Winner Chosen - February 2014 - Admin's choice - Image of the month

[Marko]

Hi members,

In case you are new around here this is where the Admin (me) chooses one excellent photo each month from all the photos nominated by other members during that month in the Member's monthly choice forum.

Just so it's clear, the photo I choose is not necessarily the best one of the month. I've come to realize it's not really logical to pit images from totally different genres against each other. That's why there are categories in photo contests.

My goal is to simply choose an excellent photo and talk about why I think it rocks.

This month, congrats to JAS_Photo for her image Urban Photo Shoot

I chose this image for several reasons:

1 - Composition - Composition works well here with nice framing elements like the metal posts on left and the diagonal lines of the train and the yellow line. It gives us a good sense of space and location and keeps our eye well focused on the man waiting for the train. And then we notice his reflection which makes this photograph. For me there's something super-interesting going on between the man and his reflection. It could be a past/present theme, appearance/reality theme but it's there and is now captured forever in this photograph.

2 - Timing - There was very little opportunity to make this image because it it only lasted a moment, Jas did an awesome job with the framing and timing.

3 - Post-processing - It's not immediately obvious but the post processing helps support the reflection in the glass. There are no deep blacks in the image which brought out the reflection, but the processing has also given the image a dreamier feel (but not nauseatingly dreamy)than it would otherwise have had. Smart choice in my book

For all these reasons, this is my choice for image of the month. Since we all have opinions, some members may disagree with my choice. That's cool but THIS thread is not the place for debate over my pick, NOR is it the place to further critique the image. The purpose here is to suggest strong elements in the photo that we may learn from.

Congrats again to JAS_Photo for capturing this moment on her Urban Photo Shoot.