Heaven's Light II
by taterbug

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club:

This is a beautiful image, full of symmetry, flowing lines and dramatic lighting. You've been able to pull off sharing the beauty of the guitar with a near spiritual quality to the lighting. It is an image worth printing.

Composition: The symmetry works very well here, adding to the impact of the image. The Point of View is strong and adds to the ascending feeling. There are some very minor ticks that show because of the strong symmetry. Your guitar edge on the left is slightly higher on the left than the right, leading to the feeling the image is slightly twisted to the right. The bridge at the base of the guitar is also slightly off kilter. Most would not notice it, I'm just one of those that does. I also prefer a slightly looser crop, with a bit more space above the guitar and below the bridge. The sides feel right.

Technicals: You have done a wonderful job of choosing aperature, shutter speed and ISO to bring out the color, tone, detail and DOF to make this image shine. You've been able to keep the strong lighting on the frets, leading upward, yet maintaining detail on the frets. Very nice. A small detail, probably caused by the reduction of size, is the artifacting on the curves of the guitar edge. I have found this to be reduced by using Bicubic Smoother when reducing an image with diagnal lines.

Tie to Challenge: This is definately a reshoot of a previous image and you have really taken the comments to heart. You have also been able improve your score over your previous entry.

Overall: A wonderful image which has been improved technically from the original. There is a magic to this image that shines through to most, but not all.

"L" Ghost
by srdanz

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

You under rated yourself. With a 6.008 and a 30th place, you did some things right! You"ve created an interesting image here using the 8mm to warp and create curves. It take this image out of the ordinary and adds appeal in a challenge that could be very repetative. The ghost lens is a very nice effect and leaves the viewer wondering "How?"

Composition: Having the tripod and lens in the center works well for you here. The curved lines created by the lens keep leading the eye back to the lens. You've been able to keep the most important vertical line at vertical.

The diagnol line created by the hanging lamp is distracting to me. The stong contrast, plus the halos and artifacting really draw the eye away from the main focus, the lens. Some ways of remedying it would include: a different placement on the lens so that the hanging lamp would be over the lens creating a vertical line and leading the eye to the lens, or changing the method of resizing to eliminate the "jaggies" (bicubic smoother helps when reducing diagnol lines) or changing the method of sharpening since this is adv editting or cleaning up the halo and jaggies in PP.

Technicals: Your ghosting effect is right on target. You've been able to keep the shadow and image while creating the ghosting effect with the wall and window blinds showing through. The natural vingetting around the outer edges is a nice effect. It allows the composition to work and allows the pull of the eyes to the lens. You are clear and sharp, with little oversharpening (just the lamp and cord). Your choice of aperature, ISO and shutter speed work very well here and were essential to creating the image effect.

Meeting the Challenge: Your room was clearly empty. The light fixture did not seem to cause you any issues, nor should it. Photo freaks (which we tend to be) understand what an L lens is and how it might haunt a Canon owner. You may have lost a 0.1 or so from the Nikon owners, but that's to be expected. (Just a joke!) This image would work very well in a photography challenge.

Overall: You've created a very nice image with a unique interest. While it has some small technical difficulties, it is a very pleasing image with a strong photography connection.

Becky

Martha, My Deer - The White Album
by Grahve

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club:

John, you have an engaging portrait of a deer which captures a personality. Congratulations on your new personal best score.

Composition: You've used the rule of 1/3's with this shot to create an overall pleasing image. The background row of trees and bright sky is fighting for attention from the delightful doe eyes. There are several fixes to this problem. One, done during shooting is to raise or lower your shooting angle in order to have that row fall well above the deer or well below the eyes. The second fix would be to use a gradiant fill in the sky to tame down the brightness and add a natural color. This must be use carefully however, in order to keep from creating a major element.

Another item that detracted is the appearance of a crooked horizon line. The image does appear to be tipped to the right as evidenced by the tree trunks that also tip to the right. This tutorial will help with how to rotate the image to the correct angle. While it is a small detail, it is rarely tolerated at DPC without a lowered score.

Technically: The DOF adds to the separation of the deer from the background, helping her "pop." The sharpening is well done. There are no halos or artifacts, and the individual hairs create interest and depth.

Meeting the challeng:The title added to the shot with a pun which matched the character of the deer. It also meets the challenge.

Overall: You've captured a nice shot which is interesting and captures a character. Small changes in the angle of shooting and post processing could make this nice image even stronger.

Becky

A Magical Place
by SherwinJames

Comment:
Greeting from the Critique Club:

As the comments and blue ribbon indicate, you have a well received and appreciated image here. You have all of the aspects of well done photography here, including a creative take on a commonly photographed item.

The composition is strong and classical, the technique is spot on and the image clearly meets the challenge. Often the hardest thing to add is a spark of magic or emotion to your image. You have managed to do that through your lighting and bubbles. While seemingly simple, combined that add the wow that won the ribbon.

Enjoy the success. This is a beautiful shot.

Becky

Teacher Taking Down The Last Bulletin
by sanx

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

This image has a wonderfully nostalgic feel to it. My first impression was that I was looking through a window into this scene. The lighting supports that feeling. This shot is highly emotive with a highly candid feel.

The composition of this shot bothers me somewhat. The bookcase and materials visually outweigh the white board pulling my eye away from the teacher. In fact, I find my attention bouncing between the teacher and board, the bookcase, the orange chair in the front corner and the left chairs which are facing a different direction than the back desks. Perhaps cropping the left 1/4 or the right 1/4 would provide a stronger balance and focus on the teacher. Each element of the shot carries visual information to create the whole image. In this case all of the pieces overwelm the focus on the teacher. Eliminating one of them could allow it back.

The biggest stickler in this photo was the grain. For me, it creates the drama and emotion, however, for most voters, the grain indicated a poor quality photo, instead of the artful rendition of an emotion. You run the risk of losing the voters when you try a dramatic shift in photographic style. In this case, most of the voters did not stay with you.

Meeting the challenge: Clearly the major light source is artificial as asked for in the challenge. There are other light sources evident, which may have been a stumbling block with the voters, also.

I was amazed to see that such a risky, artistic shot would come from a 14 year old. This shot indicates you see the world through different eyes that have much to add over the future years.

Overall: A highly emotive slice of life which was not able to pull the voters in because of the choice of post processing, yet appealed some especially because of it's uniqueness.

Becky

STOP...in the name of love
by Strontious

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club:

You have a very interesting image with much to see and many questions to answer. I want to know "Why the dirt and grime?" "Is the sweat turmoil or strenuous work," and "Why am I being stopped?" The model is appealing and adds to the "Wow" factor of the photo.

Technically, the choice of lighting, colors, dof and perspective work well for the emotion of the image. There is some blurring on the lowered sleeve that is minimally distracting.

The areas that I feel could have decreased the image are the tight crop on the top of the head and the positioning of the hand. Both are parts of the composition. The arm and hand, clearly in the sharpest focus, create a leading line that carries the eye right out of the picture, past the anguish of the face, which IMHO is the strength of this shot. Bringing the hand down, to the right and facing it more toward the viewer would have strengthened the composition, creating a leading line directly to the face, while supporting the emotion.

Because the face feels so important, I feel there needs to be more space on the left of the eyes. The closer something is to the center, the more our mind perceives it to be important. By having the crop so tight, the face feels as though something is missing.

Meeting the challenge: Clearly there is a single light source. Whether it is artificial or not is difficult to tell, but appears that the voters assumed it was. The lighting on this shot is easily a strength and creates much of the impact.

Overall, an emotional shot with clear appeal that could be enhanced with small compositional changes. Well done.

Becky

Eagle Eyed
by TommyMoe21

Comment:
Greeting from the Critique Club:

This is a fantastic eagle image with great details. The composition is strong with a crop that shows the image to it's fullest. It is technically very well done. The DOF highlights the bird, yet allows the details of the bird to be clearly in focus. The attention is immediately on the beak and eyes of the bird, which is supported by the clear focus and bright color.

The difficulty in taking this image to the top level is the perception of the voters that the single light source was not artificial. There is clearly a light source over the eagle's shoulder, resulting in the bright patch on the head, the catchlight in the eye and the glow over the eagle's back. Yet, most likely because eagles are generally in natural lighting, a number of voters doubted the source as artificial. In a situation like this, the photographer is at a great disadvantage if he does not clearly show his light source is artificial. Yet, the fact that this image scored so high indicates many gave you the benefit of the doubt.

Overall: Wonderful pic, strong appeal, technically superb, without a definative meeting of the challenge which hurt it some.

Becky

The Dom, Salzburg
by jrtodd

Comment:
John,

This is a gorgeous shot. Very well done. Enjoy your time over on the continent and say hi once you make it back to our humble state.

Becky

A failed date
by Frall

Comment:
The loneliness of the situation is very well portrayed here. The darkness, and blues add to that feeling. The yellow tones and beauty of the scene give me hope for him. A wonderful combination.

Oops!
by Titia

Comment:
I really like the tones in the bank and plane. There's a nice feel in the lower half of the image. The centered horizon and bright section of the sky take away from the imact IMO.