The Online Photographer

111 by far, and 118 after that.

My favorites:

101, Barber shop, slice O' life.
105, the best, like to see this one really big, say,5x7 feet.
107, sink, pure simplicity.
112, Train, powerful. The sky looks a little 'shopped.

#120. I would hang this on my wall in the 2x3' or 3x4' size. What attracted me was the composition and tonal qualities.

All the others are interesting but don't appeal to me (or my wall).

Thanks.

Wow, all great pictures, and I can appreciate the skill necessary to take a lot of these. There are some very difficult shots here. And yet, when I think about what I would want to buy, there a very limited number that really rise above the others. These are, first and foremost, numbers 104 and 105. Specifically, 104 and 105 as a combo. They just scream to me as a wonderful juxtaposition.

104 is gritty, yet curvy. A colorful subject, yet reduced to lovely B&W tonality. Whether it is an analog or digital capture, it captures the B&W aesthetic wonderfully (as do 106 and 112, but they don't work as well in the combination I am proposing).

105 is smooth, glittering, sparkling, delightful color. It's the kind of picture that screams digital (whether or not it actually is) in a way that makes you feel it's energetic exuberance. If you were in the field and saw this on the LCD of your camera, you'd be smiling for the rest of the day, just waiting to get home and see it on your big screen...

I really think they would make an outstanding combo.

The other two standouts are 115 and 118.

People are objecting to the composition in 115 because it feels too perfect, but you know what? It kind of is perfect. I love the play between boundaries and also the wonderful clouds, that you don't notice until a beat later.

118: there are a lot of pictures out there that strive for this aesthetic, and very few come anywhere close. This picture nails it. Why? Because it isn't about sex, or trying to fake some chance encounter. Instead, it self-consciously (see choice of color palette) and effectively evokes emotions - a strong sense of nostalgia and longing, with enough reality (the faint color of her veins) to trick you into thinking this might be one of your own (false) memories...

Runner-ups: 102, 109, 111 and 119. 102 is in some ways the best of the bunch, but I don't see it winning.

Please, please, PLEASE offer 104 and 105 as a combo!

Best,
Adam

Mike,

Thank you for putting this on. This comment section is the best (most productive?
) discussion/critique of photography I've ever found on the web.

Scott

Sorry. None of these do anything for me.

I still think the dog one below is best!

The question is what I could and perhaps would live with on my wall.

# 118 but only if changed to black and white with a strong positive slide of the yellow channel. I think doing that might change at least a few who are enthusiastic yet troubled by the cut-off feet. The further enhancement that would seriously help the smoothness of the abstract flow would be to pshop out the nipples.

On the other "hand," I think the absence of one hand and both feet with the sole presence of the left hand nicely placed to
1) continue the flow
2) but also break it up naturally at a central point in the image
3) and finally to remind us this is a person
is not merely fine but is what is the center of the pix. The presence of the nipples, especially so close to the hand, distracts from this for a number of reasons.

I have a rule when it comes to my own photos :

-I cull as many photos as I can - i'm my own harshest critique on my own work but then again I want to show my best in the end.
-Then I walk away for a few days - I do something else unrelated to photography.
-Then I whittle away at the fat again and again until I feel the saw is just about to cut into my emotions - that's when I stop and I know i've got the best photos.

Based on my own methodology, the only photo of this first group really worthy of a commercial print sale is 112 but with an important reservation : Only very large print would be appropriate in order to present a big sense of scale so the megapixels must be there to maintain print quality even at a base 300 dpi.

The reason why it has to be a big print in my opinion is that the viewers can have a visceral feeling that must jump back or get scalded by the steam coming from that huge long horizontal cloud of steam coming from that iron horse.

That and the fact that the tonal spread on the photo is superb - a worthy challenge for a master printer. What say you sir Ctein ?

Keep'em coming Mike - this is fun.

I'd say all these are fine images in a book. Part of a select collection or on the wall maybe no. That said, my picks are:

111 - the cloud forms, distant hills, forground bushes are seen well, what spoils it is the tar smear (just tar lines would have been good).

118 - beautiful tones and colour, not a unique viewpoint though and I wish her feet were included with space around the whole form.

My first impression was that this is a joke. After a day to think about it, my second impression is that it's an astonishingly good one.

Now I can see them, I, unlike just about everyone else, am not terribly impessed. They're all rather too conventional for my tastes. Not something I'd want to have hanging on my wall.

There's not a bad image amongst them, but not many really excite enough for a print. 102 is a standout for me, with 109, 101 and 105 having something.

It will be fascinating to see what sort if photos the TOP audience respond to. Perhaps in due course if this proves to be successful, you will develop an understanding of what prints will 'fly' and be able to select accordingly.

i forgot, i would also buy 102, but definitely NOT as a small print.

Very good mix of pictures. The choices really speak to your experience. I'm a sucker for the texture in the guitar and the large format, color negative look of the telephone pole landscape (love to see the series by this photographer).

One question - would any of these pictures have been included in your periodic "Random Excellence" posts? Maybe that's a source for a future print offering.

All impressive, some more than others, I think I will only venture a top four, as suggesting any more might make me go overboard.
in no particular order: 101, 112, 114, 120. If I had to include any more it would be an additional five, so I'll stick to just these four :-)

I want to vote for the pics I like the best, but feel the obligation to TOP is to vote for those I think will be good candidates for sale.
The marketplace is unfair!

Number 102 would be my pick.

I'd also give a shout out to 111 just because expansion cracks on highways are so under appreciated as compositional elements!

A friend on Facebook asked me why I like 102. Here's what I said.

First of all, in addition to enjoying photography I also like paintings - especially abstract paintings. Have a look at someone like Mark Rothko for example. Now, of course, many people don't enjoy abstract paintings either! But for me, my appreciation of this photograph is rooted in an appreciation of abstract art - that is art that is about form and colour without necessarily representing anything concrete (no pun intended).

So, when I look at this photograph I see it in part as a pure abstract. There are two large colour fields with various markings. In this reading, the image becomes completely flat - rather than a representation of a three dimensional space. The colours are pleasing, gentle pastels.

Now, another interesting way I can look at this photograph is that the bottom is almost like a reflection of the wall - as if the floor was light green water reflecting the markings on the white wall. This is because the biggest black marks on the two surfaces are almost like mirror images of each other.

Then, in a final reading, I see this as a literal representation of a rather mundane scene in a parking garage. But one that rewards contemplation. That is, each of those 'markings' was caused by some vehicle driving through this space - so the markings leave me with a sense of the passage of time.

So, in the end, I love it because it can simultaneously exist as an attractive abstract and a literal scene. I also like that the sense of space is ambiguous - you can just as easily see this as a flat 2 dimensional object or a 3 dimensional one.

Every time I look at 112, the steam engine, it looks like a photoshop paste job. Heck of a shot if it was real.

105 or 119 if I was going to have it on my wall for a while.

So if #102 wins is the price going to be 4.3 million?

Seriously I like most of these. I'd say my favorite is 119, followed by 105.

I missed your poll, but let me voice that I find 105, 109, 113 and 118 particularly extraordinary, and 119 very nice.

I especially like 103, 106, 112, 114, 120.

If I had money and had to choose just one print right now? 120. Love the "vertical energy" in this composition, love how the hiker is framed in the trees and how much of a sense of human smallness is conveyed.

I find it interesting that out of those, all but one are black and white and the color one I liked is almost monochromatic.

102 & 113 are a bit too minimalist for my particular taste. 111 wouldn't find its way onto my wall either. This isn't saying they're bad, just that I can't see them living on my wall in print form. If it's any consolation the multi-million $ Gursky wouldn't be there either.

Guess I have unusual tastes based on the votes but there was only one that grabbed me, 109, the fish pond, wonderful depth and richness of color and tone, would need a talented printer and some good lighting I think too to be appreciated properly but even based on the jpeg I think it would be a knockout!

Woman Reclining would be AWESOME if her feet were not cut off, as if they were unimportant. *JUST me*, but I never understand why extremities are cropped when just a 1/2 inch more easel on the right side would complete an otherwise excellent photograph. I do love the overall tones of that photo, color, contrast, etc.

Number 120.