Breakfast
by Haneck

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

First Impression: Nice setup, meets the challenge. Now I need a glass of OJ, since that looks yummy, but the toast needs some butter or jelly to go with it. A few wrinkles in the cloth are a little distracting, but the toaster is so shiny. There seems to be some odd stuff in the corners... background behind the toaster and extra dark corners where it's black... burning perhaps? The reflected light on the corner of the toaster kind of catches my eye as I look back and forth between the plate and reflection.

After reading your photographers comments: Oof. I'm the wrong person to ask about lighting setups. I have a few desk lamps, a white sheet and some white posterboard. But let's see. It seems like all of the light is coming from the right side... the left side of the toaster is dark, and almost blends in with the background. I guess putting anything in front of/to the left would have shown up in the reflection? What about a little light behind the toaster instead to give it some separation from the background? Maybe use some color somehow to give a warm glow to the toaster? I guess I'm thinking of those flashes with the colored gels that I've seen people use though, not softboxes?

After reading the voters comments: Seems like I just repeated what some of them have said. Looks like shamer had some good information on lighting. Perhaps try a reshoot with his suggestions and post this shot and the reshoot for some more critiques?

Hope this has been helpful! If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me!

Positive Reflection
by tsikakis

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

First reaction: Interesting, nice visual layout with the dark line and the grey gradient around the little "reflection". I'm not a huge fan of the negative processing, personally, but contrasted with the regular part, it's interesting. How was this accomplished? Did they really use a mirror? No, probably not... I'd like to think people aren't that disrespectful of the challenge topics. So, how? A photo printed out in a frame? Are the colors all in post processing? If so, I'm not really a fan of those editing tricks, but appreciate the creative idea behind the shot.

After reading your photographer comments: Hmm, not a trick with post processing as far as the coloring... the little picture was printed in negative colors? Not a lot of info there for me to go on. But wait... ISO 800 and shutter speed 6 sec.? Huh?

After reading comments from others: Ok, I too had to go and invert the shot in PS... and WOW! Everything makes sense now. That dark line and the gradient all make sense now. Very simple concept, yet it works well. Unfortunately, voters probably either saw this as confusing (since it looks like a mirror), weren't sure how it was done (a post processing trick?), or were not fond of the negative image (or perhaps a combination) and gave it an average vote, leaving you in the middle of the pack at the end.

Like Melethia said, it's quite impressive that you (or perhaps a model?) held still for that long, and completely mimicked the pose in the picture. This shot would be far less effective with regular lighting, and the light ring really helps this image. Unfortunately, voters probably didn't see how much thought had gone into the lighting during voting.

This is one of those shots that I'm ashamed to say I voted a 5 on during the challenge. It clearly was deserving of a higher vote from me now that I have been able to read your setup and see the complexity of it. Thank you for taking the time to explain (and while I'm glad you answered my questions in your comments after voting was over, putting all of that information in the photographers comments section would be helpful so that people don't need to scroll through the comment section at the bottom)

What to do differently next time to improve? Perhaps the answer is simply, nothing. As long as you're doing photography for yourself and not for a high score, please continue to challenge us voters with unique and creative shots like this one. It is technically well done, interesting to look at and creative. This may not be the "DPC eye candy" that makes the front page, but it's definitely an interesting shot, and a reminder to me to slow down when I'm voting, and maybe even skip over shots like this if I'm in a rush, so I can allow them the time they deserve.

Sorry to make this such a long critique, but I hope you find something in it helpful. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions!

The Other "Woman"
by scalvert

Comment:
Most shots in this challenge that I've seen so far have needed the title to help the viewer "get" the misunderstanding. This one has it all in the visual... tells the complete story. Very well done! :)

Deep thoughts
by Haukur4

Comment:
Great pose. Love the the soft feel and the angle you took this from. Gives it something unique to set it apart.

Reflections with wind
by Rino63

Comment:
I'm not sure why you left the bottom on this photo... perhaps to show that it was a reflection and met the challenge? The textures and colors are so cold and harsh compared to the reflection, which is just beautiful. Great colors and textures at the top, and it's interesting to look at all the different lines and shapes.

River portrait
by puzzled

Comment:
Wow. Beautiful.

GapKids
by neophyte

Comment:
Cute shot... looks like something they'd print in an ad. My only suggestion would have been to zip the jacket up completely so the top of the A closed up... at first glance, it looks like GHP if you don't know the company.

Budapest
by wei1108

Comment:
I have a feeling that the small size doesn't do this shot justice. Looks like you have many details here that we just can't see.

The Flow
by daryn

Comment:
I figured this shot wasn't going to do so well, since abstracts seem to be misunderstood here on DPC, unless placed in the context of an Abstract challenge. But 418th seems a bit low for such a gorgeous shot! The lines and movement here, combined with the details of the leaves is superb. The colors are fantastic, complimenting each other nicely. Thank you for taking the risk of submitting this and sharing it with those of us who appreciate a great abstract shot. Great job!

Cabin
by jaysonmc

Comment:
This is one of those shots where I seem to have disagreed with most voters, since I was one of the two 9 votes. I thought this was fantastic.

It seems like shots like this which seem to be about personal memories and family stories don't do well since they often feel like those snapshots with little thought put into the composition and even less in the editing. I love that this shot had that feel of something that probably meant a lot to the photographer, serving as a memory of a great evening with friends and family, yet it is beautiful and something worthy of hanging on a wall.

Yes, the editing feels just a bit overdone, but the scene is so wonderful that it doesn't even matter. And, seeing that original compared to your final image reminds me that so many shots that I would discard as useless probably have some hope and life in them. Wonderful job with this shot!