Would this fly for artistic value?

[spacetrain1983]

I caught a westbound intermodal rolling out of Nampa, ID today, and decided to try a unique composition, with some discarded Lego piece I found on the ground at the location I was set up at. Had my video camera rolling on a tripod, meanwhile I got down on the ground, stuck the Lego piece into the dirt, and managed to get focused on it, with the tracks in the background - perfection, or so I thought. However, I wound up taking the shot about half a second too early, so the composition of the original photo (the colored one) was pretty poor. So, I decided to make some edits, and wound up with the (mostly) B&W photo, cropping to a better composition (in my opinion) and setting the vibrance to zero - I wanted to retain just a little color, hence why I adjusted vibrance and not saturation. Finished off with some vignette and some contrast and brightness adjustments, wound up with what you see here.

So, that all being said, would the artistic value of this make up for the abnormal aspects of the photo? I decided to try and make a departure from the common wedgie, but wanted to pass it by here first before resizing and submitting it.

[Mgoldman]

I'd bet it could easily win an award in a photography contest, and no doubt, you could get hundreds likes on Facebook, but in the real world - I'd say no dice.

First - in my opinion, it's a really dark image - not "dark" as in a judge at a photography contest read into the image something that was never there, but simply "dark".

Second - it's very random - ie: without purpose. What interest is there in a a discarded Lego piece whether tied to the train or on its own merit? For that matter, what interest is there in the background subject itself? Maybe if the foreground subject was a spike... or a related or contrasting subject with some kind of tie in to the background subject. As is, neither subjects seem very appealing, let alone the lighting.

/Mitch

[Mgoldman]

Perhaps these are similar compositions but with better results:

PhotoID: 300527 Photograph © Thomas J. Nanos - www.nanosphoto.com

PhotoID: 182235 Photograph © Brian Smith

PhotoID: 314508 Photograph © Mitch Goldman

And a favorite:

PhotoID: 206093 Photograph © Stephen DiSalvo

/Mitch

[miningcamper1]

Sorry, it does nothing for me.
Mitch summarized the problems with it quite well!

[JimThias]

I'm so confused about what I'm looking at, and why.

[spacetrain1983]

Well, I actually came up with a connection between the Lego piece and the train...

The Consumer Goods Life Cycle
-
Most consumer goods - for instance, LEGOs - after being produced in the factory, need to be shipped somewhere. Oftentimes, the method of shipment is in a shipping container which winds up on an intermodal train, such as the one seen in the background of this photo.

Then, they get sold to somebody, and enter the main part of their life cycle - usage by the consumer, or even multiple, as it goes about its existence doing what it was created to do.

Eventually, however, the product reaches the end of the line, and, more often than not, will wind up cast by the wayside, abandoned, waiting for a second chance that will likely never come. This particular LEGO piece has hit that phase, sticking out of the dirt, likely never to be used for its intended purpose ever again. For years to come, it will lie in ever-encroaching ruin, getting buried, and lost to the sands of time...

As for the darkness, the lighting certainly wasn't great that day, but to me I feel as though that aids in highlighting the plight of the Lego piece. Maybe it's just me though.

[Switched out]

Me:- Looks at spacetrain's Lego photo

"Also sprach Zarathustra" by Richard Strauss starts playing in my head


Cheers,


Chris

[JimThias]

Originally Posted by spacetrain1983

Well, I actually came up with a connection between the Lego piece and the train...


As for the darkness, the lighting certainly wasn't great that day, but to me I feel as though that aids in highlighting the plight of the Lego piece. Maybe it's just me though.

Your lego piece is staged. There is no plight.

[bigbassloyd]

Not tingling the spider senses for me either. Extremely dark, and a confusing subject. I will say the vignetting on the first one makes it a slightly better shot.

Loyd L.

[spacetrain1983]

Gave it a shot, and PAQ. Not sure what I was expecting, to be honest. Oh well.