As always, these are simply my comments so please take them with whatever condiments you think appropriate...
I've really enjoyed the entries this week so hopefully my comments can at least do them justice.
KENOH: the almost disjointed composition and toning on this one are spot-on for the theme and give the effect of a grabbed-shot rather than something staged. Great atmosphere. The choice of Porsche could also be appropriate since the merger into VAG and the decline towards badge-engineering.
GLENTHOMPSON: I like the composition here and the gorgeous autumnal colours. The odd leaning and misaligned gravestones do just enough to give the sense of decay/disorder associated with their age - the sacrifices of the soldiers falling towards a distant memory. If I were to make any suggestions, I'd see if cropping to focus more on the headstones to take out the top-right tree limb.
NEEDFX: I really like the slightly muted tones to give the impression of age and the way you've used a shallow depth of field to bring focus onto the pack, rifle and adjacent trees. Great use of DoF to generate a picture that tells a clear story by minimising the confusing contribution of a busy forest background. Great job. OK it's only an enactment but makes you ask what happened to the soldier?
HUGHMAC: I liked this HDR photo when you first posted it. Given the paint-job, this was a working vessel with some pride associated with it - the heart of someone's working life. Like steam trains, the days of working barges are over. Nicely captured mood. To be over-picky, perhaps bringing up the shadows on the stern a little would give a bit more life to the paintwork.
LAIRDKNOX: Trust you to make thing even more difficult - how do I comment on this?
This photo works so well but I find it difficult to say why (perhaps that makes it art....). Like KENOH, nicely done vintage toning but with added wet-plate-look distress. The multiple exposure/camera movement makes allows you to get all of the 'old American car' message across without the potential distraction of which particular make/model - if the viewer is interested in that short of thing they can look closer.
DEEP DIVER: A really nice composition here that makes great use of the landscape format and shallow depth of field. Nicely exposed and the lighting and B&W treatment brings out the textural details in the bench and objects beautifully. I'd be more than happy with this on my wall in a modern setting. Despite the excellence as a photo and the historical context, it perhaps doesn't tell me the 'faded glory' story as much as some of the other photos. Love it nonetheless.
MARK0: I can understand your position wrt contests but to be honest the Weekly Photo Contest here is more like a challenge than a contest. I think I probably reflect the views of many here when I say I enter WPC to get commentary and for the challenge of finding/taking a photo that meets the theme rather than to 'win". A beautiful capture of what was a monumental contribution to modern history. Although I'm not a big fan of selective colour, I can see why you have used it here - certainly emphasises the discarded, isolated and decaying fragment of what was a massive project. The sense of isolation and of time moving on is further boosted by the lone tree. If I had to suggest anything, I'd perhaps desaturate the beetle a little but that's personal preference.
SOMEOLDGUY: having just visited Nelson NV, this sort of derelict ghost town in the desert is still fresh in my mind. For me at least, this sort of rapid rise-and-fall town is fascinating. You've captured the decay aspect nicely and I like the way you've composed for the buildings falling off into the distance but I'd suggest you could perhaps crop a bit to reduce the impact of the flat, blue sky and focus more on the buildings -there are lots of great textures and materials there to exploit. Might also work nicely in B&W.
JANICHSAN: Great that you've taken the plunge - the first one is always the hardest
. A different take on the theme from what I expected (one of the great features of the WPC). Certainly brings the feeling of the day-after-the-night-before: the dirty snow really makes it for me. Good use of shallow depth of filed to isolate the bottle from the background, further emphasised by the contrast between the strong colour of the bottle and the white of the snow.
APPLE FANBOY: I really liked this one when you first posted. It is right on topic and certainly not a make the numbers job. When you think of the glory days of air travel and the cost associated with building one of these in the first place, seeing the plane dismembered in this way is rather sad. The B&W treatment is spot-on and I think the scrap-yard fencing in the foreground just adds a little extra to that derelict/abandoned feeling.
OBLOMOW: Nicely on theme- I like the the contrast between the decaying architectural details and the modern additions such as the roller shutters - makes it more interesting than simply a derelict building. Clearly an expensive building in its day but still alive and in use - simply fallen on harder times and in clear need of TLC - I'd hazard a guess that the tree isn't part of some designer Italian roof garden
To be picky, it would have been better without the two cars on the right and perhaps slightly cropped to remove the left edge but they do give a sense of urban business.
MRKRAMER: Like JANICHSAN's entry the colour of the truck makes it stand out nicely from the snow, further emphasised by a bit of snow overexposure. I like the composition, making good use of the angle of the truck. Lots of detail in the rust and gives a good image of the ever-decaying fate of a working vehicle.
Very difficult to decide but here goes:
1st Place - APPLE FANBOY
Joint 2nd - KENOH and LAIRD KNOX
I hope it's clear from my comments that there are several worthy mentions for photos I'd love to have taken myself but particular worthy mention goes to NEEDFX and HUGHMAC.
Don't leave me this way.
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