Crossing the Line
by sacredspirit

Comment:
The choice to use a negative? blued image here eludes me. The expected powdery substance looks more granular or even blobish, the straw? is a blue form, but not well defined, however the razor is perfect and the sharpness of its blade accented greatly by the finishing technique. The other forms/patterns in teh image distract me, I want to know what they are, so I guess it has raised my interest level on an abstract level, it has not however made me consider the use of a keyword like decision. It invokes a sense of the fogged mind that a drug-user is confined by (or set free to roam in as you may choose), but I find no apparent link to a decision.

Perhaps here an image of offering someone the opportunity to be involved with this or the challenge to leave it behind would have better served to tell me of the decision, however to achieve the level of abstract art shown above, would have been much harder with that kind of a scene.

High marks for an abstract that leaves me wanting to return and ponder more, low score compared to other challenge entries that more overtly told me a story about decision. I can only offer a 4.

Do I Take Him Out? ... Or Not
by CLarson557

Comment:
Perhaps the title alludes to the stance of the subjects and how it could be interpreted as an argument about to go very wrong and violent. It confuses me. I know the form of a baseball player, I see a coach giving guidance. In a way, I feel the nervousness of the batter as they try to become better, but decision is not a keyword or thought without the title and even then the archetypes in the image strip that from my mind.

This is a finessed image, the subjects are clear, focused, sharpened well, lit evenly and it is perfectly exposed It simply fails on the challenge request for this viewer. I can only offer a 4 purely on technicals as I see no image-born link in the realm of decision.

Should I Go Around the River Bend?
by AChelton

Comment:
An image of the water flowing into nature. A nicely composed and cropped concept with good shadows and lighting that is interesting, but without it's title, I would not have thought to add a keyword of decision to this image. The link is there only from the caption and this is not enough. I cannot critique the image as it stands out with finesse and would even interest some to have as a wall hanging, but I cannot place this high against the entries that better told me a story or invoked the sense of decision. I offer a 4 on technical alone.

Finding One's Path
by BobsterLobster

Comment:
An interesting image. It is well finessed, sharp in the right places and not overly blurred so as to lose the girl completely. The positioning of the graffiti soda is somewhat funny as it looks like she is about to drink it. I would not however see this image in another place and drop a keywood of decision on it.

She appears distressed in a way, perhaps there *is* a decision on her mind, The body language also lends to that notion but there is not an overt link. I see other things that were most likely unintended as the title does not reflect that thought, but I am inclined on this one as I ponder it to strengthen the lead of the stories that are prompted by that which is mentioned and see a more possible link to the decision. Perhaps she is pondering whether to take a sip of the soda? I know she is not but it crosses my mind. I see inklings of decision and find I have to bump this image as it has finesse and a stronger link than where I had originally placed it. I offer a 5 on this one, perhaps as I ponder more, I will return.

War Monument
by morpurgo

Comment:
It is perhaps unfortunate that I cannot read the text of the monument which might hold a translated immediate and apparent link to the context of decision. Without that text, the image I see is one of respect, possibly mourning or remembrance, but I would not add a keyword like decision to the description of the photo's story.

The image itself is likable, seemingly balanced by the elements of foreground, center interest and then background, the flow caused by the positioning of the monument leads the eye through the story, but there are some fatal flaws that were probably introduced in compression, resizing and sharpening that detract from the whole. Jaggies on the angles and the white shirts in the center abound. The shirts and top of the flat monument seem way overexposed and the rest of the lighting seems to leave a less-than-3dimensional fell to the image. In this case, the only suggestion for improvement that I could offer would be to not sharpen the larger image beofre resizing and then only slightly sharpen once resized, or sharpen large and save, then undo the sharpen before resizing. This may have prevented the harsh contrasts in the areas where lighter objects halo'd into darker areas. I offer this image a 4. Weak challenge link, good design, harsh lighting and post processing.

tattoo
by fauxreal

Comment:
The decision to have a design painted on you or to pick the particular art is an exceptional concept, however without the knowledge of the challenge woudl I find myself placing a keyword like decision on this image? My answer is no. It is one more on the lines of invoking pain or artistry. The blueish green gloves in fact push me into the realm of safety for the artist for they must be careful nowadays.

I see little in the way of composition that would lead me to return to this image unless it was found in a textbook illustrating the tools or the need for protection in the industry, however there is a subtle balance in the choice of crop and the positioning of elements that indicates a great eye.

Perhaps to better illustrate the decision, the image should have been of the discussion ensuing as the person and artist looked over the many options hanging on the wall or in the book. That image would have invoked a sense of impending thought and a decision to be made on the part of the people the image told the story about. For me unfortunately, I find a weak link to the story of decision in this image and find that compared to the other entries I rate this at a 4.

Message edited by author 2005-06-08 00:33:55.

Year, style and color decisions
by AJFI

Comment:
A great car collection. The centered image does not suffer greatly when considering the presence of the other cars, but it does come off flat due to the straight on shot down the grill. This is well exposed on all levels, but the challenge link comes off very weak. Without the title it would take me years to guess that decision was the challenge it was submitted to. Considering the story this image tells, combined with technicals, I can offer a 4.

Should I Stay or Should I Go?
by twm122

Comment:
This image's concept seems to be hurt by the presence of the high fence and the highlights on the base that make this runner appear to be coming from home plate and heading to first. It does not appear to be a decision at all, but an action that naturally ensues after releasing the bat. Redemption comes on her face. There is a look of confusion/thought there that could indicate she is trying to decide if she is doing something the right way. That for me links this image to the challenge. A much lower DOF to try and blur the background out and a bit of spot metering closer to the most well lit area would have put much more emphasis on the runner and her expression eliminating the distracting elements and pushing this image into a higher bracket of communicating the 'decision'. Bumping to a 5.

My jump - My decision - My thrill
by hvellur

Comment:
Fun, exhillaration, happiness, motion. This image without its title does not tell me a story of decision. It is a well shot image and a creative use of stop motion and emotion, but to me lacks in communicating the requested subject. Because of the technicals of a good composition, great emotive capture and vibrant coloring, I can offer a 4.

My Way?
by ltaylor

Comment:
Another child/parent 'letting go' image. The symbolism does speak of a decision (at least to a parent it does), however the concept's execution falls short due to technical distractions.

Most if not all of the image is out of focus. Perhaps to create a dreamlike sense, but it does not feel that way to this viewer. There is harsh lighting in the foreground that washes out the arm and areas of the child's shirt. This can be remedied by spot-metering on the brightest areas and then setting exposure for that, ignoring the darkened areas of the woods and path, which would then become shadowy and mysterious achieving a more desireable symbolism to his approach of the path. The arm itself is unneeded in the telling of the story and in fact becomes a distracting element that cheapens the shot. Either the second person should be more fully apparent in the shot (with body language or expression) or eliminated completely. Inclusion of the child's lower half would also up the 'going away' into the woods feeling. Compared to other entries, this image comes in at a 3, due to distracting elements and some serious technical challenges.