by frisca

Comment by KimInNB:
Coloured glass beads may have worked better here. I like the idea and the ribbon is nice, but an amber or cobalt set of beads would be more exciting.

Losing my marbles
by frisca

Comment by Lustre:
Nice shot, I love the composition, especially the inclusion of the ribbon.

Losing my marbles
by frisca

Comment by ozthunder:
This is one of the better pictures featuring a wine glass. The marbles give an element to think about, whilst the ribbon provides some contrast.

Rental Bikes
by frisca

Comment by frisca:
Thanks for the comments, everyone! I know that there has been a lot of discussion about the use of desaturation in photographs. It can be "gimmicky" but here I used it for a number of reasons.

1. the bike in front, which I should have moved!! (I didn't want to crop it out because of the other details I would lose with it) was RED. Yep. I had to change the hue significantly to get it to at least match the others since cropping it out would ruin the repetition of the bikes.

2. The flowers were ugly purple and got even uglier when I changed the red channel hue.

3. The pavement was boring and distracting with its faded yellow and white lines. I wanted the attention on the bikes, which is what caught my eye in the first place. I know now to move stuff out of the way to get the shot I want!

I desaturated all channels but blue and cyan which let me keep the chrome and silvers on the bikes. They pretty much look like that in real life too, but this way, I can control what my viewer is concentrating on, and that's why I desaturated.

Losing my marbles
by frisca

Comment by zeuszen:
Overly perfected, too commercial. Lacks humanity (IMO).

Rental Bikes
by frisca

Comment by Fiver:
Hey! I really liked this one. I was actually going to comment on this one during the voting, but I had too many other things on my mind this week. I didn't even get a chance to finish voting... Only got about 1/3 of the way through.

Great Photo.

Rental Bikes
by frisca

Comment by wewillexplore:
WHOO HOO!!!!!

Congrats! :)