Theme: Cobblestone Street

[Wendy Kates]

This is an image of a very old, cobblestoned street (Acorn Street) in Beacon Hill, Boston. Like the last image I posted for this theme, the subject is vintage, but not the processing of the image (although I may try it in B&W too). I processed it primarily with Nik CEP. I'm not sure if you can tell, but the flag is early American too...it definitely does not reflect 50 states!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

[Mitch Carucci]

Love the textures of the bricks and cobblestone. Great color in the cobblestones. Nice Americana image!

[Cheryl Slechta]

Hi, Wendy, I'd prefer a little less color (but I seem to like paler palettes than most people) and a crop from the bottom.

[Nancy Bell]

Lovely curving line of the path, with the rough cobblestone textures on one side and the rough brick textures on the other side. I like the internal repeating visual elements in these two areas. I think Cheryl has a good cropping suggestion. And thanks for pointing out the stars on the flag, I doubt I would have noticed. It adds a very interesting & visually surprising element. I think it is a nice touch having a door visible at the end of the cobblestone path, so it simply does not end abruptly. I am good with the color saturation, especially those shots of orange from the pumpkins and leaves, plus the contrasting greens of the flowers along the doorways.

[Wendy Kates]

Thanks, all. I've cropped the bottom, as suggested, and have reduced the reds ever so slightly...it may not be noticeable, since I liked the reds and didn't want to desaturate too much.

[Nancy Bell]

Good repost.

[Dennis Bishop]

I really like the scene, and you have nice depth and leading lines. I'd not have thought of cropping from the bottom but like what it did. My first reaction is that there's a lot of visual intensity in the original post. The colors, placement of the elements, and the strong textures -- especially the cobblestones -- all contribute to it. To reduce the overall intensity, one or more of those things could be adjusted. As much as I like the cobblestones, I'd be inclined to focus my attention there (without affecting the leaves in the street -- in fact, I'd move that nice, big red and yellow one upward before cropping). To see if it'd work, I used Curves to reduce the contrast of the cobblestones and moved the Clarity slide in the Camera Raw filter all the way left. In my opinion, it worked pretty well.

[gary ellwein]

I particularly like the curved leading line to the door. I did not appreciate the strong visual intensity of the image until Dennis brought it up. I tried to incorporate all of the suggestions in the redo. This feels like a cool cloudy day in Boston.

I was not successful in finding a discussion of this version of the flag.

[Dennis Bishop]

I think that works nicely, Gary, and I like your re-location of the leaf within that subtle curve.

[Cheryl Slechta]

Great thread here, folks. I love the repost, Gary. The leaf placement is the icing on the cake

[Wendy Kates]

Everyone's suggestions have been incredibly helpful...thank you. Gary, I really like your repost too! And, yes, it was definitely cool and cloudy in Boston that day!