Not Lost - Going Home
by larrylef

Comment:
This photo doesn't say anything to me about serendipity, or anything else for that matter. It just looks like a snapshot of a car at a nature trail. The car is actually a distracting detail in what might have been a potentially nice landscape shot. Your lights and darks lack detail and the mid-tones aren't much better. I'm really at a loss to see what the photographer was going for with this shot.

The sun smiled down at me today
by train

Comment:
This was definitely a lucky, or serendipidous, shot. The subjects are a bit too far away and unfocused to make the statement as strong as it could be. If you could have managed to come in a lot closer and still get the balloon in the shot it would have made a much stronger image. It works as a well-done, funny snapshot for a scrapbook but the technical problems overwhelm the moment. It definitely meets the criteria of the challenge as for as subject matter.

Serendipitious Sign
by candycorn

Comment:
Well, okay, you've managed to find a sign with the word 'serendipity' which is certainly serendipidous. Outside of that, I don't see much happening in this photo on its own merit. The composition lacks a truly interesting focal point. The sign outside the realm of this assigment isn't visually compelling as the subject of this photo. In other words, I can't see anyone other than the proprietor being interested in a photograph record of it. The textural details are washed out .The sign looks like it may have some nice crackly paint textures if you had come in closer but that is really just me grasping for something positive.

Message edited by author 2004-04-28 01:30:22.

Bad weather, mundane location, good picture :)
by dimitrii

Comment:
I like the image although I would like to see a bit more detail in the fence--it looks less sharp and focused then the footprints in the foreground. I don't see how this meets the challenge, however. There isn't a sense of the unexpected or fortuitous. High marks for the photo as a whole.

See the bonus turtle (reflection)?
by jimsapp

Comment:
This is a nice composition but the overall image is rather drab. The textures and colors are washed out and the reflections don't really pop. I wouldn't have noticed them right away if it hadn't been in the title. At any rate, I don't see how this meets the criteria for the challenge. There isn't anything surprising or fortuitous about the reflections the turtle and the log cast.

X-Rays (Accidentally Discovered in 1895)
by labuds

Comment:
Very striking and original image. High marks on aesthetic and technical merits but I don't get the serendipidous quality.

Serendipity Essence
by anireno

Comment:
A very nice composition, this rates on a technical and overall aesthetic level. I just don't get it in terms of the theme.

Jackson Mother Lode
by milleniummike

Comment:
Yet another staged shot of unexpected cash. But a good one I confess. The best I've seen of the four I've seen so far. I like the somewhat sinister quality that B&W gives this, particularly because of the shadow in the top left corner. It makes one think of the superstition about 'found money bringing bad luck'. Because of that, and in spite of the staginess, I give this one high marks. If the photographer didn't intend the sinister quality then an actual serendipidous moment could be said to have occured.

Message edited by author 2004-04-28 01:42:31.

Serendipitous Opening
by deathbycanon

Comment:
This photographer definitely captured a serendipidous moment and did it well. I would have liked to have seen more contrast between the trees and the sky but I realize the photographer was intent on capturing the jet trail in the sky. They certainly could go back and tweak this in Photoshop after the contest. This could be a nice candidate for some interesting filters.

.....a diamond!
by lelani

Comment:
Okay, someone else has done this and I gave them good marks for the imagination and execution. Now, I'm thinking, maybe not so original? But this one actually was more successfull--it really works despite the stagieness because of how carefully it was executed. The sharp focus on the diamond and the strand of albumen clinging to the eggshell make it appear possible that the gem came from the egg. The composition is tight with nice contrast between the bright yellow of the yolk, the white shell, and the black pan. Really nice effort!