I need to know which of these three photos looks the best

[andrewducker]

Up the hill for the ante-penultimate Beltane walkthrough today, and the clouds above us were just thick enough that I could take a photo of Nelson's Monument with the sun behind it.

I got home, and was trying to work out how to post it, and couldn't decide which cropping to use. I kinda like the last one, with just the tower in it. On the other hand, I like the first one with the people in it.

And I'm by no means an expert in photography (I just knows what I likes), so I thought I'd throw this one open...








Bonus photo, Edinburgh's Folly, as seen about half an hour later, also with the sun behind it:

Comments

[myka]

I like the first one with the peepul and the road. But I am v unsophisticated when it comes to photographs/visual art and, like you, I just "knows what I likes".

[ironymaiden]

the first one. i like the curve of the road and the objects in the foreground giving scale.

[sapphire2309]

I'd say the first one. The second and third one (mostly the third) feel cut off. Again, not an expert.

[casimirian]

My non-expert vote is the first one.

[ninetydegrees]

First one: it gives context, scale and details to look at, and proportions between sky and not-sky are better.

[digitalraven]

The monument's a bit too central on all of them, if it were 1/3rd or 2/3rds of the way across the image it'd be a more pleasing composition (but that would either cut out the sun or make it central). If the light were normally balanced I'd say the first looked better, but the blown out contrast from the sun means the less we see of the hill, the better. As it is, a tight crop is the best choice. As a thirty-second look, maybe:



Truth be told, the shot of the Folly is the best—at the light level you're shooting at it's making everything except the sky show up as black, so it becomes less about what the object is, and more about the shapes it forms in silhouette, and that's where the Folly shines. The monument is just a big phallic symbol, it isn't as visually interesting.

[cybik]

This. The rule of thirds is really useful when lining up shots in the first place. Cropping is generally much less effectove than getting a good composition to begin with..

[lsanderson]

I'd go with first or third. The people & path if you want scale or just the monument. The path provides an eye-line to the tower in the first, and the people provide scale. I'll stop blathering now.

[randomdreams]

I like the first one the most, fwiw.

[agoodwinsmith]

Top one, with more foreground for context.

[ggreig]

Everyone else is wrong, it's clearly the third one.

The presence of people in the other shots over-complicates things and compromises the stark simplicity of nature and art.

... and this may be why I work as a software developer... :-)

[birguslatro]

The first one's the most informative, while the second one has the most mood to it. And the third one just seems all wrong.

So I'd say the second one is 'best', if it's artistic merit you're after.

[marahmarie]

I know I'm late to this, but yes, second one's best.

[danieldwilliam]

I think either the first or the third - definately not the second.

[darkoshi]

I like the first one the best.