My shot at #28, Circles within Circles

sixdaemonbag

How many circles can you see or extrapolate?

whiterice

Lots of views, no comments - so here is my take.

I like this shot, I think the color could be a little more vibrant. I see the theme connection, but it doesn't scream theme. Regardless though, I like it.

sixdaemonbag

Wow, really? And here I thought I was already overloading the color... I'll fiddle a bit and see what I can come up with.

Katmitchell

I see something like 15 of them.. which makes it a good one for the theme..

I can see where whiterice is coming from though.. the circles are not the main subject as much as the car and the color..

Be careful on the color.. sometimes it will look different on different monitors..
It looks pretty bright red to me.. but then you will need to get an average of opinions on that one...

oh and make that 16 circles, I see one on the lens of your camera in the bumper reflection..

sixdaemonbag

my initial idea was to desaturate the car to de-emphasize it, but (and I'm not trying to bash anyone here) I figured if I did that someone would say it needed to be more vibrant.

Well, here, I'll let the audience decide.

whiterice

Katmitchell wrote:

Be careful on the color.. sometimes it will look different on different monitors..
It looks pretty bright red to me.. but then you will need to get an average of opinions on that one...

Yup, sometimes I forget that I'm using a likely horribly calibrated worked monitor and not my monitor from home.

whiterice

Wonder how B/W would look?

The desat version definitely brings more attention to the circles.

Katmitchell

yuck...

All that did was bring every single reflection to my attention,
and they are really standing out more than the circles now..
I like the color version better..

Kat

sixdaemonbag

I tried B/W and it went really flat on me. I took a very similar shot a couple of years ago that ended up being significantly better in b/w so I thought maybe it'd work again from a slightly different angle. The biggest difference was that the shot I took then was full afternoon sunlight and the shot this morning was overcast. I think the extra reflection from the full sun helped the first shot I did pop more in b/w where this one fell on its face.

marikris

Hi, sixdaemonbag!

I do see where the circles come in, and in this instance, I like the color better because, like Kat mentioned, the desaturated version emphasizes the reflections. What I notice, though, is that there is a lack of focus in the image (or maybe because the focus seems to be divided) that draws my eyes to the middle with its slight distortion, where nothing happens except for the reflection of the house. Have you tried to re-crop, or have you anymore shots we can see?

AirThom

I think if the wheel were angled a bit more to be pointed at the camera the circles might be more engaging. I like everything else going on, and think with a little bit more pop from the circles it would be awesome.

sixdaemonbag

Thanks for the comments everyone, they were enlightening and very useful. Based on your feedback I wandered out this morning and re-shot it from several different angles and at several different heights for some different perspective. After taking about 50 frames and looking at 3 of the most promising, Here's what I have determined.

I'm sticking with the original image.

Here's what was probably the best from today (completely untouched, no post processing yet)



I can see where the more direct angle of the tire to the camera brings out more of the central focus circles, but it also causes you to lose a lot more of the not-so-obvious or implied circles that you could pull from the original shot. I also hate the way the fender chops up the wheel and tire in this shot. To me it's even more of a distraction framed this way than when the whole thing was more oblique.

... I also don't like the chubby guy's legs in the bumper in this one.

After looking the original shot over again, I still feel it best conveys what I was thinking of when I read the challenge subject and description, and I'm going to stand on it.

Thanks again for the feedback!

whiterice

I prefer your original crop/angle to this one.

Funny, I didn't notice the leg, but I did notice the trash can reflection.

sixdaemonbag

whiterice wrote:

I prefer your original crop/angle to this one.

Funny, I didn't notice the leg, but I did notice the trash can reflection.

Heh, yeah, that was definitely going the be cropped during post. Evil shiny paint reflections!

AirThom

Agree with your analysis of the reshoot as well... In my mind the fender bent out of the way when the wheel was turned.

Katmitchell

I know, don't ya just hate the reflections.. I just ran into that when shooting a business. I get home and see myself and tripod standing in the photos... a real bummer..

Kat

P.S> I am with you on your original shot..