Hello Readers
***
The Photo Challenge this week is to share three favorite images.
It is always tough to pick “favorites” because favorite for what? Composition , clarity, color, essence, mood, content, subject, abstract, etc?
***
So I looked through my recent archives and started there. What were some favs?
The first image I found was looking up at a tree while we did an overnight hike to see St Mary’s Falls in Virginia.
it just so happened that I took three different images of this same dead tree because it was at our (very private) campsite right next to the Falls.
FIRST IMAGE: Tree from St Mary’s Falls in VA
Here is the tree in the afternoon – at dusk, and then in the morning.
SECOND IMAGE: Metal Garden Art in Tampa, FL
This is another favorite photo from 2022 – from February

THIRD IMAGE: Patio at the Harbor in Norfolk, VA
For our anniversary this year, the hubs and I took an easy local getaway to the Norfolk/Hampden Roads area in Virginia. I took this next photo during that short trip. It was Spring of 2022 and sadly, the eateries still had the pandemic empty vibe.
I wondered if I should crop the bottom? Which do you like better – Cropped or uncropped?
.
To Join the Challenge this week – Go HERE (and thanks to Sarah for hosting this week)
.
.
.
.
.
.
Great choices for this challenge Yvette! I like them all!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Alletta
LikeLike
Cool photos. 😀 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Cee
☀️😊
LikeLike
Interesting selection, Yvette!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re welcome!
LikeLike
I don’t think I could choose 3 favourites. These are all certainly interesting.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks VJ –
LikeLiked by 1 person
Welcome!
LikeLike
Hmmm…..all from one year – good idea Yvette, and well chosen for the week. I say cropped.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks –
LikeLike
Love the taps. I’d go for cropped and straightened 🙂
LikeLike
Ah – yes – we could straighten it a little – great tip
And thanks for chiming in BB
LikeLiked by 1 person
These are all awesome pictures Yvette!
💖💖💖
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much Cindy G
LikeLike
I love the shadows and those harbor shots.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Dan!
All of these favs today had a sweet memory attached –
LikeLiked by 1 person
Uncropped! Great photos, Prior. Thank you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Jennie! Thanks for the feedback – you might be the first to pick the uncropped….
And I like both but might like uncropped a little more because it makes the photo less formal.
The post lower left also brings the eye there and then around
And could bring a human warmth because that is what we tie and connect to….
So rather than just a sunset with distant items we have that foreground item that is clutter on one hand but on the other hand it could be inviting and balancing (just thinking haha)
LikeLiked by 1 person
My thoughts, too!
LikeLike
Love the dead tree and the shadows of the metal art! Also, I would vote for the cropped version.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for the feedback on all choices today. It was fun to pick a few “favs” this week!
☀️😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
These are great examples of favorites. The meaning behind the photos is the important part. I like the cropped photo a bit more than the uncropped one. Thanks for sharing and explaining your selections.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for th feedback on the cropped image –
Also thx for taking the time to read about the photos today.
And I was glad to find a few favs from the year so far but I don’t think any of these will make my “end-of-year-favorites” – hmmmm – I guess I’ll see when I pick in December
Hope you have a geeat day
LikeLike
Uncropped for me because it has more reflective ripples and the bottom pyramid speaks to the mast and rigging
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Derrick – good point – and that bottom pyramid speaking is what changes the whole feel to me -it brings people into the frame – and brings a human presence compared to the more quiet solitude of the cropped image.
I like both but also think the second one has the post (pyramid) at a key spot in lower left area (rule of thirds like) and the small pointing up of that post seems to bring visual interest and brings the eye there and then up ….
Thanks for the feedback
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like the shadows on the garden art photo!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks ☀️🙏
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for joining the challenge 😃 I enjoyed your explanations as well as the photos themselves. On the last one definitely cropped imho!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for the feedback Sarah! I think most readers are opting for the cropped version but I feel 50/50!
Oh and thx again for hosting this week
LikeLiked by 1 person
I also agree with Brian about straightening the horizon 😀
LikeLike
I like these pictures, Yvette – especially the tree! As for cropping the boat picture, I remember showing my kids a picture I took of the East River from a high rise window. I cropped out some smokestacks in the background, but the general opinion was that the picture was better with them in.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Book Club Mom! That is so interesting about the smokestacks and how your kids liked them in the shot.
I think some of the extras in photos really do change the mood so I wonder if it depends on what the photo is for? And sometimes less can be quieter – so I bet the version of your photo without the smokestacks was a little quieter (even if they preferred the other)
Thanks for chiming in on that photo and the crop
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s a good point – I think the “extras” add reality to the picture. Smokestacks aren’t exactly pretty, but the give the full perspective.
LikeLike
I liked the cropped photo the best. Love the metal “sculpture”! Good shot!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks JT!
And hope you have a great start to August
LikeLike
Garden Art and Harbor are my faves. Uncropped on Harbor, despite the foreground object. Broader perspective IMO.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for your perspective John and I think this post has reminded me of one thing – which is the fact that a small horizontal bottom crop can really change an image…..
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love the morning best in the first group, because it gives me a little of everything.
The metal garden shadows, they rock.
And I like the last group uncropped. It looks like a shark’s fin . . . a rather obese shark’s fin but hey, still counts. 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hahahaha
I am still laughing at the obese shark fin – and it makes sense because he is likely eating all those industrial seed oils and having too many carbs given to him from the boats (kidding)
But it does look like a fin
And thanks for the feedback –
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sharks would probably have a decent diet, so he was the anomaly.
LikeLike
☀️
LikeLiked by 1 person
Interesting choices, Yvette! I think it is impossible to choose three faves, and you bring up excellent points about by which criteria are three faves chosen. Love your harbor shot!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much Terri
It was sad to see so many places still so empty -;)
LikeLiked by 1 person
I prefer the cropped as the sky is so amazing and it deserves to be featured.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for the feedback and that is a good point that the cropped version lets us move right into the sky
☀️
LikeLike
You must have really liked that tree that was amazingly tall and skinny with its branches gone. But it served a purpose for you. I like the metal garden art as well. I like the clean look of the cropped version, but the bottom uncropped version makes you feel like you are standing alongside you, the photographer. Those are interesting clouds in the background.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for your detailed feedback Linda and I like how you noted the uncropped brings the viewer along side with me
I felt something like that with it also
And the funny story about the tree is that I took about 70 photos that hike and most were of the green and the many blooms (that was a treat) and so the only blue sky photos I had ended up being from that tree!
I started mentioning that in this post but the post got too long for a photo challenge one – but it was interesting to see three sky shots out of 79!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, like we, the reader, are alongside you for the ride. Tall trees fascinate me – you wonder about the tall dead ones, how they don’t topple over when stripped of their branches up top?
LikeLiked by 1 person
I know what you mean about this dead trees that stand like that …..
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great response to this challenge Prior. I like the cropped version. It gives more emphasis to the sky.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much
☀️😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Three contrasting pictures, all pleasing in their own way. I wasn’t aware of this challenge. Interesting!
PS. Uncropped!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for the feedback, Keith
and one more vote for the uncropped
LikeLike
Great choices! Beautiful tree and ship images. The Metal Garden image is my favorite!
LikeLike
Thanks Amy ☀️😊
LikeLike
Love the last photo and better uncropped IMHO
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Alison 🌸🌸
LikeLike
Metal for me! And I go for uncropped.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Leya
LikeLike
Wonderful choices, Yvette. The hearts are my fav because the photo represents our love of family.
Nicley done … Isadora 😎
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hello isadora – I like that love of family point
💙☀️
And hope your month is off to a nice start
LikeLike
These are all great images, Yvette. The one of the taps is particularly artistic.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Robbie! And I just love those cousins so much – wish I could see them more
LikeLiked by 1 person
My favorite was the metal art – of course, public art, but the sunset over the water was romantic and beautiful. I prefer it cropped because the point of the boat or whatever that was doesn’t add anything to the picture. All great shots, my friend.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for sharing your preference on the sunset photo- BUsh Boy also suggested a little straightening
And cheers to the public art!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have to straighten nearly everything. I have an astigmatism even after lasix eye surgery.
LikeLike
Yvette, Norfolk/Virginia Beach, VA was my homebase for many years. So many good times with much to see and do. Your picture brings back many memories of times spent around boats and the water. (BTW, I think it looks better with the bottom cropped.) And, the shadows of the faucets and hearts on the wall on the wall is very special!😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much Sylvia – one more vote for the cropped. And thanks for checking out this post 😉
LikeLike