The Absolut Dad: Always Fun and Drinks Responsibly
by Ddhjoker

Comment:
Hi Douglas, welcome to the Critique Zone!

I have a feeling that this might be a long one, so please sit comfortably! Also worth bearing in mind that this is just my opinion and at least one of your other commenters would disagree. To me, this shot looks uncomfortable and a little rushed. There clearly is a story here but I initially thought that it was mostly in the name - it wasn't until I read your extensive comments (thanks for those - really helped me understand what you were going for!) that I 'got' it. Obviously during a challenge, the voters don't have that and will have dismissed this as not meeting the challenge.

Technical: The shot is soft. Likely to be several reasons - your aperture is pretty wide for the Depth of Field that you need, I wouldn't drop below f7.1 for this really. You also mention some resize problems (see below) which can kill sharpness. The lighting is not good - your white balance is off giving this a really amateur 'warm' cast. You could correct this by using custom white balance (see the manual!) or by shooting in RAW and fixing it later, which would be my choice. The Canon DPP conversion tool is really effective, I use that instead of the Photoshop RAW converter so there is no excuse to shoot JPEG really.

Post-Processing: I think that the saturation is over done - this is a really busy shot anyway, and too much colour doesn't help. If you are using photoshop, sharpen using the Unsharp Mask tool at full size, then re-size the image using the image size tool in the 'image' menu (72 dpi and 800px on the long side) and sharpen again, using a smaller radius (0.6px?) and strength (70% or so). Use the 'save for web' command in the file menu and select 'optimise' and set to 300kb. That's how most people do it.

Artistic: The $64billion question... I personally don't like the perspective - it is too commanding and doesn't give the intimate family / drinker feel that I think that this needs. Perhaps making it look as if the viewer (the camera in this case!) is 'at the table' would help? It's also just way too cluttered - without the scattered lego and the tea sets I might have noticed the bottle, but I didn't until after reading your comments. Less is normally more. On the plus side, it does look as if you have a couple of fantastic models who might just help you get some cracking shots in the future!

Hope at least some of this helps.

Happy hunting,

Frank.

June - Getting into winter
by youpee

Comment:
Hi Irshad, welcome to the Critique Zone!

This is a very pleasant shot which did quite well with the voters and obviously tuned in well to the challenge. I don't think that there is much you could really change on this to improve it, which makes critiquing tricky.

I think that you nailed the technicals of taking this, but you could have tweaked it a tiny bit in post processing to get the most: levelling that horizon would be quite important I think, and perhaps boosting the blues and reds (but not the yellow!)just a very little bit. Other than that, it's pretty much on the money.

Happy hunting,

Frank.

Miss February
by albc28

Comment:
Hi Anthony, welcome to the Critique Zone!

This is certainly an eye catching shot, but beyond that it doesn't really have the aesthetic appeal to keep my attention and there is nothing to say 'hey - February!' apart from the title. Hmmm. What to say?

Technical: There's nothing really wrong here. I'm assuming that you wanted the station to be identifiable or you would have opened up that aperture, but it isn't really an appealing background, if I'm honest - neither cutesey or gritty, just there.

Artistic: I think, on reflection, that it is the background where this shot falls down. The settings, perspective etc are all bang on for your model, but the way the background is displayed doesn't really add. You don't show much of it, the perspective of it doesn't show it to best advantage and the 'bits' (platform, sign, doors) don't tie together because of the very central, very large, positioning of the model in the frame.

I hope at least some of that makes sense, noting that it is always easier to critique than to shoot!

Happy hunting,

Frank.

April (Summer Rain)
by lobrin

Comment:
Hi Louie, we meet again!

There are a few things about this shot which don't really appeal to me but I think that the voters will have also hammered this because of the lack of tie in to the challenge - the rain isn't really a feature of this shot and (if your model would have been prepared to get a bit damp!) it could have been.

Technical: It's nice and sharp, but unfortunately so is the background - I would have been tempted to drop the aperture to no more than f2.8 to try and blur things a little. The lighting is also really harsh and keeps dragging my eye to the white area, which shouldn't really be the focus.

PP: I'm not sure what, if anything, you did but my only real comment here would be that her skin looks almost unnaturally smooth, which detracts from the natural feel I think you should be shooting for with this title.

Artistic: Again, completely subjective. The background is a killer here - it's harsh, boring and the perspective is unbalanced - by which I mean that the street level yellow lines are up round her waist. It just doesn't work for me. The other issue is her expression - she looks so angry! April/ spring / showers really calls for a natural, happy look I would have thought.

If doing this again, I would look to change the perspective (maybe shoot up, to catch the look of the falling rain? and get your model to relax, jump, dance, something less moody.

Happy hunting,

Frank.

June
by danitar

Comment:
Hi Danitar, welcome to the Critique Zone!

The only thing that I disagree with on this photo is the score. 6+ is certainly a decent score but I think that in a Free Study, this could have gone up to a full point higher. It just doesn't really connect to the challenge except in the name. (You're not alone in this!)

I might have changed one thing - I don't normally comment on borders but I think that with a photo taken to give a paint effect, some sort of framing would probably be beneficial. Other than that, the composition, structure and lighting of this is simply masterly. I personally disagree with the comment asking for something to be perfectly in focus, I don't think that it would work with this effect, it's great just as it is.

I'm sure that we will be seeing more of you, and I look forward to it!

Happy hunting,

Frank.

June
by Ja-9

Comment:
Hi Janine, welcome to the Critique Zone!

I doubt that there is much I could say about this that would be news to you, so I'll forgo my usual structure and just throw out some random thoughts.

I like the natural complimentary colours, that really works for me, and I love the watercolour wash effect of the green background. I guess that's what you are really paying for with this lens!

Sadly, that's all that really grabs me. The proportions for this just don't really work, the balance is out because (IMHO) the flower is represented too small. It's also a little teeny tiny bit blown out, and again that doesn't balance with the rich, gloomy background.

There doesn't seem much point in saying any more - the whole of DPC knows that you know how to take a masterpiece, so I'll leave it there.

Happy hunting,

Frank.

CIty Lights
by stantheman1313

Comment:
Hi Stanley, welcome to the Critique Zone!

It's a great shot, no doubt about it. Really nice structural framing from the bridge silhouette and a well posed relaxed model (it matters!).

Technically: Nothing to say - 30 seconds seems like a slightly unnecessarily long expsoure (and would have hit the noise levels hard), but the final result really works.

PP: There are a couple of comments on noise (including yours) but it's not really a problem for me. If it really bothers you then as I said, a shorter exposure at maybe f8 would maybe help.

Artistically: I really can't add anything about the shot - I would not have done this so well, it's a great vision. THe border bothers me though. The big letterbox is ok, but the bright white strips on the dark picture really grab the eye away from what I want to be looking at - your photo.

Overall, great take and congrats on the top ten finish.

Happy hunting,

Frank.

My friendly neighbor
by lobrin

Comment:
Hi Louie, welcome to the Critique Zone!

What a curious shot! I suspect that with 20/20 hindsight, you can see the major problems here: the voters don't spend long enough looking at each shot to appreciate the less obvious entries and secondly, he's not a silhouette - and the voters here are very strict on sticking to the challenge... sorry about that.

Technical: A tough one to call, you were clearly going for the blur, and you nailed that. Nothing crazy about the settings so nothing to comment on there. The lighting is your biggie - he needed to be completely backlit.

Artistic: This is a fairly arty kind of shot, which rarely do that well here at DPC - but as long as you liked it, then it is a winner. My only comment would be that the most eye-catching thing is that big tungsten strip down the middle - if that were slightly off to one side or the other I think that it might be more pleasing.

Overall, you got hammered because the voters don't like to be challenged in their thinking. It is clear from your portfolio that you are quite capable of knocking out a voter pleasing shot if you want, so perhaps it is time to explore this arty side a little more?! I do wonder if this would have done better in a 'dream' related challenge?

Happy hunting,

Frank.

A Competitor
by DiscoVader

Comment:
Hi Disco! Welcome to the Critique Zone...

First take, this is a great shot. I'd change a couple of minor things with 20/20 hindsight, but not much.

Technical: Nothing to say here - this is fantastically sharp and the DoF control is superb.

PP: I'd bump the contrast a little more to bring out the structure of the head, and emphasis that shadow a little more - it provides an outstanding leading line. You mention having done some colour correction, but it still looks to have a slightly blue/green cast. This might reflect reality but I think it would be more aesthetically appealing if it were a little warmer.

Artistic: Again, very little to say apart from perhaps just a smidgen more space on the right hand side to balance it up? It's quite close to the edge. Other than that, the composition and structure are excellent.

If this wasn't just asking for the DNMC comments and really fitted the challenge, this shot would be a shoe in for a 6-6.5 score, maybe more. I have 6+ shots which aren't nearly this good. I hope you aren't put off and come back for more!

Happy hunting,

Frank.

The Factory
by silverfeather

Comment:
Hi Cailin - welcome to the Critique Zone!

This has all the makings of an absolutely cracking shot but somewhere along the way it loses just a little of the impact, which is - I suspect - what hit the vote a little.

Technical: It would be interesting to know what camera / lens you used and what the settings were (you state the E-10 and the Nikkor lens, but that doesn't add up, and that lens can't shoot at f2.8) - so I'm afraid my advice will be a bit generic. Your 70-300 may be the best lens to use for this, but I would have been tempted to try the 24-70 too, just getting a bit closer. For a subject like this, you really need to keep the speed up (1/500 is good!) but getting this close the aperture needs to be at least about f8 to get the depth of field that you need - so controlling the ISO (not leaving it on auto) is important. The camera's autofocus will often not choose the best point of focus when doing serious close ups like this, so I would probably go with manual focus or shoot several on autofocus to try and get a keeper if the subject is moving. Really, both the whole bee and the near side of the flower need to be in focus. The other risk is of getting within the lens's minimum focus distance (probably 1.3m or more for the 70-300) and losing the shot that way.

PP: There is a lot to be dragged out of this shot in post-processing (PP). I would always aim to sharpen a bit, and a little more contrast (try using curves rather than brightness/contrast) and saturation would have lifted the shot too.

Artistically: This is completely subjective, but... for what it's worth, this is where this shot really scores. The composition is very strong - both with the placement of the subject flower and bee, but also with the background flowers (which a greater DoF would leave blurred but more obvious, helping the structure) and the (chance?) use of complimentary colours (purple / green) which is very pleasing.

The bad news is that this shot needs some help technically, the (very) good news from where I'm sitting is that you have a great eye for composition and structure - and it's much easier to learn the technicals than develop an artistic eye. So, I expect to see some great things from you shortly! Above all, practice makes perfect.

Happy hunting,

Frank.