Which Four?

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Today’s post has a poll so you can vote on the short list I should have taken to class in Los Angeles. Below are all 21 images from my long-list of favourites taken while on a course with Sam Abell. For the last part of the course we had to choose four settings where we had made a concentrated effort at photography. For each setting we chose two images to present to class for discussion and critique. Those two images had to be the first shot we took and the best of all the others we made at that setting.

I have shown only the best of each pair from my long-list. Based on those images (see gallery below) which four would you have chosen for presentation and critique? Fill in the poll below – you have up to  four choices so choose four if you are able.

If there is something I have shown but not included here which you think should be in your top four, mention it in the comments section below if you like. Some of the ones I have shown don’t have any other versions – they were composed and shot, and some not composed with care even if they came out OK. I could not include those in my choice for class, so they never made the long-list. In a future post, or the comments of this one,  I will let you know what my choices were – I found it very difficult to boil it down to four, and since the course have come to different choices. More than once 🙂

The images are all in the gallery beneath the poll, the titles for the images are the same in the gallery and poll questions. The gallery order and poll answer order are both randomized, which might be less convenient than if I had made them the same order, but I’m guessing it to be a better method. Sorry for any inconvenience.

I’ve not done a poll before, but thought it time to experiment on this blog, and a better opportunity than this is unlikely to come along soon. Never fear, polls will be extremely rare in this part of the internet so you can let go of that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach!

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Click on any image in the gallery below to see a larger version, and scroll with the arrows or by clicking/tapping.

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17 thoughts on “Which Four?”

  1. Pingback: Beneath Santa Monica Pier III | burnt embers

    • Hi Kate. No trace of it either in the spam or pending sections of the comments, nor on my polldaddy account. Did you write it in the “Other” field beneath the poll, or in this comments section? If the former, then I haven’t a clue how that works or what rules it may have. No one is using it, so I might just turn that feature off. If in this section, then that is very weird. Maybe you used a term that freaked out Akismet?

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      • Maybe, but it was pretty innocuous! I put in the ‘other ‘ section the photo that I love that was missing – the robot tourist binocular one and the comment was in the comment section. I will do the poll again but leave out the additional bits.

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      • Thanks – I ditched the “other” section from the poll. It was probably the problem. That binocular shot was the only one I took – no real thought, a quick composition and I moved on. So, it did not fit into the format for the class with only one shot. Hence not on my list. But I do like it too.

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  3. Pingback: Beneath Santa Monica Pier II | burnt embers

  4. This is like deciding which of your children you love the best. It’s difficult, even for a spectator, which is more or less Mr. Able’s position (although he has a trained eye that is most helpful). I’ve made my choices and, after reviewing them several times, am happy with the selection. However, I should point out, that there are no bad choices here. I wonder if I would make the same choices a month or a year from now because my taste in photos is probably more fluid that Mr. Able”s.

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    • there is a fair concensus building up in the voting for 3 or 4 of them as outstanding (and they included 3 of my choices I am pleased to say!)

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      • Thanks Valerie – With one exception I am not surprised at how things are trending in the top 5 or 6 so far. It will be interesting to see where we end up.

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    • Thanks Ken! I think my choices will change in the number 3 and 4 spot, and possibly in the number 2 spot. Though my first two are pretty firmly set I think. But there are other photos that I keep on swapping into and out of my 4th spot, and also sometimes the 3rd. So ….. It was a good few days of concentrated photography and learning new technique to add to the way I see things. Also, the train station was a bit of a trial for me. I would not normally photograph in that place, even though it a ton of possibility, it is just too busy with people. So I guess that was a good exercise, having to take pictures somewhere I wasn’t comfortable (though you’ll see most of the shots I have put up here are taken outside the station, funny that)

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    • My 14 year old daughter had very different preferences. She has a good eye for these things. The pier and seagull photo wins big at my house, though. There’s a lot going on there.

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      • Thanks Eric. Nice to hear it is a family exercise there, that makes me happy. Don’t tell anyone, but if you clear you cache, your daughter could vote as well, and your wife if she disagrees with the consensus you all came to (or you).

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  6. It looks like you’re getting useful results here – at least, agreement on several photos. I voted based on what appealed to me most, not on what I might have shown Sam Abell, because that might make me lean towards thinking too much about what HE would like.

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    • Thanks Lynn, keeping that influence to a minimum was difficult for the workshop process. Even choosing the 8 images for him to critique at the beginning of class was influenced by a talk of his I went to the day before the workshop started. Inevitable really. But your approach is a good one.

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