Withered thistle
In which I go all Warhol on your arses and ask how you like the experience...
Last night I made this and posted it to bestshot, a delightful new photo community which all the serious photographers among you should check out.
I was rather proud of it myself, but didn't get any responses to it for a while, so I became all paranoid. Didn't people like my little pic? And if so, why not? Was it the shadow that put them off? Was it too dark? Too drab? Too grainy? In the end, I decided it was a little drab and could do with a little more light, so I made a much brighter version. And then I couldn't stop myself, so I went all Andy Warhol and made two more versions -- not necessarily brighter, but different. And then the responses began to pour in, and it turned out that people did in fact quite like the dark first version I'd posted. So that's the one you see here -- sombre but beautiful, I think.
This is the one I made in my moment of doubt. I specifically went for a lighter feel here, but looking at it now, I think I overdid it. Especially since the subject is a dead thistle and death doesn't require bright light. :-)
Then universalist said something about the original picture looking greenish on his uncalibrated monitor, so after telling him it was in fact a greyish brown, I decided to make a really green version, which came out as follows.
And then I got a little carried away and made a red version, too, which came out looking a little Japanese-ish.
I toyed with the idea of making two slightly toned-down red-brown and golden versions, as well, but decided to await your reactions first.
So, what do you think? In my opinion, the brown one is the best, followed by the green one, the red one and the yellow one. I think a toned-down red-brown version could be a really nice addition to the series, as could a dark gold one. However, I'd very much like your opinions on the matter. Which do you think is the best? And what do you think could be improved about the picture? Do you mind the grain? Does the shadow to the left bother you? Does the border work for you? Any other suggestions for improvement? Thank you very much in advance for your input...