Snaps had (what I thought) was a very good suggestion; posting an image with a bit of background and self-evaluation. Then turning it over to the Forum. Here goes! This image came out of about a five mile walk about town I did on a quiet Sunday afternoon. Motavation for this was a couple things: in my last Chicago Architecture seriesI had a fair amout of trouble fitting in some of the scenery with a 35mm wide angle; and, oddly enough, I now have a new 21mm. I had not been real happy with this new lens. It did not seem real sharp. So wanted to test it out on a tripod, with a small aperature, and some fine grained film. I chose Fuji Superia Realia 100, mostly because it was in the refrigerator. Buit also because it has tight grain, and a lot of exposure latitude. I knew some of the scenes would be fairly high contrast, and did not want to fuss too much with exposure. This shot was taken under the El, not too far from Sears Tower. The long shutter speed (one second? I was shooting at f/22), nicely showed the motion of the cars, which was partly my intention at this busy intersection. [I wish it had been somewhat busier; this now looks more like a quiet intersection. But I'm sure I would have had trouble with the tripod during a normal work day. The street in the background was in bright sun, but I really did not do anything "special" for exposure, just let the camera set it according to my selected f/22. I like what the wide-angle did with the perspective here. Again, wish there was more traffic! There was no funny Photoshop stuff done to this.

I liked the color, but somehow it did not quite catch the flavor of being under the tracks. [I think if there had been a lot of cars and people (bright yellow taxis), I would have tried enhancing the saturation.] Rather than that, here I converted to B&W, using the "orange" setting in the channel mixer that Michelle told us about a while back. Then, changed to a very desaturated brown duotone, using a tutorial I picked up from somewhere. [OK. I've done my part. Now its your turn. If you don't care to discuss this image, please post your own!]

I kinda lean towards the color version. Mainly because of the red car, I like that red blur, and the color of the crossing lights. All the angles and lines keeps you looking for something you didn't see before, especially in the b/w version, at least for me. Straining my eyesight for the Ritz camera I bought some film at somewhere near there I believe a couple years back. But seriously, I like it either way. Wouldn't mind seeing more personally. Doug

Hmm. This is neat I can see what you wanted. The problem if it is a problem is the lack of light. Caused by being under the EL. I think I like the color best. Hind seight being what it is. I guess the next time I think you will get a better effect focusing not on the entire street BUT just the part where the street goes UNDER the EL. Sorry about you picking a not so busy day I can see where that would be a really fun picture. Bsteph

hmmm- i really like the perspective of this too- would've liked a few more cars & a bit more contrast also prefer the color version (that's it, pretty much what was already said)

I prefer the B&W version.....with the B&W you can spend time savoring the shapes and shadows, while the color seems to distract from that. I think the exposure is great too. My 2