General Photography Competition #175

[zeppelin]

Congratulations to IBrake4Rainbows for winning competition #174!

Rules

• The deadline is Sunday 11:59 PM EST
• The photograph can contain any non-automotive image (other than adulterous material)
• The proposed picture must be your own and not found on the net.
• The photograph must be attached using the UCP system. Any picture not attached using the UCP system will not be in the voting thread.
• Your image may be up to 800 pixels wide or tall.
• Photograph may contain post-processing editing
• It is preferred that you state enhancements made, but not necessary.
• The photograph must be taken no earlier than three months before start date
• Each photographer cannot vote for himself, they must vote for the others.
• Any users who enter and vote for themselves automatically receive a 2 week penalty from the competition and all votes previously given to his/her photo are removed.
• The entry must contain the following information in the same order :

User name
Subject matter/photo title
Date taken
Camera Type | additional information you feel important

Standings 2009

Soloracer: 2
-
basman007: 1 / Timothy (in VA): 1 / IBrake4Rainbows: 1

[Sauc3]

Sauc3
Tschüß
31/01/09
Melbourne countryside - possibly burnt now
Canon 40D w/ 16-35mm f/2.8L
RAW conversion, B&W conversion.

[IBrake4Rainbows]

IBrake4Rainbows
Roo-Tube
National Zoo & Aquarium, December 2008
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS3
B&W Conversion, Levels Adjustment

[superwaxer]

Sauc3
Tschüß
31/01/09
Melbourne countryside - possibly burnt now
Canon 40D w/ 16-35mm f/2.8L
RAW conversion, B&W conversion.

Great shot. I think your composition is absolutely brilliant! Good work

[NSXType-R]

Yeah, I like it too. The tree is so lonely!!

[zeppelin]

zeppelin
Sunset on King
January 05 2009
Canon 350D | RAW, warming filter

[Rockefella]

zeppelin
Sunset on King
January 05 2009
Canon 350D | RAW, warming filter

This shot really interests me but I can't figure out why. The top half looks rather dreamlike and picturesque but as I look down it becomes very gritty and aged. Not sure if this is the intended effect but it's almost as if you applied a beauty and time gradient to the picture, as if such a thing was to exist.

[John Thawley]

This shot really interests me but I can't figure out why. The top half looks rather dreamlike and picturesque but as I look down it becomes very gritty and aged. Not sure if this is the intended effect but it's almost as if you applied a beauty and time gradient to the picture, as if such a thing was to exist.

I think what's adding to it is first the side / backlight of the sun in the upper right... BUT... what really creates the illusion is the pole dividing the two buildings. One building is red brick and the other blond ... or at least dark and light. The pole creates such a defined break in the two it becomes surreal...

[zeppelin]

Thanks for the feedback. I did intentionally fad the scene out of focus towards the distance to create the dreamy hazy effect. However the pole wasn't initially intentional. It was a nice surprise in the end.

[Kitdy]

zeppelin
Sunset on King
January 05 2009
Canon 350D | RAW, warming filter

You actually manage to make downtown look anywhere from somewhat appealing to appealing as opposed to my standard downtown reaction: hideous.

Props.

[zeppelin]

You actually manage to make downtown look anywhere from somewhat appealing to appealing as opposed to my standard downtown reaction: hideous.

Props.

Haha, thanks for the encouragement, that's actually my primary goal when it comes to my Toronto photo studies.

Curious though, what's your beef with downtown? Is it an aesthetics issues, or is it just the city itself?

[Rockefella]

Haha, thanks for the encouragement, that's actually my primary goal when it comes to my Toronto photo studies.

Curious though, what's your beef with downtown? Is it an aesthetics issues, or is it just the city itself?

Although it's not directed towards me, I'll throw in what I remember from being in Toronto. Not sure if we're talking about the same areas per se but I recall the outskirts being rather slummy and unattractive. On the other hand, the amount of culture that was evident was surprising, in a good way. Not much more I can say about that because I only drove through the Toronto area quickly and it was over 5 years ago.

[zeppelin]

Although it's not directed towards me, I'll throw in what I remember from being in Toronto. Not sure if we're talking about the same areas per se but I recall the outskirts being rather slummy and unattractive. On the other hand, the amount of culture that was evident was surprising, in a good way. Not much more I can say about that because I only drove through the Toronto area quickly and it was over 5 years ago.

I agree from that viewpoint definitely. I'll try not to drive this thread into a Toronto essay, but I completely understand how Toronto can be perceived as rundown from a short visit. It's actually a beautiful city, but was unfortunately ravaged by planning errors and sprawl during the 1970s. Its basic infrastructure also suffers from a general neglect (roads, sidewalks, streetscaping, etc). However, what makes the city so fascinating is its huge range of everything. A huge number of cultural districts coexisting, no real slums (some areas look unsafe, but there are few, if no, true ghettos), and a wealth of impressive architectural and geographical features. It's a city that begs to be explored, because a quick impression does little to no justice.

[Rockefella]

I agree from that viewpoint definitely. I'll try not to drive this thread into a Toronto essay, but I completely understand how Toronto can be perceived as rundown from a short visit. It's actually a beautiful city, but was unfortunately ravaged by planning errors and sprawl during the 1970s. Its basic infrastructure also suffers from a general neglect (roads, sidewalks, streetscaping, etc). However, what makes the city so fascinating is its huge range of everything. A huge number of cultural districts coexisting, no real slums (some areas look unsafe, but there are few, if no, true ghettos), and a wealth of impressive architectural and geographical features. It's a city that begs to be explored, because a quick impression does little to no justice.

I understand your point completely. Like I said and you noted, I only passed through so I had little to no knowledge of the actual state of being. Don't get me wrong, I grew up in NY and spent a few hours on Jerome Avenue in the Bronx last night.. which was.. fun if you like being around crackheads and criminals. (Got lost going to this smoke shop with my friend) What will look like a ghetto or 'slummy' area like I called it is more of a low-income neighborhood rather than a gang coalition, if you get my drift. It's just the way I worded it.

In short, I agree entirely with what you're saying although I don't have enough first hand experience to make further points.

[Kitdy]

We're straying off topic, but I mean I think it's not just Toronto's downtown but most downtowns (barring a few Northern European Cities) that I would dislike. Yesterday, I was down on QSE near Much Music and I went to the Eaton's Centre. The sidewalk was covered with black spots form old dirty gum. There was a run down abandon building. The snow was grey and nasty and the road pockmarked and cracked. The people frankly, stranger looking than out here in suburbia. There is not much space to drive (streetcar tracks are a pain to drive on) red lights are rampant, one way streets, no left or right turns, expensive parking, general dirtiness and chaos and hustle and bustle of being downtown and the freaking grimeyness everywhere pisses me off. Here there's open spaces, ample parking, easy driving cleanliness, nature, less crampedness and it's just friendlier I see and there's no hobos.

That is my beef with downtown. Perhaps Stuttgart or Stockholm or Oslo would be a more enjoyable city centres as I hear Stuttgart is very clean along with some Scandinavian cities.