Stills

I'm not sure that the owners would allow these plastic buckets to hang around long enough for anything to fall in and take root (my pedantry for the day!).

I'm impressed by Colin's observation about the bright rectangle as I still can't work out whether its absence would be significant or not. The balance is certainly fine.

I like the lines in this and the sense of purpose in the scene. What sort of district is this?
 

Apparently there is no mosquito problem in Tokyo -- or perhaps these buckets did not stay full very long.

This is nicely balanced as noted, and the bright spot upper right does not bother me. The texture of the cement in the foreground, the soft reflections, and the varying sizes of the buckets and pots add interest.
 

The diagonal is pleasing, as is the symmetry between the four buckets and the four potted plants, but it's the textures that my eye keeps coming back to. The texture of the dirty buckets,the rough concrete and the peeling paint soften all these materials. I can see them eventually moldering into one.
 

I keep looking at this image and trying to figure out my response, thus sorry about the delay. The highlights in the upper right corner keep taking me out of the image as well as the large white area above the pails keeps pulling my eyes, since the pails are a lower value. Thus the image seems to be about visual tension.
 

There's more of that pesky bright spot top right if you need it. Hoped it would counter that rather larger stretch of white down front. Might of just got away with it. Thanks for the thoughts and feedback and I do seem to be shooting many more along the diagonal this winter.

John: This is a fairly residential area though only a few minutes away from a largish train station and the shops that surround. Fire is a constant threat in Tokyo given the plethora of wooden housing that still exists. Buckets filled with water are a not-uncommon sight - in some parts of town you have the original Edo-period stone troughs still in use.

Christina - mosquitoes are around but there is not the Singapore urgency of removing all latent water. As said previously, fire seems more of a concern than a couple of months with the mozzie bites.
 

I didn't notice the white block originally but now I have.............

Your diagonal approach is making me think how orthogonal my images are.

Again your images also show a cultural difference.