Weekly Photo Contest | September 23 - September 30 | Lonely road

[_timo_redux_]

This week's contest's theme is LONELY ROAD.

Last weekend I was on the road a lot, driving and riding through southern Minnesota to central Iowa, and back north again. I saw a lot of open space, fields, and remote, lonely roads.

For this week, give us your moodiest empty roads, streets, alleys, or stretches of highways. Drag your shutter to get light trails, or look through your catalogs for those after-hours empty boulevards, or pre-dawn alone moments out in the city or in a country lane.

As always, standard rules apply:

The photographs must be your own work.

• You may only submit one photo per contest
• No commenting or liking photos until after the judging has taken place
• This contest runs for about a week, starting now
• At the end of the competition, the judge (last week's winner) will choose a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place photo, providing as much feedback as possible
• The 1st place winner will start a new thread here with the topic/theme of their choice, and act as the judge for that contest. (Winner has 48 hours to create new theme, after that it defers to 2nd place)
• Be sure to update the Contest Master List as soon as you post a new theme
• Contest ends September 30, 2024, 11:00 pm EDT (UTC -4h).

Have fun!

 

[Chuckeee]

Footprints from tourist walking every which way on the top of a glacier in Iceland

 

[oblomow]

I you don't like anyone, every road is lonely

 

[mollyc]

how about a lonely intersection

 

[C0ncreteBl0nde]

./~
I walk a lonely road
The only one that I have ever known
Don't know where it goes
But it's home to me, and I walk alone. ./~

 

[someoldguy]

On the road right now , so might change this if something even lonelier turns up....

 

[stillcrazyman]

From my days as a rider...

 

[coolguy4747]

 

[Janichsan]

 

[Jumpthesnark]

Route 190, Death Valley
Canon EOS 5D MkIII
Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 lens
1/3200 sec., f/9, ISO 250

 

[piatigorsky]

Hasselblad 503cw with Zeiss Distagon 40mm f/4 lens on Kentmere Pan 400, approx. 30 sec exposure (I think, I was counting Mississippis).

 

[_timo_redux_]

Looking over the entries (thanks, everyone) I was wondering, can a lonely road be in broad daylight? I decided yes it can, but it’s maybe harder to coney lonely in the sun.


On to our entries:


@Chuckeee Where’s the road, my friend? I like the picture though I don’t think it’s very lonely-ish, nor road-ish. It reminds me of the playground at recess, when I was a small boy

@oblomow Fačkov, indeed … took a moment to sleuth out that special character. Again, is this lonely? It’s funny, though, and we all know clowning is a serious (lonely?) business

@mollyc Beautiful … but I feel this picture is more about those three trunks than the road or intersection. It does of course feel wistful

@C0ncreteBl0nde I like this road; you feel like it may indeed be remote, and therefore lonely; and that new tire tracks are few and far between or that those there have been there for a long time. Something funky going on with the sky?

@someoldguy That’s a remote stretch! I like the wisp of cloud is also pointing towards the vanishing point

@stillcrazyman Great looking stretch of road that reminds me of the stuff I saw last week that became the inspiration for this week’s theme. I find the license letters and numbers distracting, though

@coolguy4747 Lonely or dangerous? Do not enter! I like pictures like this with one lonely semi distant

@Janichsan Kinda well-lit for lonely, no? I get a more homey or charmed vibe than lonely

@Jumpthesnark Love the shiny texture of the road, contrasting with the fading layers of the mountains beyond … and the road seems disconnected from that background, so destination-less. Nice

@piatigorsky Feels lonely, or maybe spooky. Love the grain and the figures receding. A stretch to call this a road, though


So

3rd @stillcrazyman / @coolguy4747

2nd @someoldguy


1st @Jumpthesnark

 

[Jumpthesnark]

Thank you @_timo_redux_ ! Congrats to podium-mates and everyone who entered. I have to head to work, but I hope to come up with a new contest theme shortly.

EDIT: As an explainer, I was heading back to Pahrump, Nevada, from staying up overnight to shoot a lunar eclipse from Zabriskie Point on the Valley's eastern side. The sun was fully up but it was early and very little traffic. It's rugged and beautiful there, and such a long stretch of road.

 

[someoldguy]

Thanks for the 2nd ! My image was taken in Utah on the way into Goblin Valley . Where exactly on the trip I don't know as it all looks pretty much the same for 20-30-40 miles , but I know it was heading south between the Interstate and Hanksville. Half expected to see Gen'l Custer and the 7th Cavalry passing through . Think I saw maybe 2 cars on this stretch .

 

[C0ncreteBl0nde]

Lots of great entries as per usual! Congrats to the winners; they are well-deserved.

Nothing that special about my photo. I used to jump in my car when I had time off from work and just drive, taking photos all along the way. Sometimes I would go far enough that I spent the night in a motel before traveling back home. This photo was taken on such an excursion. Outside of a very rural small town in Oregon, I wandered the back roads and took many pictures of the rural atmosphere. This was one of them.

@_timo_redux_ I want to tell you that I think you do an excellent job as a judge/critique person. You are honest about what you see and feel about the photos and you take the time to lay it all out. Thank you for this excellent theme and position as judge/jury!

 

[_timo_redux_]

@C0ncreteBl0nde I love your backstory of just driving, and even going so far as to stay somewhere overnight before returning home ... so amazing. What a great idea. It can be so inspiring to find yourself in unfamiliar places, camera in hand -- everything looks fresh. And thanks for the kind words with regard to my little write-ups.

 

[EndlessSummer71]

It helps if you can read, please ignore