I've been gone for just over a week from here, even missed the contest posting (got to vote today though), but my father unexpectedly passed away last Thursday, and I had to go out of town to be with my mom and take care of business and such. While gone I was surprised at how much I missed this place! One way to deal with sad events is to get back into what you like to do, so yesterday upon my return home I grabbed my camera and took some pictures. I shot a vine on our house, and I posted it in the gallery last night, but this morning I came up with the alternative on the right, and now I don't know which one I like best. The alternative started out as a B&W, then I blurred the bricks and added a little color while leaving the vine unchanged. What I liked about the original was the color and texture of the bricks against the natural vine, which are both gone in the alternative. But I still find something appealing about the alternative just the same. I'd appreciate any comments comparing the two. Thanks! PS: If your parents are alive, give them a call for no reason at all, no matter what the status of your relationship is!

If it is "unexpected", then it's even harder to bare with the fact...
...Please accept my condolences for you and your family...

I liked both versions of the photo above, and I'm not going to prefer one over the other.
If you're not sure about "which", and you like them both somehow, then you may leave them as they are here, as an effective diptych work...
The alternate one is a majestic work about "passed away"...
The original one is a beautiful work of multilayered textures, effective composition...and sprouting life, with the little, single green sprout in the lower right...
Both are clearly complementary for each other as they seem to talk about the cycle of life...

BTW, "diptych juxtapositions" like this work here would have been a good experimentation for the March challenge...

Regards... :)

Sorry to hear about your father. Glad to see you are back. Great picture by the way. It would have made a great entry. Not for the vines but for the variance of the background against them. Bsteph

My condolences Marshall to you and your family.....I don't often speak to my parents as much as I should, your loss is a kick in the pants to pick up the phone. :~( As to the images they are both wonderful in their own different way. I like what you did to the bricks in the first one...but I also like the stark coldness of the second, hard to name a favorite.

tihs place is addictive isn't it... though I refuse to make it my homepage, otherwise I'll never check my email! I like'em both, though I think I'd like the first more than the second if it werent for the random splotches of red coming out of the vines. They're messing with my eyes, but might only be mine. Good stuff Mistah Phrank

My condolences Phrank to you and your family.

Sorry to hear your news Phrank, take good care of yourself during this tough time. I really liked the first one, the abstract pattern of lines & nice colour contrasts but the second is even stronger in the abstract sense & has a lot of feeling in it now, both are very good so I can't have a favourite.

My thoughts and love are with you and your family Marshall. My Father died 13 years ago and I still miss him very much, but he's always in my heart and sometimes I even hear him speak out of my mouth when I'm dealing with my beloved childen! I must call Mum, thankyou for that... Your images are both wonderful, but I too am drawn to the variation...the vine almost seems to jump off the screen in a very 3-dimensional way to me in that one. Take care Marshall, Cameron.

My sincerest condolences to you and your family, Marshall. (*

Marshall, my thoughts are with ya. (erm, I never know what to say at times like this, so I'll leave it at that....) Nice pics - I like the colour one in itself, but the textures are great in the B&W. (",)