# Help Me Choose a Photograph for a Challenge On Another Forum… **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** photo\ **Created:** [January 27, 2025, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-photograph-for-a-challenge-on-another-forum/1013464 "2025-01-27T03:43:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bob\_Blaylock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_blaylock/32/3235_2.png) [@Bob\_Blaylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Blaylock)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2025, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-photograph-for-a-challenge-on-another-forum/1013464/1 "2025-01-27T03:43:05Z")
  Are we allowed to link to other forums?  I know some forums don’t like that, and I am not sure about this one.   Anyway, on another forum, specific to Nikon Cameras and those of us who use them, the theme for the current weekly challenge is _“My Ride”_   Today, I took my Jeep out to a place very near where [its predecessor sank](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tying-up-loose-ends-in-the-mmp/1011700/239), and got some good pictures of it.   Having processed out some of what I have, I am torn between two pictures to submit.  I like each of them very much, in different ways than I like the other.   If the mods say it’s OK, and if anyone asks, I’ll post a link to the relevant thread in that other forum.   I’m asking the good folks (and not-so-good folks) on this forum to help me choose.  My deadline to submit one or the other is midnight UTC on Wednesday, 28 January 2025.  In my local time zone, that’s 16:00 on Tuesday, 27 January 2025. First Candidate: [![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54289182457_bf39898404_o.jpg) ](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54289182457_bf39898404_o.jpg) Second Candidate: [![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54290493495_2a372687ec_o.jpg) ](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54290493495_2a372687ec_o.jpg)   So, what do any of you think? Which picture do you like better? ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2025, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-photograph-for-a-challenge-on-another-forum/1013464/2 "2025-01-27T03:49:14Z")
First. Brighter, more sense of energy. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2025, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-photograph-for-a-challenge-on-another-forum/1013464/3 "2025-01-27T03:54:56Z")
Agree with **susan**. The second looks more like a picture of a bog with a car in the background. The first looks like the pic of your ride. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2025, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-photograph-for-a-challenge-on-another-forum/1013464/4 "2025-01-27T04:05:37Z")
Also looks like there’s a bag of trash? in the right foreground of the second photo. ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_Blaylock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_blaylock/32/3235_2.png) [@Bob\_Blaylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Blaylock)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2025, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-photograph-for-a-challenge-on-another-forum/1013464/5 "2025-01-27T04:20:59Z")
  Yes, that’s a place where lots of people dump lots of trash.  I wasn’t really thinking much of it at the time; to me, that’s just a characteristic of that place.  It’s really rather remarkable that of the two pictures that I posted here, only one of them clearly shows one relatively well-contained trash bag.  There are large piles of trash, all over the place in this area, most of it not nearly so well-contained.  If you look up more toward the upper right, the distant background, in that shot, maybe you can make out some of the trash piles.   I did, on having my attention called to it by you, run that picture one more time through [Photo AI](https://www.topazlabs.com/topaz-photo-ai), just to remove that one trash bag; so now I have a version of that picture without it.  If the consensus turns to the second picture, I’ll probably use the one from which I removed the trash bag. ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_Blaylock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_blaylock/32/3235_2.png) [@Bob\_Blaylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Blaylock)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2025, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-photograph-for-a-challenge-on-another-forum/1013464/6 "2025-01-27T04:26:41Z")
> [@susan](#): > > Also looks like there’s a bag of trash? in the right foreground of the second photo.   On a related note, I now see, in the first picture, a discarded beverage cup, in the water, near the rear wheel.  I just now [Photo AI](https://www.topazlabs.com/topaz-photo-ai)ed that out, as well. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2025, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-photograph-for-a-challenge-on-another-forum/1013464/7 "2025-01-27T05:37:34Z")
First picture for sure. The car is clear and well lit and obviously the focus of the picture. In the second picture the car is much smaller, darker, off to the side and at a poor angle. At a quick glance you may hardly even notice there’s a car in the picture. ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2025, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-photograph-for-a-challenge-on-another-forum/1013464/8 "2025-01-27T07:46:36Z")
First, it’s more Jeep forward. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2025, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-photograph-for-a-challenge-on-another-forum/1013464/9 "2025-01-27T07:53:19Z")
The first. Shows off the car nicely, including in its reflection in the puddle. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2025, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-photograph-for-a-challenge-on-another-forum/1013464/10 "2025-01-27T09:07:08Z")
I’ll vote for the second one: don’t like the telephone posts in the first, and the composition seems too clean and easy. Then I am confused: in my neck of the woods > Wednesday, 28 January 2025 is tomorrow, but not Wednesday. And if you are allowed to manipulate the pictures with AI I would add a couple of rubber ducks in the big puddle. Something humorous. And make the car dirtier! ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2025, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-photograph-for-a-challenge-on-another-forum/1013464/11 "2025-01-27T19:39:54Z")
For the record, I have no idea if the challenge you’re doing allows AI manipulation. If so, fine, although _for me_ anything past cropping an image kind of defeats the point of considering the individual’s efforts to secure the best photo. None of that may be an issue for the OP or the challenge. Not to say that you can’t use AI to make an artistic image that represents what your ride means to you, but it is somewhat distinct from a “photograph”. YMMV of course. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2025, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-photograph-for-a-challenge-on-another-forum/1013464/12 "2025-01-27T21:00:32Z")
First pic for sure-- the Jeep is more prominent, and the interplay of dirt and puddles (along with the reflection of Jeep and sky) is visually interesting. RE: image editing (if it’s allowed), I don’t think it needs much at all, at least not to the level that AI intervention would be required. I’d crop the sky to the top of the hill on the right so that only a small sliver of sky remains, and then photoshop out the telephone poles to reduce a bit of the clutter. ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_Blaylock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_blaylock/32/3235_2.png) [@Bob\_Blaylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Blaylock)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2025, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-photograph-for-a-challenge-on-another-forum/1013464/13 "2025-01-28T04:13:33Z")
  So, I made my choice, did some further editing, and here is what I finally submitted… [![](https://nikonites.com/forum/attachments/zsc_2783-topaz-rawdenoise-sharpen-remove-2_4096-jpg.414964/) ](https://nikonites.com/forum/attachments/zsc_2783-topaz-rawdenoise-sharpen-remove-2_4096-jpg.414964/) ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2025, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-photograph-for-a-challenge-on-another-forum/1013464/14 "2025-01-28T04:23:45Z")
Very nice! Good luck with it, and let us know what reactions you get. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2025, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-photograph-for-a-challenge-on-another-forum/1013464/15 "2025-01-28T04:41:02Z")
According to my calendar, Wednesday is the 29th, not the 28th. ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_Blaylock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_blaylock/32/3235_2.png) [@Bob\_Blaylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Blaylock)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2025, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-photograph-for-a-challenge-on-another-forum/1013464/16 "2025-02-02T03:22:04Z")
  It ended in a tie between me and one other denizen of that forum.  The other entry that tied with mine was a rather abstracted image of a bicycle. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2025, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-photograph-for-a-challenge-on-another-forum/1013464/17 "2025-02-02T14:50:58Z")
> [@Bob\_Blaylock](#): > > I like each of them very much, in different ways than I like the other. Out of curiosity, what do you see as the strengths of the second photo?