Thou Art the Potter.... I Am the Clay
by pmichaud

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club:

I should say up front, I did vote on this image and my vote is one of your lower ones. My views are therefore not representative of the wider audience and I note that you received many positive comments and three 10s.

For me, though this is certainly an interesting find with great textures and interesting colours, I don't find it 'created' enough for this challenge; I don't see much of the photographer here. I think that's less of a problem for pure abstracts that communicate the intent of the photographer through constructed form and colour; but this shot falls short of pure abstract and instead we see enough to discern its true form. This creates an impression of reliance, even dependence on the form of the tree for your impact rather than crafting your own impact from the choices you have made.

Is the scene well-captured? Certainly. Is it an interesting piece of wood? Of course. Is it an interesting photograph? Not to me I'm afraid - but as I said, I'm definitely non-typical of this image's voting audience. An outlier.

Overall, is it a successful image - yes it is, just look at that average vote from those who commented: 7.6667. All we can ask with our images is that we connect with others - and you certainly did that. Well done.

Paul

Rumination
by Abra

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club:

This is a highly accomplished image; no doubt about that. I was very pleased to read your notes and find out how planned this shot was - created if you will.

The result has many compelling features; for me though, the star is not the well made silhouette but that wonderful froth of round bokeh and how it merges as we move left to produce the perfect juxtaposition and background for your subject.

I'm with you, I certainly think story-telling had a place in this challenge - more than a little too and yours works - we begin to wonder what your subject is thinking about and how her life has played out on this, the day we meet her.

Overall, this is nice work. I think it deserved a higher finish - I'm pretty sure it would've scored higher in a straight Free Study and that's not so bad is it?

Well made.

Paul

Ft. Morgan Wilderness
by dgodard

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club:

There is something quite compelling about your creation here, and this comes from someone who really doesn't enjoy 'crunchy' black and white landscapes. It does have an etched look that I enjoy - I also like the clouds, truly like balls of cotton wool.

Some have commented as to how messy this is and I would agree - it is: but something still emerges, the trees keep their identity and somewhat remarkably don't dissolve away into the conspirational camouflage.

I also agree with Brian, I'm not sure we see it at its best in this format. As for the challenge, I'm not sure how well-matched it is to people's expectations of something that wears the label 'Fine Art'...

Accomplished though; no doubt about that.

Paul

Untitled
by epescala

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club:

This images benefits from really nice coloration but also the way you have managed to manipulate the depth of field/plane of focus to bring extraordinary focus to that small part of the leaf works really well.

The image certainly works as a near-abstract but for this challenge I imagine if it wasn't a pure abstract or laden with story it may have been hard for folks to compare it to other images. Looking at the number of comments you received I suspect the image fell between posts.

It is a really capable and effective image though and on its absolute merits probably deserves more than the sub-5 score it receive. Stick this is a natural abstract challenge and it would return you a great result.

Paul

Hello? Anybody... Hello?
by epescala

Comment:
This is superb.

pull
by posthumous

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club:

Pleased to pick this one up - as you know I didn't vote on this one and my comment in voting was pranksterish.

I think what I like most about this is its distinctiveness - it looks like one yours. Also, the whole image feels more than a little dangerous to me - the animal seems exotic; a panther perhaps.... I'm immediately reminded of images of the Beast of Bodmin. The leash looks lethal, like the trail of some special effects bullet - indeed the end appears to stop prior to the beast like a bullet frozen in mid air.

The tones are just fine and contribute to the feeling of the image, conspiring to reveal and obscure with simultaneous effect.

Compelling and distinctive.

Paul

Chips in Space
by DiscoVader

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club:

I think this is both imaginative and effective - especially within a challenge that didn't make it easy to achieve either.

I like the ambiguity of the foreground chips and I really like the darkness of the whole piece - in fact I think that's the key to the whole shot, lose that and it would be much more ordinary.

I have to say though, your image didn't convey notions of space-borne chips but rather like a dim low sun rising above an ocean casting weak and early light onto the crests of waves - the foreground blurry chips forming a blurry foam of surf. That's a lot to convey with a few chips!

Good job.

Exposed along the Path
by ph0t0trip

Comment:
Greetings for the Critique Club:

I didn't vote in this challenge so I'm looking at this with fresh eyes. I like the left hand side of the picture better than the right - the washed out landscape and the very smooth gradations of blue in the sky is very attractive. I also like how you've divided the image with a strong diagonal element. If I'm honest, this image isn't shouting 'chips' at me but none of the commenters picked upon that so you've clearly communicated enough chippiness!

I think the scrubby bushes atop the outcrop look a tad over sharpened - if you used a global sharpening tool you may wish to invest in something that allows you to selectively sharpen.

Of course the focus of the image is the crumbling rock strata and this is very nicely presented, the play of the light emphasising the texture of the rock.

Overall, although this is competent work, there isn't a huge amount of intrinsic interest in the scene and such your choice of subject probably placed a cap on the maximum score this would pull in.

Paul

outsource
by posthumous

Comment:

Originally posted by bvy: The careful viewer is rewarded with the z-axis. This image is very three dimensional.

Moral to self: Take more care!

The Watcher
by picjunkie

Comment:
Greetings for the Critique Club:

This is a fine dog portrait - no doubt about that. Your conversion is very nice too and for my money, this is sooooooo much better than your 'Would'a Should'a Could'a'. That one isn't even in the same league as this one - in fact not even the same sport. If this image is something honest and interesting like rugby your other image is obscure and hard to look at - like greek wrestling.

Jokes aside - there's lots to like here, the highlight in the dog's left eye, the CND motif on the collar, the slightly grungy window frame with the water-flecked glass and most of all the personality of Sadie shining through. The overall composition is really good too, with her ear tucking into the corner.

You should be pleased with this version - I think it is an optimal edit and I think those are quite rare.

Well made.

Paul