Stills

The composition absolutely forces me to go to the point of interest. The whole image with the arrow straight lines, strong diagonals, light at the end of the tunnel,and patch of sky has a businesslike, no-nonsense feeling to me. It brings to my body/mind the feeling I have when occasionally my husband grasps my shoulders and turns me toward something he knows I wouldn't want to miss. Sometimes that's faster than words and very effective.

What is delightful is that once I have seen the focal point, my eye then roves about playing with all the lines and shapes that make a great big candy-store of graphic design.
 

Another perfect Akikana composition in my view, and certainly not too subtle.

The bare tree against the light sky and building is a particularly nice touch.
 

This figure is small but is the right size!! At last some function: it's good to see one of the implements you capture being used! More Japanese wall design: these walls allowing an amazing tonal comparison with the house to the side and at the back. I note that the gardener is in danger of letting the conifers outgrow their confinement.
 

everything has its distinct shape and tone in this one, quite enjoyable.
The one area that seems out of character with the rest of the picture is the small section of dark roof eave top right.
 

Oh dear, I'm going to be contrarian. I'm not with this one at all. More interestingly, I don't see it as an akikana photo. Unlike some of the other views above I don't see a strong enough design and I'm not led to a conclusion. If anything, I've walked out of the photo to the left (in the bright patch).
 

Interestingly, unlike Colin, I find that this is very nicely 'framed' and it holds me in. The highlighted building and walkway with the middle gray boundaries, wonderful design and tonalities. Very much an akikana photo!

And just enough of the person to get my interest, who creates some tension for this photograph.
 

'I don't see it as an akikana photo.'

I felt the same way, and at first I attributed it to the presence of a human in frame, but then I realized there are often humans in your pictures. Is there something about this human that seems more human?
 

I wouldn't use the word "often" in conjunction with humans; rather, occasional. In answer to Matt's (noisy) question - it must be yes!

Colin is reaching for that word that I don't like too much: style. As to walking out to the left, I would be much more inclined to see what happens around the woman and beyond. She is a bit small after all!
 

Colin is reaching for that word that I don't like too much: style.

Actually I was trying to avoid it because it raises hackles and tends to deflect any more interesting conversation.

I mentioned it not looking like an akikana photo because that's what seemed to be relevant. Is Guy off on a new thread, or is this a one-off photo. There is a similarity between this pic and some of Doug's recent contributions. Deliberate? Accidental? Random? Interesting to watch.
 

Thanks for all the comments. What I intended to shoot was the lone dustbin. After I'd just finished fiddling with the exposure settings the lady walked in to view and I clicked the shutter a couple of milliseconds later. My preference would have been for no human as I had a similar shot of a child's bicycle I'd taken a few weeks previously standing further to the right. I think they'd have worked well together but now I'm not so sure.

Style...still trying to actually describe what my style is which is probably a difficult venture to embark on. I'm in to shapes and geometries and common items in less common situations and humour whenever I can find it. If you can put a name to that style of shooting I'd be happy to know!
 

It seems to me that what you describe falls withing the broad church of 'street photography', which could be seen as a Venn diagram within which there are overlapping circles such as humour: your pictures tend to linger on the edge of the circle that majors on figures being present.

One's choice of subject matter could be said to be a constituent part of something known as style and hence a comment expressing surprise arises when that trodden path is departed from.