Small town gears up for July 4th festivities
by neenee1999

Comment:
great Americana shot

Pleasantville
by DefyTime

Comment:
super creative spin. My choice.

As the saying goes, "a watched pot will never boil."
by Galimages

Comment:
From the Critique Club:
This is a clever diagonal composition. You have cup with spoon at upper corner, the pot and its handle. You threw the extra weight on the pot handle with the watch and so the eye travels up and down on the diagonal. Notice how the spoon reinforces the top and note how it blends in with the green line of the cup. I am sorry if I overreach to recompose, but I would have rotated the spoon handle opposite the cup handle. This would give me a T compostion to break the straight diagonal line and bringing the other burner into play. Another flight of fancy would be to move the cup a little to the left and place the spoon with the handle just over the lonely unused burner. The bulb on the spoon would have filled just a bit more of real estate.
The watch is well placed. It keeps the eye from slipping off the bottom right. Pictures like these depend on delicate placement, because you are composing an image. It often helps to squint your eyes as you compose because it helps to find the universally accepted modes of design. Nothing is really new. It is mostly old wines in new bottles.
I think you did nicely here because many decisions must be made to make a simple composition and sometimes, the simpler it is, the harder to execute. By the way, creating these types of scenes will certainly sharpen your design and compositional sense. Good work. dan

Message edited by author 2004-06-22 22:20:03.

Wating for Lunch
by Rtwo

Comment:
From the Critique Club:
This is certainly a waiting shot. It has perhaps a little too much subject noise, not digital noise. The bottom of the picture is perfect, the top breaks up the cohesive effect. I would have entreated the guy to lower his hand to catch just the hand feeding. But that is another picture!
The major fault with general public shooting is that since we have no control of the environment, we tend to want to get it over with and later realise that our focal point has been robbed by pedestrians activity. Such shooting requires a lot of more patience, but if you stick with it you will always find someone who is willing to help and cooperate. Always try to imagine the shot you want to bring back and shoot, shoot, shoot.
Despite all the above, the shot has an entertaining feel because it imparts a general good feeling. The seals stand out nicely against the nice warm rosette wall. Always be on the alert when sharpenning dark objects against a light background and observe the edges. Try to minimize the halo.
The image did bring a smile to my face and it did to many others with a score of 5.07. Go and outdo yourself on the next shoot. dan

Somewhere In Time
by itsjava

Comment:
from the Critique Club:
A very nice picture with a pleasant view and good angle. The b/w gives it that vintage look. The starkness of the street with the greenery above creates a nice feeling.
Of course, this is the picture and what we must work with, but always think how you could have improved this image. For one thing, the figures on the left just don't belong here. A couple with a child would have been great, but under the circumstances, I would have hung around and waited for the propitious time to shoot. Another distacting element: look at the white house that serves as the closer back drop. It is leaning towards the left. This is the key level factor and must be addressed, otherwise it leaves the distracting feeling in the viewer. Simply get the house straight and the rest will take care of itself. Outside of optical imperfections these tilted lines in photographs is due to the camera itself not being level. The hand held camera replaced the old view camera and it places a heavy burden on the photographer: the art of holding it pararell to the ground.
Outside of this and as is, this image is still viable. The exposure factor can be improved by the use of curves. It is not a simple matter to adjust levels and desaturate. I go about it the long way. I convert the image to gray scale and then back to RGB and begin adjusting each individual channel with curves. To use automatic conversion system just don't work and will take with it many important tones. dan

no fish
by Stagolee

Comment:
From the Critique Club:
A very pleasant concept and one that meets the challange. Using the tree and its foilage to frame the subject. The hand on the face adds to the waiting theme. Even the angle of the shot adds to its overall pleasant and lazy feeling. The subdued colors completes the flavor.
Our object as photographers is to turn a regular picture into an outstanding one. Often times, once the picture is taken, we have the strenght of cropping and quite often we take it for granted. In this particular case I would have exploited the hand in the face by cropping in tighter and covering the very beginning of the tree trunk to make it an L composition as opposed to the current upside down T.
Suddenly the image rebounds with our subject on the left with a strong supporting tree trunk on his back and the loose foliage above, complemented by the blades of grass from the ground. The water here is so, so. But the grass and earth look good. The crop will then enhance the earth and grass.
A tip on using sharpening tools. Always do it viewing actual pixels and adjust accordingly to avoid disturbing halos.

Waiting for the Sunset
by mandyp

Comment:
From the Critique Club:
This composition has several good things going for it. Notice that where the horizontal and vertical lines meet is where we find the model. All rules can be broken and in this case I like the negative space in the back. The sitting position works well because it gives the image the corner heavy feel. The eyes follow the lines and it all leads to the subject. However, as good as all this is, the title as applied to the image does not impart the sense of waiting. Yes, the avenue chosen is rather abstract and who is to make the final judgment. The colors go well, but personally, I would have presented it in black and white and simply let the lines dominate without the value of color. In Black and white it would make the hot-spots in the model's face more pleasing.
All in all, the composition received thought and attention to detail and has merit despite its abstract sense. It made good use of long sweeping lines, nice texture and a good time to project a nice shadow. dan

Waiting to Pounce
by Chefboz

Comment:
From the Critique Club
This is a wonderful concept and depending on effect desired it can be complete simply because it crosses the line into art. It is a backlight subject, but can not be really judged as such since the intent is strictly a visual, almost graphical effect.
We know spiders wait so I will even concede that aspect of the challenge. Since the execution is artistic it brings up an interesting and natural question. Did you push the rules to obtain it. There is a way to obtain a fade by using curves, but just how was this fade done. It must involve a selection and a processing step. Since the fade interferes with the extremeties of the feet I would have questioned its use or would have reduced the spider's size.
You have achieved a good effect if people who dislike spiders find the image repulsive. Those that can tolerate spiders will certainly give it a second look. Those into artistic interpretation will appreciate it most. You have good ideas and technique but you must always be on the alert to find the right target audience. Regardless, it is a good shot, the backlight leaves the front dark and mysterious and scarey.

Owl
by Ecce_Signum

Comment:
This is a great shot. An easy 9 - 10. very good work. And like I say: always go out and outdo yourself on the next one.

The wait is on
by jmlelii

Comment:
From the Critique Club:
I do not know if this guy lives here and is waiting for mail or waiting for a friend to pick him up. Ambiguity further opens up the picture for more detail critism. Example: Why 400 ISO? There is nothing moving in the composition. I will assume you opted for the dof, but due to all the white and the size of the figure I would have taken a reflective meter reading. I think the image should be sharper. To avoid using a meter you could have bracketed the exposure. Then it is the cropping. Had subject back-up a bit, to preserve the chosen background selection, you could have included the feet, since this is not a portrait, lesser facial definition is not critical.
Of course, you were on the right track because the composition has a nice feel. He is definately waiting and with the head turned and looking into negative space is very nice. Hands in pocket also helps convey that there is nothing else to do but wait. I would safely say you are on the right track. Before you even take the pictures, begin to visualize the shot and always shoot a variation of the same idea