Does It Work?

Works for me.

tilt shift sort of look to it due to the area you blurred... looks good.

It works.
Melancholy. The focal point is strong ,& beckons you to meander along.

Intentional grain, will it print ?

the picture would have been FAR better if you left the focus alone. i feel drunk in this. that stuff shouldn't be out of focus, especially in the distance where the eyes should be. it should also be brighter at the end as well. if the lens didn't make it soft, don't make it soft. it doesn't look like a natural plane that the lens would take. bokeh isn't selective.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

I tend to agree with Mike. It looks out of focus, not done for artistic purposes. It doesn't seem natural that the only part in focus is the road. Part of it may be presentation, too. We see the trees first, then the road, but seeing the trees blurred makes us think, "Oops. Out of focus." Of course, none of us really matter. You just need one sale and someone at FAA to decide it passes muster.

The idea of blurring is typically to focus ones attention to a certain area. If you had something on the road... a ball in the foreground or a figure in the background or something then I could see the point of blurring. But typically its done to mimic a lens effect - soft edges or soft foreground/background.

This is the tilt shift effect making the subject stand out and giving a miniaturization effect:

I like the effect - it keeps your eye on your idea - the road. Works for me.

as far as changing it goes. deep black and white. or leave it color. i'm guessing the leaves were yellow, that would lead the eye to the back.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Thanks for all of your opinions. Pretty mixed opinions so far! I will play around a bit more and try to get the back road in focus, and maybe bring up the contrast between the blacks and whites.

Here's a color version for all its worth. I feel it is just a bit too much in color.

I agree with those above about the blurring not working. The road is a leading line that draws my eye into the image, only to fight with the blur in the distance. Perhaps blurring in the reverse might work. Ie., blurring the near area and leaving the distance in focus.

I'm with Robert. Naturally, our eyes are looking for sharp areas. Blurring near area would work better
At least to be tested...

for the color, i'd remove the blur because it still looks like you have a broken camera. and increase the yellow tones, mostly in shadow and highlight. increase vibrance and a bit of saturation. the yellows and reds should pop.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

parker, i don't know if you were going for that effect but the blur is giving me an oppressed feeling coming from the top of the image. as if one were standing on the path and sky and trees were pushing down.