Your choice: No. 1 coolest/bestest photo on SSP

[rousseau]

I was thinking that we need a greatest hits photo thread.

This site is full of really terrific urban photography, but so much of it gets lost in the shuffle. It's fun to rummage around and look at old photo threads, and when you do, sometimes one photo just hits you in the aesthetic solar plexus for whatever crazy reason, and you feel it deserves renewed attention. Even if just for a moment.

So what photo, in this (or that) particular moment, is your pick for number one 100% best SSP photo? It may change day to day, and that's fine. Explanation or no explanation. Cite location and forum member, and link to thread.

Here's mine for today:


http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...22#post6283922

Brighton. By Bedhead. Because the world needs restored 1950s VW vans now more than ever. Extra points for combining British racing green with lime green. No other motor vehicle pulls off facial anthropomorphism quite like it.

Heh heh. "Facial."

[lio45]

Lime green?

The "British Racing Green" / White two-tone is a very standard, very typical factory paint scheme for these VW Vans. What might look lime green in this pic is likely just old plain white, and since it's in the shade, it looks colored instead of white, but that's probably an optical illusion.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by rousseau

Because the world needs restored 1950s VW vans now more than ever.

And I'm sorry to have to correct you again, but that's a 1960s VW van in your pic. There are a bunch of details giving this fact away, among others the larger turn signal lamps.

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by lio45

And I'm sorry to have to correct you again, but that's a 1960s VW van in your pic. There are a bunch of details giving this fact away, among others the larger turn signal lamps.

The cold water of your reality can't wash away my pleasant dream. Even if it's a 60s van and it's white and not lime green, it's still to die for. Especially with the lowered springs in the Brighton photo. Way nicer than the one you posted.

A friend of mine once took a spare engine with him in a VW van on a cross-country trip because he knew he'd need it. The engine gave out in Montana. He borrowed a hoist. It took him six hours to do the switch. I've felt emasculated and in awe ever since.

Anyway, more photos hits, please!

[lio45]

I think this is a great thread idea, and I will be checking it regularly if it takes off.

Right now, from the last few days, I'm a fan of this one:

Originally Posted by Villaggio

[lio45]

Originally Posted by rousseau

The cold water of your reality can't wash away my pleasant dream. Even if it's a 60s van and it's white and not lime green, it's still to die for. Especially with the lowered springs in the Brighton photo. Way nicer than the one you posted.

A friend of mine once took a spare engine with him in a VW van on a cross-country trip because he knew he'd need it. The engine gave out in Montana. He borrowed a hoist. It took him six hours to do the switch. I've felt emasculated and in awe ever since.

Anyway, more photos hits, please!

Vehicles of that era are quite easy to work on, though the VWs are a bit of a PITA due to the lack of access compared to the contemporary American land yachts and their roomy engine bays.

For a while, I owned a 1960s VW bug. I have an ex whose dream vehicle was precisely the original VW van, but we didn't stay together long enough for me to become sufficiently rich to get one for her/us, so I never did. I wouldn't mind having one now, though of course I can say that of several models from various era.

[lio45]

BTW, I'm looking forward to seeing other SSPers do the work of condensating the best in here for my viewing pleasure. I haven't been checking picture threads much lately, I confess. Again, this is a great idea, and whenever I happen to encounter a particularly nice pic on SSP in the future, I'll make sure it gets shared here. The one above is actually nothing that special, yet it's what I had to offer here and now.

[White Pine]

I remember a while back somebody posted a picture of Toronto's skyline taken from the other side of lake Ontario, and the curvature of the earth cut off all of the shorter buildings. Always thought that one was cool.

Edit: I'll try to post it here:

[rousseau]

That's exactly what I'm talking about with this thread. The "it" factor.

[rousseau]

The 403 going up the mountain in Hamilton. Or "mountain" if you're from BC. They really do call it the mountain in Hamilton, even though it really isn't one.


http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=176522

By flar, from the standout thread "T H E • M E C H A N I Z E D • H U M • O F • A N O T H E R • W O R L D."

[Gresto]

I quite liked this dynamic fisheye shot from funktion_d's Toronto thread in the main forum.

[whatnext]

Klazu has great shots of Vancouver, but this is my favourite showing the top of the Empire Landmark Hotel (slated to be demolished )

[lio45]

Needless to say, this exact shot above would've been a lot less interesting if taken after that building's been replaced by a shorter one (or two?).

Looks like a periscope emerging from the sea...

[Hali87]

Source

[SignalHillHiker]

My favourite is easily this photo of the Manhattan Bridge by Flash:


http://images.metroscenes.com/2012/b...ack_and_white/

In the real version, you can see the individual metal strands that make up each individual metal wire. The clarity is super-human. I lose myself in that photo, and greatly admire its subject.

I even bought one for my breakfast nook:



(Side fact: the baseboard not joining up on the right isn't a camera fluke. That's actually what my wall does lol)

****

And despite what rousseau might think, everything is better with a little St. John's. Even old vans.


https://www.facebook.com/pg/alexstea...=page_internal

[Denscity]

Originally Posted by lio45

I think this is a great thread idea, and I will be checking it regularly if it takes off.

Right now, from the last few days, I'm a fan of this one:

That's so Quebec it hurts! Awesome.

[shappy]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

My favourite is easily this photo of the Manhattan Bridge by Flash:


http://images.metroscenes.com/2012/b...ack_and_white/

Good one, that's an incredible photo!

What's your beef with rousseau may I ask?

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by shappy

Good one, that's an incredible photo!

What's your beef with rousseau may I ask?

It's a case of online personalities rubbing each other the wrong way. I'm not a fan of the oversharing, and he's not a fan of my pointing out that I'm not a fan. Thankfully the friction merely exists in the cyber ether, and in the end it's not all that serious.

But let's leave it at that and not get bogged down in tiffs. In the spirit of the season, let's have some good cheer. Take it to PMs or do some searching if you want more details. But don't PM me, I'm not interested in backroom whispers.

Yes, that's a terrific bridge shot. Awesome. Though I was sorta thinking one photo per post would be optimal for this thread. Just a greatest hits package to go to on days when you want just the best, no filler. That was the idea, anyway.

I was also thinking that it didn't need to be strictly Canadian. Gawd knows we have enough "great Canadian" threads.

[lio45]

Let me just point out that that white 2nd gen VW Van (even when it's a Westfalia) doesn't hold a candle to the 1st gen one pictured in rousseau's first post for desirability.

[ScreamingViking]

I love how the Empire State Building is nicely framed in the lower part of the bridge tower.

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

My favourite is easily this photo of the Manhattan Bridge by Flash:


http://images.metroscenes.com/2012/b...ack_and_white/