Fanning the Dock.
by Jon_H

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club :)

First impression: WOW

Technically, it is flawless, absolute perfection! Your exposure is fantastic, giving a gorgeous motion blur to the wheel and the river, and the lighting is spot on. It is sharp with no visible noise. To make a long story shot: it has a very professional look.

The subject is obviously well chosen. Spinning is the essence of a wheel, etc. It was a great idea to include the building on the right. It gives an interesting contrast between new and old, which tells a story about Liverpool. The river helps to locate your subject, but I would have liked your photo just as well without it, leaving just the docs as a base.

The composition is good, but from a point of view of pure design, there is maybe a tad too much going on. There are a lot of shapes: circles, rectangles, lines, stars, curves,... Plus two strongly contrasting warm and cold color tones, also those do reinforce the old/new contrast.

Anyway, my warmest congratulations for your well deserved ribbon!

If you have a question or a remark about this critique, feel free to contact me.
Mike

Tall tales
by mariuca

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club :)

My first impression: Boring subject, interesting lighting.

The angle of view is well chosen for these little guys. It does also sustain your idea of a conversation you have run into by surprise. The low key lighting is elegant and gives shape and depth to your subject, definitively the strong part of this picture. The focus is perfect, there is nothing to object technically.

The composition from a point of view of design is not so strong. There is a framing of the subject by the window frame and the base, but the effect is completely lost by the open space in the bottom left corner, which draws the eye out of the picture. I think that cropping the left part and leaving a "filmstrip" framing would be more effective. There is a good contrast between the dark foreground and the light background. High contrast is usually a good thing, but here it does draw the attention to the smudged part of the tiles on the right, weakening the great pattern of the bricks.

I love the little stories that come with your pictures. In a blog for instance this photo would be acclaimed by most viewers. In such a context you would deserve by far a higher score. But on DPC it's the first impression which produces the score, you can already forget the title. Trivial subjects (cannot be bothered to get out of her flat type) can do well, but they usually get battered for the slightest flaws, which would not even be considered with another subject...

Anyway, keep on the good work and occasionally you will produce a very successful mainstream picture by mistake ;-)

If you have a question or a remark about this critique, feel free to contact me.
Mike

Sunset
by sarawagidk

Comment:
The alignment of sun and bird look amazing, well done! But would it not be better after cropping a lot of the empty space and slightly off-centering?

Mr. Buck's Last Memory
by mefnj

Comment:
Incredibly effective composition, should go straight in a textbook. Works well because of the humor! My favorite so far.

Painting
by rooum

Comment:
Brilliant way of taking the picture of a painting without losing the photographic interest. I love it!

Arachis hypogaea
by andrewt

Comment:
Great close-up, I like the impressive amount of detail and the color tones. The symmetry of the composition is a bit disturbing, I would not have included the full reflection.

Conscience Decisions
by jasonlprice

Comment:
LOL I love her expression. Some fun, that's the spirit of this challenge! A pitty for the sharpened stuff on her skin. 9

Summer Casuals Collection
by amateurboi

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club :)

My vote: 6. If I recall my first impression, it was something like: good portrait, without any technical flaws, but nothing studio-like. The nice colors go well with a cheerful expression.

Obviously it would have scored much higher if the challenge would just have been 'Full-Length Portrait'. One cannot expect everybody to rent a studio, but the minimum would have been to use a flash light as a fill. Maybe a specular reflection in her eyes would have been enough to create a little bit of studio mood.

The composition is solid, I like it. The location is very well chosen, it's a fantastic place for a portrait. The background does not interfere with the subject but does enhance it, as noticed by nikuser. The crop is a bit too tight. I am not as offended by it as LalliSig, but the toes for instance look as if they were physically touching the border. This looks a bit weird in a comical way, if this was your intention then it's OK.

The pose is not very flattering. I mean, only the slimmest models get away with a full frontal view. Tilting the body would have been far better I think, most notably because with leaning her against the pillar, it would have looked very natural and sophisticated (and no snapshot comment).

As already mentioned, technically it's very good. Optimal focus, nice contrast, beautiful color tones, good job!

If you have any questions or remarks about this critique, feel free to contact me.
Mike

Misplaced Monuments
by Budya

Comment:
I love the concept! Funny use of the concept with no compromise on aestheticism. 10

Tub With a View
by npasel

Comment:
Great inspiration here, the two pictures go really well together (composition, complementary colors, textures)! 8