A street vendor takes a break under the midday sun
by GinaRothfels

Comment:
**critique club**

Hi,

Okay, I'm going to go against the other commentors here and say that I think that the angle and the exposure actually make this photo a better one. Art is never meant to be pleasant: it's designed to make us think, make us uncomfortable, make us react to our environment more. Whether or not one believes that photography is art or not is a debateable point. In this case, you've introduced art into photojournalism. Well done.

The angle helps the meaning because it helps us feel a little of the unstability of the vendor. We're transported into his world, a world where the comforts of life are not taken for granted. The darkness in the face help, too, because there's a sense of anonymity, the feeling that the vendor is just another statistic.

However, just to counter the possibility that the exposure wasn't deliberate, and to find out how to appeal to DPC more, let me just add that you should expose for the face primarily. As the face is black, you need to compensate down a stop. If you find that the sky loses its colour, you'll need to use a polarising filter.

I find that the composition is a bit strange. I'd like for the vendor to be less centred because the cars behind the pillar on the left don't add anything to the scene, and there's a great possibility that there is valuable elements missed out on the right. Or zoom in more.

If you have any comments about my critique, please feel free to contact me.

Best wishes,

Jim

Bush Living 'tradition without technology'
by camelotnorth

Comment:
**critique club**

Hi, Betty,

Congratulations on a well-done photograph. You've captured a scene very nicely, and you've shown the warmth excellently.

Photography is about telling a story, and, here, you've shown the story of one woman's live. Perhaps this led to a very detailed shot, but then maybe that was necessary. For me, there's a bit too much detail for this photo to be comfortable. Filling the frame with just the woman and the action would be just as effective, I feel.

I believe that you met the challenge well. I had a double-take with the title, though. In this internet age, I read 'Bush' as the USA president's name at first. The pun on tribal bush tribes came later. I'd have preferred just the last part 'tradition without technology', as that is sufficient to tell your story.

On a different topic, I really liked your 'Mountain Man'. All of the business of the Dutch woman is gone, yet the story is just as full.

If you have any comments on my critique, please feel free to contact me.

Best wishes,

Jim

Lord and Master
by Imagineer

Comment:
**critique club**

When I first saw this during voting, I thought, 'how English'. As a Scot, you can imagine what I felt.

Actually, as a photograph, I like it. It's well balanced, has a clear subject, shows the theme very directly and successfully, is exposed beautifully and is in sharp focus.

I have no problems with the composition. That the human is walking away is more appropriate to a generalised scene than the other way around. And that co-ordinates with the colour scheme - evening, coming home. Colours overdone? Not for me. Just fine and dandy.

I'm afraid that I'm not going to offer much in the way of constructive criticism this time. That's because any problems I have with this shot are my own problems, not with this shot. I'd have given a 7 had I voted. (Maybe some brightening on the dog's coat would have helped a bit. And not obscuring the head with the building might have cleared up some visual confusion.)

If you have any comments on this critique, please feel free to contact me.

Best wishes,

Jim

Wild And Flirty Cat Population In Europe
by Mona

Comment:
**critique club**

You have the makings of a very good shot here. You've managed to fill the frame well - a basic consideration of good photography.

I think that the challenge has been met, although with some reservations. I'll come to those in a minute. You said that you aimed to be funny. Well, we have different senses of humour, so I won't comment on that.

Technically, I think that the whole is underexposed and a little soft. There isn't a (natually occuring) centre point. Did you manipulate the eye in post-processing? Perhaps you were aiming for a darker feeling due to the subject matter?

To bring out your subject and to make it fit the challenge, you really needed to expand on those other elements within the frame. Without the title, the meaning is lost. IMHO, titles are to enhance meaning, not create it. If this is a stray cat, then show me the surroundings, show me the dirt and squalor, show me what that bar at the top is (a part of a derelict building?), show me what that jumble at the right it (some barbed wire, lying waste?) Give the darkness a context - just being dark doesn't help me. If it's a hidey-hole, show that in relation to the outside world.

The eye. The really strange effect you made is unsettling. I know that you tried to show a wink and a glitter in the open eye. Sorry, I find the unnaturalness too unsettling for this joke to work on me.

There we have it. If you have any comments on my critique, please feel free to contact me. I've noticed that you didn't mark as helpful any comment which was negative. That's too bad. I fully agree with many of those comments, and I feel that they could actually help you improve this shot.

Best wishes,

Jim

Sheepish Potty Humour II
by Konador

Comment:
You could sell these. Try

AllPosters.Com

or DPC???

Very funny. Made me laugh.

Sheepish Potty Humour I
by Konador

Comment:
Lol!

The other could reply, "Next time, a little less salt".

(The Water Bearer) Aquarius: Let The Sunshine In (But PLEASE, not the moon)
by drgsoell

Comment:
This made me laugh.

Cloudy Corners
by Gringo

Comment:
Congratulations on a well-deserved ribbon. A very, very emotive shot here.

Gathering
by pitsaman

Comment:
Maybe it's the compression required for downloading, but I find the stem very plasticy. The colour version is really good.

PAINTED PEAR
by Pepette

Comment:
It's during the voting when I see realisations of the challenge theme that I never would have thought about. Thank you. The water drops work beautifully with the light source. Lovely stuff. 8