Poll: Which of these images looks best?

[Kryzantine]

In the pursuit of high grades, my knack for photography has hit a new, weird problem. Where most people have only 2 or 3 pictures of average quality to choose from (and one that easily stands out above the rest, making their print a no brainer), I was told I had ten photos I could use, two of which were especially good, but one other which was really popular. And for the life of me, I cannot figure out which one of these is the best one to choose. I asked quite a number of people in real life, but the opinion was very mixed. Therefore, an online poll is the only option.

By "best", I mean the picture which is best aesthetically and technically.

EDIT: The resolution of these images online is actually quite low. Just try to imagine all of these images as sharper than you see them.

 

[TheNamlessGuy]

DELETED

 

[Angry Caterpillar]

...Does it make me a bad person if I don't get it?
But if I had to pick on to look at for a while, I'd say the first.

 

[Arachon]

Either the middle one or the last one, I like them both.

 

[Sightless Wisdom]

The first, it's got a nice clean look.

 

[TheRundownRabbit]

For 2 you can apply a hidden meaning to the picture making it more art worthy.

 

[Kryzantine]

For 2 you can apply a hidden meaning to the picture making it more art worthy.

Hidden meaning of a random lock and chain on a footstep on a random Boro Park street? Kinda hard to do.

 

[mole2k]

I have to say none of them really do anything for me, I never was one for pictures of things like doorways and other random objects although if I was pushed I would say the first one with a bit of work could be ok. I've done a quick edit of it showing what I would do. It's quite soft due to the low resolution file I was working with but it gives you an idea at least.

Roughly the workflow was correct for converging verticals skew to fit in with the composition/crop I wanted, a little bit of curves and H/S/L then some local contrast.

 

[Daveman]

not no. 2 personally, either of the others would be alright I reckon

 

[NiceGurl_14]

I'd have to say the first one mostly because of it's simplicity.

 

[Kryzantine]

I have to say none of them really do anything for me, I never was one for pictures of things like doorways and other random objects although if I was pushed I would say the first one with a bit of work could be ok. I've done a quick edit of it showing what I would do. It's quite soft due to the low resolution file I was working with but it gives you an idea at least.

Roughly the workflow was correct for converging verticals skew to fit in with the composition/crop I wanted, a little bit of curves and H/S/L then some local contrast.

Wow, that was one quality first post.

I had no intention of leaving any of these photos as was; best, after all, is a relative term and does not exactly imply good. I thought of cropping the edges and increasing the hue a tad bit, maybe messing with contrast, but I had not thought of curves much. I'll be messing around with Photoshop a fair bit, of course.

 

[kawaiiamethist]

What did you shoot these with? They could have used better focus. Anyway, I went with the first.

 

[mole2k]

The curves was just a quick contrast boost really, I find them a much more controllable way of adjusting the contrast in an image. They are quite hard to use though took me a long time before I liked them more than levels, even still I would usually only use them if I cant do want I want to in levels. (generally speaking adjusting the tones when I want to boost them without blowing the highlights)

(as for the first post, I lurk here from time to time and decided to register to reply to this post )

 

[Kryzantine]

What did you shoot these with? They could have used better focus. Anyway, I went with the first.

It's a very good point and shoot camera, which means an average overall one.

The focus issue you see is actually just a resolution issue that happened when I put these pics online. The originals I have on my hard drive are a lot less fuzzy.

 

[Quiet Stranger]

...Does it make me a bad person if I don't get it?
But if I had to pick on to look at for a while, I'd say the first.

yeah i dont get it either (and im the brother of a photographer) but if anything has some kind of "message" I'd say the first one, the other two to me are just random images and really nothing else (modern art my ass)

EDIT: Also I dont mean to be rude with the last part of my post, I just meant it as how the hell is it art

 

[A Weary Exile]

The first one, as Furburt said, it has an interesting simplicity that is pleasing to the eye.

 

[FROGGEman2]

The second, mainly because I feel that I've seen the first and third ones done a billion times before. The third is my favourite, though.

 

[kawaiiamethist]

What did you shoot these with? They could have used better focus. Anyway, I went with the first.

It's a very good point and shoot camera, which means an average overall one.

The focus issue you see is actually just a resolution issue that happened when I put these pics online. The originals I have on my hard drive are a lot less fuzzy.

So you used a standard digital camera? I study screen and media, where we use digital slrs at least once a week, and had a class dedicated to capturing digital images last year. We use nikon d70s, so I went out and purchased a nikon d90. If you plan to make a career or just take your enthusiasm for photography further, get exposure to dslrs as soon as you can and as often as you can.

 

[Hiphophippo]

Gotta love this about Art. One picture has depth and meaning to one person, and is devoid of it to another.

My pick is number 2.