1993 Mazda RX-7: Which is best?

[gckless]

Hi folks, here again looking to learn. Went downtown with this beautiful RX-7 and took this set. Went to a place called The Paint Yard, which is a place that sells Montana and other high-end spray paint and has an art gallery. They also have this alley outside, and every couple weeks hold paint jams where people come in and paint over what was there previously. Some of the graffiti is very good.

So I'm posting because as usual, I can't decide which is my best shot. I have what I think is it, but then I look at the others and go "wellllll....". I'm looking to you guys to not only see which you think is best, but more importantly, why. I want to learn what I should be doing more of. Here are the shots:

1.

2.

3.

4.

I know I should whittle it down to just 2 or 3, but again, I can't decide. Thanks in advance.

 

[Derrel]

I have a fond spot for RX-7's...I had a 1979, my wife had a 1980. My preference is #3, just for the formal balance, although the fourth shot is okay too.

 

[luckychucky]

I like 4 the best, what city is the alley in?


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[gckless]

I have a fond spot for RX-7's...I had a 1979, my wife had a 1980. My preference is #3, just for the formal balance, although the fourth shot is okay too.

Those were the series 1s right? How did those rotaries treat you?

What could I do to improve #3? Either things I should have done during composition, or maybe now in post?

I like 4 the best, what city is the alley in?


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It's in San Antonio, TX. Same question to you, what could I have done to improve the one you chose?

 

[Stormchase]

Yeah I used to have an '81 rootbeer brown. Didn't have it very long tho.
My vote is 3 as well. I dont really have a tip to make it better. I think the front view needs to happen. It looks great but I think the back grounds hurts it a little on 1 and 2.

 

[sashbar]

No 3 is the safest bet, as it is formally the cleanest image, but it has the same flaw as No 4 - the car here is desperately competing with the dominating background. So these are OK, but not 100% shots in my view.
I would have picked No2, but removed all wires, and No 3. And tried to crop No1 on left, righ and bottom and removed the wires, to see if it gets much better.

 

[gckless]

Yeah I used to have an '81 rootbeer brown. Didn't have it very long tho.
My vote is 3 as well. I dont really have a tip to make it better. I think the front view needs to happen. It looks great but I think the back grounds hurts it a little on 1 and 2.

I feel pretty much the same way you do. I think 2 is better than 1, I like that they were there painting in the background.

No 3 is the safest bet, as it is formally the cleanest image, but it has the same flaw as No 4 - the car here is desperately competing with the dominating background. So these are OK, but not 100% shots in my view.
I would have picked No2, but removed all wires, and No 3. And tried to crop No1 on left, righ and bottom and removed the wires, to see if it gets much better.

I see what you mean about the competing background. I liked that the colors matched, but it could easily be a subject all in itself. Nice tip on 1, looks much better cropped. I'm not good with PS, and actually don't even have it, I use LR exclusively. I'm not sure I could remove wires like that without spending a TON of time with the spot removal tool. Only way I know how. Are the lines that distracting though? With it cropped a little, they start almost in the top right corner, follow the line of the building, and lead the eye somewhat to the vehicle. Is this wrong?

 

[Derrel]

I think in frames 1 and 2 the wires ADD authenticity...they are large wires, and numerous, and their presence sort of speaks to old-school buildings and an older neighborhood. In older neighborhoods, overhead wires are normal, whereas today, in many places, all the wires are buried...seeing so many wires sort of gives the buildings/neighborhood an "old-time" look, and they fill some of the sky space. I'm not always keen on removing wires, since they add some spatial clues. In my current very newly-build suburban town, overhead wires are very,very rare! Almost everything is buried cable!

I'm not really "up" on all the rotary engine variants...mine was the old 12A...

 

[sashbar]

As an option:
It does look cleaner even after a rough edit in my view. Probably those two wires on the right should be removed as well?

 

[gckless]

As an option:
It does look cleaner even after a rough edit in my view. Probably those two wires on the right should be removed as well?

Yeah that's basically the crop of the first one I got too. How did you remove the wires? I'm kinda torn on the wires, honestly don't know if I like or don't like them. But I don't think those two on the right that you left should be, those are part of the building and holding the overhang up. They have the metal clasps in the middle break up the line too. What do you think?

 

[minicoop1985]

The second shot is, in my opinion, the strongest, though I wish the car were centered in the alley. For my eye, the graffiti distracts just plain too much from the car. It's great to FRAME the car, but as a backplate, it doesn't do it for me. So my vote is #2. Cool car though, I also have a soft spot for FD RX7s, as every car guy does. lol

 

[sashbar]

As an option:
It does look cleaner even after a rough edit in my view. Probably those two wires on the right should be removed as well?

Yeah that's basically the crop of the first one I got too. How did you remove the wires? I'm kinda torn on the wires, honestly don't know if I like or don't like them. But I don't think those two on the right that you left should be, those are part of the building and holding the overhang up. They have the metal clasps in the middle break up the line too. What do you think?

I used the Inpainting tool in Affinity.
I prefer the wires removed, others may disagree.
Those two wires on the right are indeed a part of the building, so removing them would be too much, I agree.
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