Balancing in the Darkness
by whatdewuc

Comment:
The darkened bacground against the lighted performer will be understood by most voters as meeting the darkness challenge. The detail in the darked area is visible but not enough to identify exactly what is going on there and tends to draw the eye away from the main subject. This will be interpreted as distracting by some viewers. Especially distracting is the blue dot in the center. You might consider making some or more of the darkeened area brighter to show what is back there or make it totally black all together to remove it as a distraction.

The general image quality of your main subject is not especially good. Colors seem oversaturated and the focus is very soft. This will likely lower your overall score.

I´ts my favorit time to take pictures....
by Aron5109

Comment:
Wonderful color, lighting and use of the rule of thirds. The black background support the challenge theme. General technical quality is excellent. The expression you captured is terrific.

The lighted items on the left showing up in the black area are indistiguishable as to what they are or what their purpose might be so would be viewed as distractions by most voters.

Despite that this is one of the top images in the challenges. Kudos for your great capture.

Message edited by author 2005-06-22 15:58:55.

Calm before the Storm
by ltaylor

Comment:
Rayed sunlight fits the concept of the challenge. The main attractive feature to the image are the light rays. The fit to the challenge will be stronger for some voters more than others.

The general image quality technical quality is OK though not top of the line clarity. Cloud definition is good but the slow shutter speed you used allowed the bird in flight to be a little out of focus. Due to a slightly shallow depth of field the barbed wire fence in the foreground is also out of focus. That, unfortunately acts as a distraction to the overall composition.

There is enough light in on the ground that you can see the white barn, but you can't see it well enough to see a lot of detail. Generall viewers are all or nothing that situation.

If you used color adjustment to just darken just black then you could accomplish two goals. One, you would make the the ground horizon a deeper silhouette. There will still be white left in the barn but it will be more muted. Two, darkening the clouds will have the effect of making the rays a more pronounced feature in the image. You might want to try that out to see if it works. It night not hurt to use color adjustment to bring out more of the yellows and golds on the horizon line.

Darkness falling
by mkirdal

Comment:
Nice dark image with great colored lights on the shoreline. Lighting and detail is nice and this is very appealing to the eye.

Unseen Danger
by sabphoto

Comment:
Seems like I've seen this guy looking pretty much the same way as it does here in other challenges before. It is OK but the colors seem unrealistic and set in post processing.

Message edited by author 2005-06-22 08:39:02.

Child's Darkenss
by kattywac

Comment:
Ah, yes... the monster under the bed theme. Good idea. the image itself is low contrast that gives it a washed out look. Well composed but has a "it is a setup but I really don't want it to look like a setup" look. LOL

Darkness Is Waiting For Sleep That Will Not Come.
by mhommel

Comment:
Nice idea. Everyone can identify because we all suffer from insomnia at one time or another. Nicely captures pose and good quality and clarity.

Black Candles
by Minstrel

Comment:
Good concept and a solid photograph. As in many low level images the camera tends to capture with a yellowish hue. The overhead lighting works OK and the flames are not overexposed.

Depressing Accomodations
by Brad

Comment:
This sepia fits the challenge well and it is good you selected to photograph it without cares (or cars too LOL). Unsure if the textured filter adds significantly to the composition.
NOTE: I see no filter was involved. The lines outside the "textured look" are fine.

Message edited by author 2005-06-22 15:29:00.

Communal Insomnia
by amber

Comment:
People have always had unquenchable curiosity about what people do in the privacy of their own homes at night. This image gives the viewer plenty to look at and think about. It is a good idea for this challenge.

Tones are generally OK but this image still needs a solid black point.

Message edited by author 2005-06-27 14:53:11.