Day 325 - When the background detracts

I'm not sure whether to be charmed or revolted by this photograph of an aging wooden embellishment on a downtown building. I like the shapes and tones of the support structure for an awning but the bird droppings in the background I can do without. You would think that someone who works for or owns the Sushi restaurant in the background would notice that disgusting mess and decide to clean it. I would think a good power washer would do the trick. But there it is.

The buildings of downtown Fredericton never cease to surprise me, in positive ways as well. Many of them have these interesting little features, remnants from bye-gone eras (or is it by-gone?), whether in stone, brick, or heavily painted wood. You just have to look around and find them. In this case, these embellishments get lost in the busy-ness of the downtown street. I'd like to see the building's owners rediscover them, strip the many coats of paint and bring them back to their original lustre.

Photographically, this shot was fairly simple: a point and shoot, with some attention to the framing. As the bird doo proves, however, I tend to get so involved in the subject of my photo that I often forget to check to make sure the background doesn't detract from the shot either.