Site Supporter Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Saskatoon Original Poster | Winners
It is great to see entries that are so much better than the examples I started this challenge with; there are a lot of creative interpretations involving skillfully taken photographs and I want to thank everyone who entered. I decided to base my judging on how well the image tells a story as opposed to the aesthetic qualities, mainly because I don't feel I can do a proper job of judging the entries on aesthetics, but it is still difficult to pick the top three. First my comments in order of submission: SpecialK: You successfully captured so many aspects of a town that has figuratively faded from the scene in a single image. From the badly checked whitewalls and faded paint on the parade car to the dilapidated facade of the garage and that an artificial Christmas tree and a thirty year old Ford pickup are the two youngest elements in the picture, this effectively tells a story of a town that used to be an important stopping point on Route 66, the railroad and wagon trails before that, which is completely missed when people like myself travel the I-40 between Kingman and Flagstaff. Hattifnatt: This is an excellent photograph in itself, telling a story of what it is like to hike in near white-out conditions on mountainous terrain. The monochromatic tones, the perspective of looking down on the small group of hikers from a distance, with just enough dark rock surfaces showing to set the context; it combines to make the viewer feel like they are there in person trudging through a snowstorm on a treacherous mountain slope that dwarfs them, depending on keeping close to their companions. Definitely not the sort of picture that happens by accident or luck. atupdate: I love a parade and I don't think I'm alone. People have been sitting or standing to watch other people parade from a fixed starting point to a fixed ending point for thousands of years; I don't know what it is, but something about this highly structured and contrived form of traveling on the road is fascinating. Especially when the paraders are so different from the audience, in this case wearing warm, heavy Star Wars costumes on a hot summer's day. The balloons, shorts, sandals and lawn chairs all emphasize this strange juxtaposition. ramseybuckeye: I think this image has great aesthetic appeal and I like how the long focal length compresses the background to make the ups and downs of the road really stand out. Tall evergreens on the left are balanced by the pasture and field on the right; the straight line of power poles crossing the road when it curves to disappear behind higher ground, all lead the eyes to follow the tiny horse and buggy. I'm guessing you didn't take this picture in Ohio, but the slow moving vehicle triangle on the back of the buggy reminds the viewer that there are places in our modern world where a traditional way of life manages to co-exist. SD_Bob: I can't help but smile every time I look at this picture. I'm pretty sure the dog in the sidecar doesn't think of itself as a pet, it's probably wondering why it has to stay behind while its driver goes to use the rest stop facilities. You've captured the golden light of a summer evening really well, along with the subtle signs that at least the sidecar has lots of experience traveling on the road. This picture triggers many memories of pulling into highway rest stops, to refuel and refresh before heading back out on the road and I am always curious about the strangers who are fellow travelers. Vaskebjorn: This image hints at several stories of people on the road, while leaving questions unanswered. The close framing of the back of the truck and the direct look from one of the three young people in the truck box gives a sense of traveling right behind them as they make their way through the city streets. With a couple of leafy trees in the right hand curb, barely visible vehicles moving on the left side; glass towers on the right, older, lower masonry buildings on the left and the detailed wear and tear on the truck box, this picture tells a different story every time I look at it. JNic66: Your picture of the downcast hitchhiker walking back over the trail of debris reminds me of a line from the Jethro Tull song, Aqualung, "spitting out pieces of his broken luck." The wide focal length with pieces of paper and who knows what in the close foreground is very effective at telling a story about having to walk back over a piece of the road that was probably traveled in a vehicle just a short while earlier. Focusing on the ditch and not showing the actual road surface works well at making the story more compelling. Rounding out this story is the bright sunlight and the muscle shirt the hitcher is wearing while he sticks his thumb out at waist level without looking in the direction of traffic. nobody: This story of traveling a major divided highway at sunset is something I can relate to. It's just a snapshot, but you have everything in the picture, the streaks and smudges on the windshield glass, the severe contrast in light making it difficult to see what is on the road, the open sky blocked by a concrete overpass, the huge hydroelectric towers in the distance, rows of streetlights on tall posts, the driving lights of the oncoming vehicles, people moving at the end of a long day. I've never driven in Poland, but I have driven the road in your photo many, many times. Bruce Clark: A very striking picture, taken with a "kit" lens. I really like how you managed to capture dead leaves, cracks in the pavement, the reflection of the car in the side of the bus, the beautiful reds in the bus exteriour and the luminescence of the car's tailight, all in an instant. By pointing your camera down so close to the side of bus, you made it look like you could reach out and touch the car and the road with your hand. Really tells the story of an accident barely averted, no thanks to the driver of the car. jchorst: Has the look of a watercolour painted by an old master. Excellent framing with the arch of the bridge overhead to set apart the pastel colours of the sky, perspective from the rows of buildings lining the river or canal into the distance, a sense of movement from the propeller wash and wake from the back of the boat, these elements make this a very good image. The only people on the river now might be tourists, but the structures close to the water tell a story of when boats were tied up all along the waterway to be unloaded by hand. WileyB: The early morning light is beautifully captured in this photo. I wonder if the campers getting ready to hit the road realized they were in the shadow of pioneers who traveled the California Trail in wagon trains more than 150 years ago? I've never been here, but these rock formations must have been quite the sight to wake up to, whether you were traveling with motor vans and nylon tents or a canvas covered wagon. aaacb: Good example of the medium telling a message. I don't know when you took this picture with black and white film (Pan F film is still being produced and the suitcase looks modern), but your choice of medium makes this photo look like it was taken 50 years ago. The ornate gate and wrought iron fence suggest a European setting with lots of history, which contrasts against the "modern" traveler looking lost with his suitcase on the ground beside him, a map in his hand and a perplexed look on his face. The out of focus areas further isolate this individual and make him look even more out of place. eva: If you leveled this picture, it would be much less effective. I'm sure the ride in the horse drawn wagon wasn't smooth and level and having the couple on bicycles tilted shows what your ride was like without putting the wagon in the picture. Having the other horse drawn wagon in the far background with the same tassels hanging from the roof is also very effective at indirectly describing your situation. The closeness of two people having to pedal themselves around while you are being chauffeured is an interesting story in itself, which is reflected in their facial expressions. noelcmn: A great deal of visual appeal in this image. The telephoto focal length brings up the mountainside in the far background at the point where the road curves to the right, to enclose the scene. The tree branches along the road and the shadows across the road give a sense of being in a natural cathedral. The two people walking on the road are in deep shadow just before the point where the road opens up with bright sunlight, I can't tell if they are walking towards or away from the light, but there is a sense of moving between two very different places, and I wonder what their stories are and why they are moving. rod_grant: I've traveled a lot of roads in North America that are just as flat as this section of the Cobb Highway, but your photo does a great job of describing what that is like. You got close enough to the road surface to eliminate even the slightest change in elevation, you have perfectly placed lines that converge to the vanishing point and the short row of trees on the horizon emphasizes the treelessness of all the surroundings. Even the uniform grey sky complements the simplicity of this scene. Apparently the highway is named after the Cobb Stagecoach Company, so horse-drawn transportation seems to be a sub-theme in this thread. arnold: Your photo also reminded me of a song, although Paul Simon says "I got a Nikon camera," so that would be an off-topic comment. I switched to Ektachrome for slides that didn't include "the greens of summers" (and to get quicker, local photo-processing), but for this picture of a narrow single lane road through a pass in the Cascades, Kodachrome is quite alright. I like how nonchalant your rider (you?) looks despite being parked so close to a precipitous slope. Even 40 years later, this slide really works to give a sense of how lush (and steep) the valleys are in this mountain range.
Finally, thank you for reading to the end to find out the winner of this challenge and the host of the next weekly challenge.
I selected Vaskebjorn's photo of young people riding in the back of a well-used truck for first place. Second place goes to aaacb's black and white photo of a lost traveler and third place goes to JNic66's photo of someone walking in the ditch while halfheartedly trying to hitch a ride.
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