Photo Contest #84 - urban aerials [voting]

HomeInMyShoes · #1 Posted **Dec 30, 2008, 12:14 PM**

Hope I didn't miss any entries. My PM box was a mess over the holidays. Let me know and I'll fix it.

1 untitled

2 untitled

3 looking down from the 29 floor balcony of the Blue Horizon Hotel Vancouver

4 untitled

5 Close Quarters

6 untitled

7 badacity

8 Burnaby

9 untitled

Evergrey · #2 Posted **Dec 30, 2008, 4:43 PM**

Cleveland

olga · #3 Posted **Dec 30, 2008, 6:26 PM**

#5. Not the best photo technically, but a fascinating motif and the only photo that was interesting to me.

ST1 · #4 Posted **Dec 30, 2008, 7:24 PM**

I like #5. I agree, it's not the best quality picture, but it's the most interesting. Does anyone know what city it is?

Don B. · #5 Posted **Dec 30, 2008, 8:15 PM**

9 fascinates me. It makes downtown St. Louis look like a model display in a store or something.

I'm surprised there weren't more entries for this particular contest.

--don

Just Build It · #6 Posted **Dec 30, 2008, 9:05 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ST1

I like #5. I agree, it's not the best quality picture, but it's the most interesting. Does anyone know what city it is?

I'm thinking Riyadh

niwell · #7 Posted **Dec 30, 2008, 9:28 PM**

#5 for me. The grainy quality adds to the effect in this case. Also I'm guessing Cairo?

touraccuracy · #8 Posted **Dec 30, 2008, 9:44 PM**

33% of these are of vancouver

Jibba · #9 Posted **Dec 30, 2008, 11:30 PM**

I'm going with entry #1: the angle and the lighting creates a great interplay between man-made and natural environments creating the effect that Vancouver is its own mountain range. Very cool.

Aleks · #10 Posted **Dec 31, 2008, 12:34 AM**

5 and 9 but I'll have to go with nine because it looks like the city is a small model that belong in an architectural firm or something. Nice work everyone.

excel · #11 Posted **Dec 31, 2008, 7:59 AM**

at first i didn't even recognize Burnaby.

mmmatt · #12 Posted **Dec 31, 2008, 8:56 PM**

#1 for me...Vancouver has a great setting and very dense urban landscape. This photo shows off both those aspects exceedingly well.

Surrealplaces · #13 Posted **Dec 31, 2008, 9:21 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by niwell

#5 for me. The grainy quality adds to the effect in this case. Also I'm guessing Cairo?

You're right on the money Niwell. It's Cairo.

touraccuracy · #14 Posted **Dec 31, 2008, 11:47 PM**

5 is an incredible subject, but really poorly pulled off, and this is a photography contest isn't it? not a "find a crazy looking city" contest.

Don B. · #15 Posted **Jan 1, 2009, 12:41 AM**

^ Exactly, but there's a lot of weird people on these forums that mistake grit for artistic excellence. #5 is a marginal photo on a good day, and I'm baffled as to how it has so many votes. I don't even find the shot all that interesting, the place looks icky. There's so much noise in the image and it is not sharp.

--don

Cowtown_Tim · #16 Posted **Jan 1, 2009, 1:49 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Don B.

^ Exactly, but there's a lot of weird people on these forums that mistake grit for artistic excellence. #5 is a marginal photo on a good day, and I'm baffled as to how it has so many votes. I don't even find the shot all that interesting, the place looks icky. There's so much noise in the image and it is not sharp.

--don

I'm one of those weird people who voted for #5. The quality is not great but the subject is interesting, and actually it's the blurriness that draws me to it. If this contest is only for the quality and not interestingness, I would have probably voted for #6. It's the best quality wise, it's just that I've seen that shot millions of times.

P.S. you might want to keep your comments less negative, generally in these contests people point out the positives. Everyone is going to have differing opinions on what they like out of a photograph.

olga · #17 Posted **Jan 1, 2009, 4:48 PM**

A "photography contest" is about the best photograph, right? What makes a good photograph? IMO the motif and the "interestingness" is as important as the technical quality. Actually - I think it's more important. Photography is an art that combines technical skill with creative sense. But if you're only good at handle your expensive equipment but lack a sense of image composition and motif, your pics turn out really unintersting.

initiald · #18 Posted **Jan 1, 2009, 7:52 PM**

I see both sides. If the contest was about photojournalism or a subject that was difficult to capture or an event that only happens briefly, then I could vote for a photo that captured the moment but maybe wasn't perfect in a technical sense. Urban aerials isn't something that really changes, so there isn't really an excuse for poor technical quality, unless you are just haphazardly taking snapshots out a plane window.

Big Sky · #19 Posted **Jan 2, 2009, 4:00 AM**

I voted for picture #5. I agree with many of the above comments, the picture quality is not very good, but for some reason I keep going back to look at it. I'm still trying to figure out what the heck it is. It's obviously an older middle eastern city.

Rocket1964 · #20 Posted **Jan 2, 2009, 7:51 AM**

OMG who took this freekin number 5 photo that has caused such controversy LOL?