Here are three takes on a shot I took the other day at the Denver Art Museum. Some comments at the bottom.

It’s always fascinating to post multiple takes of a shot. Before I started doing it, I always imagined that if you asked a bunch of talented shooters what they thought of a particular image, the answer would be more or less the same. Consensus, at least. I’m not finding that to be true. I’ve gotten to where I expect significant disagreement, and here’s another example.

I posted these shots to 5280 Lens Mafia, a cool little photoblog community where many of my talented shutterbug buddies hang out. As the comments make clear, there is a lot to argue about, especially when you add in what Mike Pecaut (another mafioso) added on Facebook (he liked the second one).

I honestly don’t know which I like best (which is why I posted all three). In the third one, I have dramatically desaturated the building (that walkway is considerably greener in real life). I desaturated everything except the sculpture in the first one, going for a very contrasty, harsh winter look. In the second I wanted the same harshness, although with a softer finish, hoping for something of an old photo effect. I like all three, but for different reasons.

That there’s disagreement among my trusted colleagues is, in a way, gratifying. It isn’t terribly helpful, of course, but in the end the decisions have to be mine, anyway, which means I put it out there, hear what people say, and act accordingly.