Hot noodles
by wei1108

Comment:
This is a new comment series for me, so please bear with me while I find my style!

(Voted earlier)

This is one of my 9s - I like it a lot. Furthermore I think it enriches the DPC collective portfolio. Put simply, I wish we saw more stuff like this. Let me tell you why it pushes all the right buttons for me:

1. This just feels so authentic - like I've turned a corner and there's the scene. I know it IS authentic, but what I mean is - the photograph just emerges from the scene, your framing and other photographic choices have become secondary to the moment and the scene. This is difficult to do - to be purposeful without being contrived or exploitative.

2. The girl on the left, so close to the window - face to face with her reflection - a great way to anchor the image.

3. The corner of the booth dividing the image - splitting the image in resonance with the inside/outside divide of the characters.

4. The busy nature of the right hand side with the food preparation, the two figures and the ladles and bowls offers a great contrast to the quiet intensity of the girl on the left.

Overall, an image with enough authenticity to be regarded as worldly. Great shot.

The Object of Her Attention
by markwiley

Comment:
This is a new comment series for me, so please bear with me while I find my style!

(Voted earlier)

This is one of my 9s - I like it a lot. Furthermore I think it enriches the DPC collective portfolio. Put simply, I wish we saw more stuff like this. Let me tell you why it pushes all the right buttons for me:

1. Great story here - a borrowed moment from somebody else's life - I also like the somewhat furtive feel that this POV gives it.

2. I can see that this is difficult light - strong highlights and shadows, but you have controlled them well.

3. The bar - I know it's near-incidental but I like the way it divides the frame up between characters and thus give the child her own framing. The two pictures in one means that we really do have two pictures, a portrait within a candid. That's clever and effective.

4. I like the other incidentals too - the hands of the other person, the streaked window, the polkadot toy and the camera phone potentially taking its own candid.

Overall, this is a fine image that offer many 'finds' for a patient viewer.

Intangibles
by RKT

Comment:
This is a new comment series for me, so please bear with me while I find my style!

(Voted earlier)

This is one of my 10s - I like it very much. Furthermore I think it enriches the DPC collective portfolio. Put simply, I wish we saw more stuff like this. Let me tell you why it pushes all the right buttons for me:

1. Bubbles and hand - reminiscent of some RKT goodness - what could be better?

2. I'm a fan of selective focus and it's put to really good effect here. You lead the eye fantastically - into the bubbles and through, into the space beyond.

3. I really like seeing the garage over the way - it gives a situated context to the image that I really enjoy.

4. The little hand is great - the somewhat imploring gesture suggestive of a story to be told, an imagination at work and life being lived.

5. The low contrast tones - these give a muted feel, calming the image and introducing a sense of 'hush' to the scene. Like the image must have been taken on a Sunday afternoon with grandparents asleep in comfy chairs behind. There is a possibility of light rain later...

Overall, this is a little bit of magic.

Transcendent
by pamb

Comment:
This is a new comment series for me, so please bear with me while I find my style!

(Voted earlier)

This is one of my 10s - I like it very much. Furthermore I think it enriches the DPC collective portfolio. Put simply, I wish we saw more stuff like this. Let me tell you why it pushes all the right buttons for me:

1. I'm a fan of good portrait work and this is tremendous - a really interesting subject but it is your capture and processing that takes this to another level.

2. Your tones are amazing - how did you get that slightly metallic look? You made me think, and I wonder if it is a curves manipulation....

3. The off-centred composition is genius, most wouldn't have offered this presentation but it really works

4. The background - ensuring that it isn't completely black is a really good call - it adds a degree of naturalness and depth to the image.

5. The symmetry of your subject - he is absolutely straight-on. It's the little things like this that make all the difference.

Overall, this is a top-quality portrait by anyone's standard. Although it isn't (quite) my favourite of the challenge, it's still my call for the Blue.

Tram
by Oz

Comment:
This is a new comment series for me, so please bear with me while I find my style!

(Voted earlier)

This is one of my 10s - I like it very much. Furthermore I think it enriches the DPC collective portfolio. Put simply, I wish we saw more stuff like this. Let me tell you why it pushes all the right buttons for me:

1. This has such a cinematic feel - straight out of a Bond or Bourne movie, I think there are number of elements that have contributed to that.

2. The coloration - cool near-monochrome is perfectly judged, as is the toning/curves - plenty of highlights but none blown.

3. The cable lines give a great sense of depth, the eyes follow into the snowy murkiness.

4. Perfect DOF for this scene - the crisp cable car and enough of the distant scenery to set the context.

5. The falling snow - not your doing, but it adds much to the scene, giving in a sense of dynamism.

Overall, not one that I would have picked up in my old comment series but I'm glad I'm doing so now. I like the competent slickness of this image and how it is more than the sum of its parts.

Journey with Brownie
by mqnaufal

Comment:
This is a new comment series for me, so please bear with me while I find my style!

(Voted earlier)

This is one of my 10s - I like it very much. Furthermore I think it enriches the DPC collective portfolio. Put simply, I wish we saw more stuff like this. Let me tell you why it pushes all the right buttons for me:

1. The coloration: I love that cross-processed look, offering a slightly vintage feel.

2. Fantastic clarity of your subject - you've nailed the focus and used a narrow depth of field to isolate your subject; you've anchored the eye wonderfully but we are all too aware of the context.

3. A great sense of story - why is she off on her own like that? What is she leaving behind? Is there a car hiding over the hill?

4. Your POV - your low angle does great things to the perspective of the image and adds a considered cinematic appeal.

Overall: Beautifully balanced shot, well conceived and superbly executed.

IMG_9214
by whiteroom

Comment:
This is my 4000th comment on DPC. Every 1000 comments I seek out an image made by a photographer who has inspired and delighted me, I then find an image without comments and offer one up.

My previous comments went to lovethelight RKT and nixter. I've known for some time that my 4000th comment would be on an image in your portfolio.

Now, a comment for this image;

What a treat! The lack of fidelity leads to distillation rather than obscuration. Essence of beach and play. The folded figure is so dynamic - an etching of humanity carving out a gap in the scene. Your toning, vignette, texture and border are all perfectly chosen. As Ubique may have said - photograph over photography.

Overall, this is an evocative scene, but one that is really only brought alive by your handiwork. I love it when it is clear that a photographer has made influential choices in the presentation of an image (rather than defaulting to the capturing of a superficial representation) and you do this in spades, all through your portfolio.

I'm so very glad you are here on DPC offering up some magic. Your contribution enriches our experience.

Best regards

Paul

Hickory and Hornbeam
by skewsme

Comment:
Glorious glowing branches and fantastic coloration. Just commenting on my 10s.

Sudoku (Searching for the right number)
by Oz

Comment:
Splendid! Well seen and well made. Commenting on my earlier 10s.

Watching for the Taxi
by markwiley

Comment:
This is lovely - a real sense of location. A 10 from me.