reflection #2
by azuractive

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

First Impression:
Interesting reflections and nice colors. A bit soft, and seems a little cramped at the top and bottom. But considering the challenge it was shot for and that no processing was allowed, a nice image.

Compostion/Background:
The black background really helps the colors of the flower to pop, and the mirror blends into the background seamlessly. There doesn't seem to be a lot of lines or focal points to help my eye to wander around. I'd like to see this with a bit more space around it too I think.

Technicals:
Nice lighting, and I like the way the drops are highlighted too. I like that the underside of the flower is also lit from the reflection of the mirror and that it didn't get lost in the black. The image feels just a little soft to me, so perhaps bumping up the sharpness in camera before shooting could have helped that.

Overall:
A nice shot, well done technically for this challenge. Shows that you have a good command of setting up the shot and not relying on post processing.

I hope you found this critique helpful. Please feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

Flowering Dill
by groundbeef

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

First Impression:
The photo is a bit small, and it took me a second to find the flowers. I like how there are several tones of yellow and green that all blend well in the shot.

Compostion/Background:
I'm undecided on the background being completely black. On one hand, I like it because it lets the colors pop more, but it also seems almost too flat. Perhaps because the dill stem is going out of the frame on the bottom? That feels a bit strange to me. I like the way the colors in the dill blend together the colors in the limes and lemons. But I think I'm still confused about why they're there exactly.

Technicals:
The lighting here is nice, looks like you did a great job with the new photo tent. Everything seems to be pretty focused, but with the small size of the photo, it's difficult to tell.

Post Processing:
I think many voters are used to seeing something closer to the full 640 pixels along at least one edge, and not taking advantage of that hurt your score. The only other thing I see is a tiny bright spot to the left of the stem which I might have cloned out since this was an advanced editing challenge.

Overall:
Not a bad shot, especially for a comeback to DPC challenges after a few months off. I'd review the rules for sizing before submitting again. Keep using that light tent though, I think it really helped out the technical aspects of this shot.

I hope you found this critique helpful. Please feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

Renewed
by yann

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

First Impression:
Very nice. I like the soft background and the vibrant colors. Focus on the flowers seems just a bit soft.

Composition/Background:
I really like the simple, dark background since it shows off the vibrant colors of the flowers. There is detail there, but it is not overpowering or competing with the flower itself. The flowers/buds are arranged nicely within the frame, and with 3 of them, it helps to move your eye around the photo.

Technicals:
I like the shallow dof here to soften the background leaves/grasses. The only lighting that might be an issue is the highlight on the orange petal. The flowers themselves are a bit soft, so perhaps bumping up the sharpen setting on the camera before taking the picture would help to alleviate that.

Post Processing:
I think with the shot being just a bit soft, a quick pass through the USM would help to sharpen it up a bit. I also like the frame you used here. Nice and simple and nothing fancy to detract from your shot.
Other than that it's difficult to comment since you didn't leave any notes about what you've done to the shot.

Overall:
I was kind of shocked to see the score of 5.1 on this shot. I think the colors are vivid and it's well done. The softness may have gotten you a few lower votes from folks who thought it was out of focus in the few quick moments they spent looking at it. I didn't vote in this challenge, but this probably would have received a 7 from me.

I hope you found this critique helpful. Please feel free to PM me if you have any questions!

Trumpet
by Kronus

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

First Impression:
Ooh! I love macros! Love all the little hairy fuzzies on the flower, and how only one row of them is focused.

Composition/Background:
I think the black background works well here. With anything in the background, the little hairs (I really don't know what else to call them) wouldn't have stood out as well. My eye tends to wander around the focused areas of the shot around the greener part of the flower, and then to the leaf, but tends to avoid the brighter spot on the right. It took me a while to even see that the hairs went all the way up to the top.

Technicals:
I think my biggest issue technically is that bright white spot. I like the lighting you used, it just got a bit bright in that one spot. Perhaps a slightly faster shutter speed would have helped? Or maybe a very pastel color of flower?

Post Processing:
I think the crop you used works for what you started with. If you had left more to the right, it appears as if you may have left a dull grey which would have been unappealing. My only suggestion might be to rotate the shot slightly counter-clockwise to make the flower at more of an diagonal across the frame. Then again, without seeing it, I could be wrong.

Overall:
It looks like this shot was fairly well received by the voters with its score and the great comments. I didn't vote in this challenge, but probably would have given it a 7.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to PM me.

A lonely survivor
by Krisby

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

First Impression:
This is a nice shot, but doesn't necessarily have that "Wow!" factor that seems to bring in the high scores around here.

Compostion/Background:
I think you've placed the main subject well in the shot. Perhaps placing it a bit lower would follow the rule of thirds more closely, but if you went too much lower you would lose the leaves on the flower that you were shooting, and I like those. The background is good, as far as its coloring that doesn't distract from the subject, but I think a shallower dof could have helped to blur some of it out which would have put more focus on the flower itself.

Technicals:
As you noted in your photographer comments, you realize that your lighting is off, and it gives this shot a bit of a flat look. This is an area that I struggle with as well, and I find it easier to play around with lighting inside where I have more control. But back to this shot, perhaps playing with the flash, or a simple reflector could help. What I do like about the lighting you used is that you didn't just put the flash on or shoot in the middle of a sunny day and blow out the highlights of the white flower. So I think you're already understanding some of the important aspects of lighting.

Going back to the shallower dof, you used an aperture of f/7.1 which gives a relatively shallow dof, but bumping to to f/3.5 would have given you an even shallower dof, and an even more out of focus background. However, in order to do that, the shutter speed would have been too slow to hand hold, and a tripod would have been necessary.

Post Processing:
Clearly there have been varying thoughts on the use of the border here from other commenters, so I'll start with that. I like borders, and I like the use of a white border inside the shot. I think it works nicely here. However, I think it might have been a bit too thick and distracting for some voters. Perhaps a simple stroke of just a few pixels would have worked better. The other thing I noticed in your post processing is the extra rows of pixels to the right and bottom of the shot. It looks like you cropped the shot, but accidentally cropped outside the area of the photo, so you ended up with blank pixels in those areas.

Overall:
I think the 5.01 this shot received was partially due to the challenge it was in. In a challenge where voters are voting on hundreds of flower pictures, you need to really wow them in order to get the higher scores. You seem to know where some of your weaknesses are, so maybe reading up on some of the tutorials here or some of the learning threads in the forums would help you. Here is a thread on landscape photography where lightning was one of the first topics covered. Learning Thread - Landscape Photography

As for learning your camera, take it out of Auto mode and just start shooting and playing around. Look back at the EXIF data for the pictures to see what you changed and what you like best. Good luck in your future challenges! :)

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or comments about this critique!

Staple City
by Marston

Comment:
I like how you angled some of the staples so that they're not all facing one direction. Gives a little more depth to the shot. Nice!

Six
by sherpet

Comment:
I like the composition here with the spiraling of the pencils and the colors. Seems just a tad oversharpened. Great job!

Indians of the Great (paper) Plain
by PeterPic

Comment:
Ok, this is just way too creative! I love the little campfire! A great "thinking outside of the box" shot! :)

Ancient stationery
by manishk

Comment:
Trying to leave some more in depth comments on random photos, so here goes...

I like the slight tilt of the papers in the frame of the shot and the duotone coloring, though it seems just a tad yellow and I might have made it a bit more brown. Considering that I can't read what is written on the paper, I think if I had been able to it might distract from the idea of the photo, so it was a good choice. Suggestions for improvement? Besides the possible change in color for the duotoning, it seems like the tips of the fingers get lost in the lighting, and I'd like to see a bit more definition there. Nicely done!

Flying Diary
by De Sousa

Comment:
Trying to leave some more in depth comments on random photos, so here goes...

I like the unique perspective here, its much more interesting than a typical still shot of a diary with pen. The soft colors and reflections of color in the pages are wonderful. The movement of the pages is interesting, the pages are well focused with just a little bit of the movement being apparent, which unexpected, but nice. Suggestions for improvement? Maybe a slight crop to get rid of some of the dark colors on the bottom and right? I think you pulled this together very nicely. Well done and good luck!