Motion and motion stopper.
by wingy

Comment:
This is an interesting photograph and the more I look at it the more I like it. I even like the things I initially didn't like. Here is what I like:

The format (is that the word for the size ratio?) is very effective, the oblong being drawn out feels like the doplar effect where the image is actually being dragged/stretched out by the train.

The sepia color works well. It is night and night should be monochrome. ANy color, like a red light or green grass, would have been distracting to the image. I like the sepia better than B+W - it makes the scene a bit unreal.


I love the gradation of light from too dark on one side and too light (overexposed) on the other. It adds alot to the sense of motion - To me is is going from the dark into the light. Same for you? I definately FEEL the motion and I disagree with the commenters who thought it looked like a wall. Although they did get the sense of MASS that the motion carries with it. It feels powerful, like you better get out of the way.

I like the RR crossing sign and its eerie shadow. It never occurred to me that the shadow as well as the sign would be static in relation to the moving train and this is very well done. The sign itself almost looks like a person with those two big lights being the eyes and this person says STOP and holds out his arm. But the train can't stop. But the shadow is such a distortion of the sign that it looks like a gallows, or cross or something sinister. The two lights have become dangling arms.

This is a visually compelling image and there is something dark and disturbing about it too. The dynamic force of that train in the dark is sort of creepy and dangerous.

I can't think of anything that you should change because that would change the feeling behind the image. I think if people looked carefully at why they scored it low they would find that they were disturbed by the image. Good job.


from the critique club - remember that I am just an amateur and this is only one persons opinion (mine).

Chopper
by Mieka

Comment:
This is a techically perfect picture. Perfect cloudless blue sky. Perfectly focused moving helicopter. Two contrasting motions. The larger blade caught at one rotation speed and the tail blade caught at another. Composition uses the rule of thirds and diagonal leading lines. the helicoter is traveling off the view to the left and the diagonal line of the stopped motion blade leads the viewers eye back into the picture. The red diagonal stripes on the chopper go in the opposite direction from that main diagonala blade.

The colors are nice. All red, white and blue. Dark against the blue sky. Is it a hair underexposed? Maybe. I like the glint of sunlight on the driver.

But overall it leaves me wondering WHY? Why am I supposed to look at this picture? Does it tell a story? Is it just supposed to be pretty? Is it a guy thing that I don't get the same way I don't know every make and model of cars? It just seems boring to me, though exceptionally well done. I gave it a five and so did everyone else, apparently it wasn't just me.

From the critique club - just one amateurs opinion.

Planet
by janfries

Comment:
Belated greetings from the critique club-

I don't know what I can add to the other comments on your picture, though they were a bit contradictory (crop closer, crop wider). I think this is a Could Have Been Better picture and I suppose that is what frustrated the viewers.

It is a great image, very bizzare looking and very much looking like a dynamic electric earth (which I see it was). It does look like a planet beseiged by storms, the veins of lightnening at the core seem to move even. The separation of green pn one end, blue on the other woth all the variations between sets up a nice contrast. I especially like that it seems to have a diagonal axis and you have tilted it towards the center of the picture along that axis. Makes a nice composition. I can't decide which I like better regarding the cropping. I think the close up crop makes the planet look more alive and swirly, where more of the black expanse of the universe around the planet might have made it look more like a planet out in space. Did you try it both ways.

Obviously you lost points for focus, out of focus seems to be an unforgivable sin here. How do you focus on a round object? It looks to me like you have focused on the lightening which is actually inside, right? So the surface is out of focus. But when I look at it as a planet I think the lightening is also on the surface and I find the out of focus mountains and edges disturbing. Could a deeper DOF have helped? I know you were outside at night and may have been limited to a wider aperature but maybe a narrow one and a longer exposure would have helped the focus......no wait....you needed the fast shutter speed for the crisp lightening. Obviously I know less than you do.

Overall I thought it was an interesting picture, thought provoking (is OUR plantet about to explode?) and I gave it a six (fell into the out of focus trap myself).

MUD SLIDE
by SunChild

Comment:
Hmmm- I liked this picture better than most people did because I see I gave it a six. Yep there is a lot of motion. Did one commenter actually say there was a lack of motion? ANd did another say there should be some still and some motion. I see both. Also the YOUTH of the picture is a strong point - everyone is young.

This is a perfect case of a "not quite" picture. It could have been much better but then it is a candid shot and you can't exactly ask the guy on the right in the blue coat to move over. It is out of focus, which seems to be an unforgivable sin here. The composition is very very interesting but has a few distracting elements. The action is great, The tangle mess of kids, shoes, arms in the middle of the mud forms compact ball from which one guy is beginning to untangle. I like that the one girl is offset a bit. So you have the center messy ball and then a rather tidy semi circle of up right onlookers who are all clean. There are little bits of interesting people, like the rasta hat or the guy in the muscleshirt and the wild hair behind him. so that the viewers eye travels around the semicircle looking at each onlooker individually. This is really a nice composition, probably textbook.

On the negative side there are a few things that just stick out as distractions. The guy in the white shirt and hat in the middle, and that orange blob, whatever it is. I actually like the lower corners being filed with stuff, it closes up the circular composition. You lost all your points for the focus, was it dark as well as active? There isn't really a way to fix up the photo. I can't see any better way to crop it. I like it messy and out of focus and disorganized - like the moment was.

From downtown to midtown - New York is Blue
by tomzinho

Comment:
Well in DPC lingo, I thought this picture was a WOW and I gave it an 8. I don't see why it ended up down here at dead center. I'm not sure I'm qualified to review the technical aspects of this picture, I have only just begun working on night shots. This is a beautiful city night shot and from my perspective it is perfect. I notice that some people wanted it lighter and some darker. I suspect that reflects their monitors and not your picture. From what I can see there is plenty of detail in the foregroud buildings while not making the background too light. Is it really 4:15 in the morning?

The blue lights, yellow lights and the red lights are lovely. The emphasis is clearly on the decorative tops of the buildings. I think this picture would have benefited from the new DPC rules about dimensions. While I personally like the grey buildings in the foreground, I miss something more in the middle to focus on. There is basicly nothing in the center of the picture, and nothing at any of the "rule of thirds" points. The blue towers are the eyecatchers but they seem too widely spaced to be comfortable to my eyes. I jump back and forth from one to the other, makes me feel wall eyed. With the restrictions off, a bit more could be included on each side to balance out the wide space in the middle.

I find NYC skylines to be emotionally powerful. This is a gorgeous sky line. I like the combination of older and newer buildings. I like that the older ones are more ornate and have more interesting lights on top. The newer buildings are either unlit or have the red headlight look. The windows on the left are so clear I feel like clicking zoom to see if I can see any one inside. You do give the impression of a city that never sleeps.

Would the trade center towers have been in this picture? Oh wait...maybe that is why there is nothing in the middle. Have I just been incredibly stupid?

One last thing the bugs me, a personal peeve. It doesn't seem quite straight. Is it? To me it all seems to lean a hair to the right.

From Critique Club

Primarily Blue
by jimmythefish

Comment:
I was ssoooo out of synch with the rest of the voters this week. I LOVED this shot!

Picket Line!
by catpixel

Comment:
Hi- Critique Club here - I gave your picture a 6 originally. Now I'm coming back to review it. This was Almost a great shot.

First it is perfect for the photo journalism challenge, capturing a dynamic moment. The mood of tension is evident in the picture. The slightly out of focus placards seem like they are being shaken angrily. The uniformed arm on the far right seems to be putting up a poster as we view him. This picture is happening now!

Compositionally it has some great things going for it. Movement contributes to mood. The man on the left looking left, center looking forward, right looking right. Then there is another similar balance created by the posters and the words Lies. Some red Lies on the right, some on the left. In the center, the more human, hand printed "lies". I like that the fireman's patch on his jacket is mirrored by the emblem on the banner. Did you all notice that the colors in the picture are almost exclusively red, white, and blue? That makes the yellow on the fireman's sleeve stand out so well and remind us of all the images of firemen in those black and yellow rescue coats - subtle, clever.

Now the negatives (ouch). Given that it is a night shot, in a crowd, avoiding handcuffs, it's pretty good and I suppose the tippiness might have been intentional. However, my personal pet peeve is crooked pictures and it bugs me that it is not straight. Also bugs me that the foreground is overstated, there doesn't need to be that much sidewalk when the guys heads are so crowded at the top. I might have cropped it just below the shiney black shoes and then taken a bit off the left to maintain the required ratio, maybe right next to the A. I don't think the ground zero photograph adds anything. you don't need all the lies because you know what it says if you have one. Guess we both wish there had been more to work with on the top.

Leonid Morning Moonset
by LindaLee

Comment:
I gave this picture a 7 originally - now I am back for a second look from the critique club.

At first glance the photo is bottom heavy. All that black foreground does not balance well with the lovely sky. But the sky part is extraordinary. First for it's blueness, what a gorgeous blue. Second for it's streaks of light and dots of stars. The way the light shapes match the tree shapes at the left should be emphasized. What if yu crop a bit from the bottom and take off the far right tree? That would leave three tree shapes and three light shapes descending from left to right? Too symetrical? Okay, maybe. But it's a way to get rid of some black and focus on the contrast between the delicate lace of the trees and the smooth smears of the clouds. That texture contrast is so nice.

I think the cropping is my only complaint here. Technically it is beautiful, exposure and all that. I hope it wan't as cold at your house as it was at mine. The way you have this shot framed, it doesn't have a compositional focus or direction. It could be more dynamic by either emphasizing where the rays of light are coming from. or where they are going to. try a tighter crop. It is almost a stunning picture, well it IS a stunning picture but it is almost a winning one.

My future Son!
by vtruan

Comment:
Whoa- Now I see it! It shows better on the thumbnail. Wow! What a treasure!! And the great thing is that someday you'll look back at this picture and say "It looks JUST like him." Congratulations!

keeping the way & water
by kenbo

Comment:
I hate it when my 10s end up down here. All because of a guard rail??