Buses

A strong capture of a fine looking old vehicle. Where I feel it could have been improved for greater impact would be to allow a little more space around the subject, as here the crop looks a little tight. Of course I do not know what was in the immedite surroundings, but had you been able step a little to the left and include a little more of the road in front, the resulting image may have been a bit more dynamic. I do really like the conversion to monochrome, with some great contrasts to highlight all the details of the vehicle.

This image was in my shortlist for a top ten placing, and one I like a lot. Composition is great, with the straight lines of the road and roadside pulling the eye into the frame to the far distance. The inclusion of the mailboxes in the foreground nicely balances with the bus heading off down the highway towards the distant hills. We get a real sense of place through the depiction of the wider landscape.

There is so much of interest in this capture to hold the attention, with details to explore not only inside the bus, but in the street scene outside too. Exposure has been well balanced to enable both inside and outside to be suitably lit, without looking unnatural. Instead of bringing the viewpoint down lower to focus more on the driver, I like that the entire top half of the frame is taken up by the roof of the bus, which really helps illustrate the charm and age of the bus, which in your image description you report have now been replaced by modern versions. The conversion to black and white has been handled especially well, with a great range of tones and contrasts.

Gosh, what a busy scene, perfectly portraying the frenetic pace of the streets of Hong Kong. It is difficult to know where to look first, which can be a drawback with some subjects, but it seem to really work here. Shutter speed is just about right to capture the movement of the buses, without them becoming an unidentifiable blur. I may have been tempted to try to even out the balance of the light temperature and bring down the yellowy tones in the lighter parts of the foreground a little closer to white, and maybe reduce the exposure in the top half of the shot to give more balance, as the eye tends to be drawn upwards to the brighter areas at the top. Still however a marvellous feast for the eyes.

There is usually a big divide amongst photographers as to whether they like to include people in their shots, or prefer the scene to be clear of any people. In my view, inclusion of people in the right place doing the right thing can bring a static shot to life. In this image however, the inclusion of people does not seem to add anything, and distracts from the main subject of the bus. The area does not look to be otherwise busy, in which case people would have been difficult to avoid, but here, and in similar furure circumstances, I feel it would have been advantageous to wait a few seconds for the two people to pass through the frame and the photographer to have claimed their shot. Then the full focus of the image would have been this fine old bus.

A lovely capture of a vintage bus, looking to be part of a living history museum. The bus is a clear focal point, but we also get a good view of the wider setting too. The conversion to black and white has been especially well handled, with a full range of tones from black through to white. Plenty of textural details too in the road and buildings.

What is especially impactful in this image is the placement of the pedestrian crossing control as a strong foreground interest. However, despite taking up virtually half of the frame, it does not dominate, but instead allows the eye to move past to look down the line of the glistening wet street beyond. The use of a slow shutter speed to capture the buses as identifiable streaks of colour brings a fabulous sense of movement and conveys the busyness of evening rush hour, far more than would have resulted from a faster shutter speed. The bold colours, contrasted against the blacks, add further impact, which is increased further by the highlight reflections in the rain-soaked streets.

This image has great potential, with a lovely effect created by the use of a slow shutter speed to render the colours and lights of the passing bus to a series of vivid streaks. Selective colour is a matter of personal taste, but for me with this image, something seems to have been lost by the decision to convert the old Routemasters to black and white, and even give the impression they have been pasted into the scene (although I am sure they haven't). It would be great to have seen the entire scene in its original colours, as the reds would have really popped. A fantastic shot, but unfortunately not for me due to unusual selective use of black and white.

This is great, superbly capturing the realities of long distance journeys by bus, when any interest in passing scenery soon dissipates and there is little to do but sleep. There is sufficient structure surrounding the subjects to confirm this is a bus, so fits well with the theme. I like that we get a small glimpse of the outside, to indicate we are on a journey, adding a sense of motion, rather than a static scene. Plenty of details and textural interest in the clothing, the viewer is left to decide the story of this restfully sleeping family.

This image carries a slight sense of unease and mystery, as we get a view through the misty windows as the passenger walks through the bus. The way the figure as been captured along with their hooded clothing, we get so little information about the person; but that is great, as we get to make up our own story about who they are and where thy are going. The blur created by the slower shutter speed, presumably hand-held, adds to the sense of mystery.

A typical street scene in central London, that documents the architecture and life of the streets in a way that conveys a real sense of the place. Your viewpoint is great, shooting from the oppsite side to the corner, giving a view of not only the buildings and the main street and bus, but what I respecially like is the little peep we get down the road on the right, which would possibly have been tempting to crop out. Some may find this inclusion a little distracting, possibly drawing their eye out of the frame, but I like that aspect, as we get a good sense of the wider urban landscape. The red of the bus really pops, without being overdone, and is nicely matched by the red of the phone box. Even the inclusion of the rubbish bags does not mar the scene, as you are simply portraying the street as you found it.

These colours and pictures cannot be ignored and really draw the viewer to the image. The close-in view of the two buses fill the frame full of colourful details, I can only imagine the riot of colour in an entire street filled with such vehicles. The square crop works well, and adds a little abstract feel to the shot too.

This image perfectly captures the essence and mood of the daily commute by bus. Everything shouts " dreary", from the rather uninspiring architecture and the stooped figures on the bus, to the heavily condensated windows that someone looks to have fruitlessly tried to wipe away. By ensuring the image is quite contrasty, we get a good differentiation between the bright background and the dark, almost silhouetted figures, making them a strong focal point to draw the eye. Great use of black and white to further convey the mood and avoid distractions. A worthy winner.

An interesting composition, virtually dividing the frame in two to offer equal views of the view outside and the interior of the bus. In different weather conditions, the view would likely be more scenic, but in the dreary weather conditions depicted here it looks especially cheerless, further accentuated by the inclusion of the rubbish container. Neither inside or outside is the focal point, which allows the eye to switch between the two, and the viewer can create their own story of the journey being undertaken by the passengers who are cosy (for now) on the bus.

A great concept, capturing the rear lights of one bus close-up, with a similar bus seen in the remaining part of the frame in the distance. The depth of field is shallow enough to allow the rear bus to fall out of focus, but still be obvious as a subject. The details on the lights and surround are clean and crisp, and the inclusion of the little paint details give some idea of the decoration of some of these buses. Loving the capture of the bright citrus yellow and orange, bringing a feel of hot Mediterranean sunshine to the image.

The rather unusual composition drew me to this image, with the bus placed so near in the foreground the eye is at first drawn through the image to the street scene behind. However, the eye soon wanders to explore the shapes of the mirrors etc. It is great that we also get a miniature view of the rest of the bus through the circular mirror. With a subject such as this, captured in bright sunlight, it may be have been worth ramping up the saturation, especially of the blue sky and yellow bus, for the image to be a real celebration of vivid colour.