Feedback please, on what I should use for my May contest pic!

I'm not going to post a poll, because I want to solicit comments as to why you think I should chose a particular photo. I'd really appreciate you're help, since I'm really tied about 6 ways here, myself!

Denver's City Park:




Organ pipes in the Iliff Hall Chapel, Denver:




The Manhatten Hotel, Salida, CO:




And three shots of the Evans Memorial Chapel on the University of Denver campus:

First, if you go with a chapel picture, do the red bridge and the reflection. That part is easy (for me). I say that even though generally I like landscape mode for landscapes. This is an exception, because of the more complete reflection and because of the colors.

Now, for the others--

Manhattan Hotel- no, I love it, but I wouldn't vote for it because it is someone else's art, and I don't know how to judge the photo apart from the art. I am eliminating one of mine for that reason.

I love the organ pipes and I love the City Park. My personal favorite is the city park between those two, but I can see some people liking the organ pipes better.

The reasons that I love the city park are the light, from the right, and the varied colors of the mountains in the background. Plus one can see the great skyline with the old building in the foreground.

So, YMMV, but I would choose either the City Park or the red bridge chapel picture, but with the organ pipes right up there. It could possibly get a lot of votes, even more than the others, but it probably wouldn't get mine. Just personal preference I think.

I think you are SMART not to do a poll. Then you feel obligated to enter the winner, and sometimes it isn't the best.

Just go with your gut. All the photos are really nice. I'm sure others with have opinions that are different from mine, so mine is just one take on it.

It really is my favorite of the three, but I don't like entering "tall" photos in these contests due to members' varying screen sizes. I know on my work computer it's so long a pic I have to scroll down it and can't see the whole thing, so it makes it hard to judge it objectively. But if I make it smaller, I feel like there's too much loss of detail.

RE: art off of other people's art... you could make a case for all these shots being other people's art. Someone designed the chapels, a landscape architect designed the bridge and reflecting pool, someone designed City Park, that man-made lake in front if it, and it's boathouse. So I look at the Manhatten Hotel shot as being more about photographic composition than the mural, per se. This is also b/c I saw the other 5 photos I took of it and know this is the best composed of the bunch! :)

If it were just a photo of one mural or sign, sure, there would be a problem, but the thing that makes that image special for me is that it's several signs that have blended together over the years to give a sense of time passing.

As someone whose forte is photos of their big thumb, I hardly would enter my own statements to someone.

But you know photography, and besides that I concur with each thing you said.

but I think I might go with the park, too, for the reasons mentioned. That is a beautiful reflection shot of the chapel, though.

that it's the quintessential shot of Denver, in almost every tourist brochure the city puts out. So it feels very... safe to enter, and/or maybe too bland for my tastes. Still, it's bound to be popular.
Decisions, decisions! :dilemma:

Here are my two cents (bearing in mind that I have no idea how other people think, let alone how GD will vote):

City Park: I'm not really in to landscapes personally, but others like them. It's a good, well-composed picture.

Organ pipes: I love this one. I'm totally into patterns and repeated motifs right now, so this one appeals to me. Maybe not everyone's cup of tea though.

Manhattan Hotel: Cool picture. I like the composition and the decomposed look of the painting.

Chapel: I prefer the first shot because more of the church is visible and the "lines" of the picture converge better.

How will GD vote? If people voted like me, I'd be weighing just the pipes and the hotel shots. maybe leaning pipes. But it's impossible to tell how DUers at large will vote. If I had a cat in either shot, either would be a shoo-in to win! :)

But I'm glad to hear someone else is drawn to the pipes shot. I love the color, balance and repeated pattern of the shot. It felt inspired even while I was shooting it.

I just don't know if they will appeal to the sensibilities of the "great unwashed" in GD. You know how they are...

It is in my top three. I always ask this. It sounds like your gut wants to go with the pipes shot, but you think the tourist picture might get more votes. Who cares? What have you lost? So what if you don't win? I mean, seriously..............

But I think all this mulling it over has helped make up your mind. Now, I'm just going to be surprised waiting for whatever you decide.

Thank goodness I have made up my mind what to submit.

I've been entering these contests almost from the beginning of the photo group (I missed the first contest), but I've only won once. Do you know how demoralizing that is? My pride is at stake! :rofl:

:D

You haven't won one of these bad babies yet? I find that hard to believe, given the caliber of your photos! Certainly makes the point that it's impossible to judge what the GD masses will vote on!

It may be small consolation, but I've admired many of your pictures.

You won the Spring 2007 Seasonal Contest with this image. Remember?

Never mind anyone else, enter the one that makes you happy. I've given up trying to figure out what GD is thinking. Over there, the apocalypse-du-jour can be anything from pirates to mustard to flying pigs of death. Some days, it's like catching sand in a sieve.

I like the strength of the reflection. #5 is a beautiful shot but the subject is outweighed by the surroundings.