Ice cream social
by jdixonsd

Comment:


Critique Club Critique

First Impressions
Good concept, effort gone into set up but the technicals and angle let the image down.

Photograph Information, Technicals & Composition Review
Ok, after reading your Photographer's Comments I can see that you deliberately added noise, however it appears that there may have been some noise in the original photograph, that coupled with the lack of selective focus and some apparent camera shake (apologies in advance if wrong) and then adding gaussian blur on top, have decreased the quality and interest in the photograph, in my opinion. However, as mentioned, the processing seems to be deliberate, so unless this was an 'artistic vision' of yours that has resulted in a finished image that you are content with, I can only tell you what I, as a viewer, see when viewing this image. What I see is a poor quality image that has no strong interest in the subject or composition to 'override' any technicals - hence turning it into an artistic style image.

A slow shutter speed of 1/15 sec. and small aperture/large dof of 11 and an elevated ISO of 400 will all contribute to the flaws I mention above, which means to counteract them, you'd have to put more effort into lighting, stability (tripod), etc. If you were wanting a final product that was very grainy and full of noise, you would have to have some interesting elements in the image to carry that through and/or complement the noise - as is, I don't think that this image does that.

Composition, the angle of the image isn't showcasing the ice cream and glasses well and the visible separation and lines in your background fabrics is distracting.

As an aside, looking at how you made the ice-cream - is that edible? I wonder if you made it especially for this Challenge.. interesting.

Looking at your title, brings perhaps another edge to the concept which I might have missed initially - are you portraying these two glasses in a personified way? You don't mention this in your comments, so I'm unsure. If that was the case, I don't think that the concept has been conveyed.

It certainly is 'pink' and so fits the Challenge that way, but again, the other technical and compositional elements actually dominate the image so much that the color/s become a lower priority to the eyes.

Comments, Score & Placement Review
156/158 and a score of 3.13 is super low. I suspect that most were seeing a snapshot type image and did not linger long. That, as well as of course not knowing that you were deliberately aiming for a certain processing with your image (rightly or wrongly - but either way, it is your vision).

An average of 3.16 from your commenters: All echo the same sentiments about the noise and there are a few especially helpful and suggestive comments there too. Glad to see you found them all helpful.

Summary
Good concept in the set up, but the noise concept would require special attention to composition and quality to pull it off. Keep up the creativity and experimentation, you'll refine your style with images such as this. Just have to be willing to take the 'knocks', when you create something 'unorthodox', which you seem able to do. Next time you try a particular concept and seek a critique, putting in some detail in your comments will help members of the Critique Club give more constructive and 'aimed' criticism.

edit: typo

Message edited by author 2009-08-28 17:25:05.

- CLOCKWISE -
by andrewt

Comment:
8 - Good composition.

Clownin' around on Charlotte's Web
by essay

Comment:
8 - Good quality and interesting patterns. Apt title.

Gentle Weave
by SJCarter

Comment:
8 - Nicely done. I like how you framed it too.

Liquid Lavender
by Carlo21

Comment:
8 - Nice and space age and unique. Strange but good title.

Sea of Love
by KarenNfld

Comment:
8 - Excellent quality, nice colors and interesting patterns.

Softball
by skyyak

Comment:


Critique Club Critique

First Impressions
I can make out a few circles, but they are not the main shape that comes to mind when I view this image.

Photograph Information, Technicals & Composition Review
In the context of the Challenge, trying to place the 'circled items' further into frame, perhaps along a 'third', would have helped give them more impact. I can't help but wonder about standing further over that bucket o' balls and getting an interesting circle full of different colored balls, but that is another image.

Oh - just read your Photographer's Comments and see you didn't shoot this image for this Challenge. It does usually help, especially with a Challenge theme such as this, where the subject matter is 'more important' than the photographic technique.

Comments, Score & Placement Review
128/149 is low down the pack, but I guess that is because most voters didn't see 'circle' when they viewed this image. Your score of 4.53 also reflects that.

You received quite a lot of comments and all are quite helpful, but none really give explanations of why you were scoring low overall, however your average of 5.33 from your commenters is quite good and shows some of them liked the image, regardless of the Challenge theme.

Summary
For this Challenge, there are a few circles happening in this image but none of them strong enough to make it a contender for a high place in this Challenge.

A small fortune
by olbol

Comment:


Critique Club Critique

First Impressions
I like the subtle colors.

Photograph Information, Technicals & Composition Review
Just read your Photographer's Comments: cannot help with the marks on the glass, they look like they are hand engraved, maybe a M5 4 at the top with a line underneath and then 1 6 1 V V 0 E (?) - no idea really.

Beside the flash reflection at the top of the glass, the technicals all seem to have produced a decent quality image. I like the background, however (and not to contradict what I said about the colors), the overall image is a little uninteresting. Perhaps if the letters were more discernible, not sure - what I see when I view this image is primarily the end of a bottle / jar of coins. It could possibly work as an abstract, but again, either some elements in sharper focus to add interest, otherwise perhaps a variation in angle. The centered composition is also a little static.

Difficult Challenge to shoot for - simply finding something that is 'round' or a 'circle', doesn't necessarily mean it will be interesting to view in an image. I'm not suggesting that this 'circle' doesn't have potential, I think it may - but no matter how creative you were photographing it, I'm just not sure how much engagement it would achieve.

The only real composition comment I'll make is that the colors of the coins within the bottle are not 'balanced'.

Comments, Score & Placement Review
82/149 is not bad placing - and your score is over 5 at 5.06. You may be semi pleased with this. You mention low scoring recent entries, and I just took a look at your recent scores - ok, so this is probably falling into an average.

Everyone comes to DPC for different reasons and those that do enter an image in a Challenge don't always aspire to score high - again, there is individual reasoning. If you want to score higher, you have to produce an image that engages the viewer in some way. However the catch is that what engages one viewer will not engage another. Go for mass appeal, and you'll likely score high. Of course, just submitting something that appeals strongly to you is an individual road to be on and if a majority like it too - then there is a little more substance to the gratification, in my opinion. Depends what you're seeking.

Your 5 commenters all tried to relay something that they liked within the image - which is always helpful to learn what is appealing to your viewers/voters.

Summary
Possibly better potential with some further tweaking in pp to bring about a little more depth and pop. Otherwise, 'next time' trying to select something with added interest, including the elements, would likely produce a stronger image.

edit: wording & typo

Message edited by author 2009-08-12 15:11:55.

Hold me mamma, Its raining...!
by ankursomani

Comment:


Critique Club Critique

First Impressions
Some quality issues mainly with this image. I gave this a 4 during voting. Looked like a zoo photo to me, but I can now see from your comments that looks like it was a natural scene. Shivthar Ghal looks like an interesting place which no doubt has bountiful photographic opportunities.

Photograph Information, Technicals & Composition Review
The tree branch creeping in at the top left corner is distracting, but fairly minor. Depending on the quality and scene you had to work with, I think not such a tight crop, giving more context would possibly have been better. As is, with this (seemingly) tight crop, the quality has deteriorated too much and the image suffers.

.025 seconds? - if so, this would also explain the lack of clarity. Regarding your title, although fairly minor, just seemed a little trite for me, but your call, of course.

Comments, Score & Placement Review
236/418 is fairly middle of the pack and a score of 5.59 is quite good, especially for the placement.

You have one especially helpful comment received. An average of 6.75 from your commenters overall, doesn't seem to reflect what most were saying.

Summary
Well spotted, good potential, just trying to get a more steady capture and then more attention paid to composition of the final image in processing would produce a stronger image.

Liberty
by kenna718

Comment:


Critique Club Critique

First Impressions
Don't mind the concept with the sun, flare and statue - but for a famous statue that has been photographed thousands of times, you'd have to either be very creative or produce a very technically sound image for it to truly captivate your audience. I voted this a 4 during the Challenge - primarily for the potential and what I perceived what some creativity.

Photograph Information, Technicals & Composition Review
Just read your comments - I think there is the potential to turn this 'backlit' (silhouetted) moment into a dramatic scene. Sure, the sun might not be that best placed to do so, but I still think there is potential in post processing with the image as is to give it more drama.

As is, cropping the sun out entirely, in fact a very bold crop almost half way down, leaving a few clouds at top right and on the left, frames her quite well. Possibly even a toning applied, but that would produce 'another' image.

'She' also needs a nudge up on the right to straighten her out.

Even with the framing and composition as is, perhaps there is potential, again with toning or b&w to push this into an artistic realm further, who knows.

Comments, Score & Placement Review
348/418 tells me that people perhaps saw a snapshot and also the sun 'hurt their eyes' so didn't linger long in the image. A score of 5.12 is fairly good for a low placement.

An average of 8.25 is excellent from your commenters and they all seemed to really like it. You have one especially helpful comment in there.

Summary
Good potential, well seen - just some experimenting in processing with the image as is. If you get the opportunity again, trying to garner a better angle for sun placement (and watching the exposure), may provide some added element interest.