St3v3M Loc: 35,000 feet

With a look at the four winners of the Weekly Photo Challenge let's analyze why they won and see how we can apply their strategies to our own.

This is what they had to work with -
From WPC 1530 - The Street http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-325438-1.html
HELP -
Street photography http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_photography
"Street photography is photography that features the human condition within public places. Street photography does not necessitate the presence of a street or even the urban environment. Though people usually feature directly, street photography might be absent of people and can be an object or environment where the image projects a decidedly human character in facsimile or aesthetic."

And, here are the results -
From WPC 1530 - The Street RESULTS http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-327389-1.html

List them in order, or list them by name, but let's walk through each one and reverse engineer them to see how they won. S-

1st place = pjarbit

(Download)

2nd place = mffox

(Download)

3rd place = dsherwood3

(Download)

4th place = Photos by Paula

(Download)

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Somebody's got to try this first. It is interesting but a daunting task! I have never participated in the challenges here, so these are all new to me with this post. The most remarkable thing that jumps out at me is that I opened the thread expecting to see images like those of Graham Smith or Billyspad, portrait-like street shots. Instead, I found photos of... well, streets. No criticism, just surprise. Well, here goes nothing.

#1 - The appeal to me is the cool implied movement with those streaming tail-lights. I've always wanted to try that and never buckled down to do it, maybe this will inspire me. Also, the starburst effects on the swags of lighting contribute to the fantasy-land effect of the image. Without those two special effects being carried off so well, it would be a rather humdrum image, but with those, it goes to another level of interest.
#2 - It's all about the color and old-world feel, makes us want to be that stately couple strolling down a cobbled, uncrowded (where on earth could it be?) European street with picturesque old buildings and overflowing flower boxes. The warm feeling over-rides the distraction of the blown sky.
#3 - My own favorite, I love the raggedy row of mailboxes, the antennas, the run down buildings, the curving dusty road with somebody kicking up even more dust, the sign giving mileage to little towns we never heard of and can't even imagine what state they might be in. Right out of Larry McMurtry or some other 20th century western writer.
#4 - the most artistic of the lot, IMHO, and the most fun to analyze - lots of subdued story, contrasts and artistic design here. Two way of ascending a curb. A rather masculine looking leg in flip flops ascending on a classic girly pink bicycle, and the lady clumsily teetering in her ridiculous shoes. All of it is laid out nicely in a graphic paradise of lines, squares, rectangles, curves, angles and such, that intersect with each other and the elements of the bike wheels, and lead the eye from lower left to upper right.

Hope some other folks will jump in. The water's cold but it's fun once you get in.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

#1 is my favorite for the energy and a bit of chaotic feel.

#2 - great sense of place and serenity. I want to live there :)

#3 - Love the composition drawing us to all that vast, empty space.

#4 - Minnie's analysis is brilliant; I never saw any of what she got from this and now have a different appreciation for the creativity after reading her input!

ediesaul

1, 2, and 3:
Very beautiful photographs, both compositionally and pp-ed, but not unusual in subject. They all have very good:
- leading lines
- perfect verticals
- effects and colors harmonious to their subjects
- well-balanced
- stories

4:
Bold, unusual photo that makes me look.
-The leading lines are on the pavement and they lead out from the photo, just as the people are moving out from view.
-The large, concrete pattern is contrasted with the smaller, herringbone(?) pattern of the bricks, which creates some dissonance. Both provide difference textures and colors. The spokes on the bike complement the bricks in that they are also tighter and add different directional lines.
- The diagonal of the curb makes an X pattern with the direction/space the people are moving in. Creates tension.
- The different aspects of the man and woman also create tension. The wonderful angle that omits the people's heads. The man's hairy legs; the woman's sleek legs; the man's carefree flip-flops; the woman's "fancy" shoes, even tho' her toe sticks out; the different modes of travel.
- Two aspects hold the photo together:
1. the direction the people are walking in; and,
2. the pink color: pink bike; some pink in the concrete; pink in the bricks.

My own opinion is that the first group's photographs are very beautiful for what they are. My preference is for the last photograph with its bold point of view and the tension it evokes; the latter being the most important because the former is part of the technique. This photo bring out emotion. It not only tells a story but makes us laugh, makes us uncomfortable, but, in whatever way, elicits a visceral response.