Jetty
by pinetree3

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club :)

Composition:
I quite like the centered Jetty but feel the boat? on the right is fighting equally for my attention and keeps pulling my eye, there's not much interest in the boat so my eyes lead back to the fishermen at the end of the Jetty but still constantly get drawn to the boat, so IMHO a slightly different angle to eliminate the boat might have worked better. The sky is beautiful and I love the 2/3 horizon line it's perfect. I wonder if taking the shot so that the Jetty put a diagonal line across the image with the wonderful SF skyline in the background would have worked? Can't decide either way so if you are ever back there please take a shot and let me know :)

Camera Work:

Looking at your settings here you have done an amazing job, I know the 20D can struggle in certain conditions beyond ISO400 so the use of the ND grad and your bracing the camera on the post was a job well done.

Post-Processing:

Wonderful stuff really, would have been so easy to pump the Sat and oversharpen this one, but you have held off nicely and retained a very realistic feel to the image, there's good contrast and tonal range from top to bottom so very well done IMO.

My Opinion:

Super location, wonderful sky, nicely controlled camera settings - I think you did a very good job and met the challenge well, this easily deserved it's 6+ score

Good luck in future challenges!

Mark

Almost forgot that granite is a stone!
by Tammster

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club :)

Composition:

I guess with this subject so closely framed there's not much that can be said about the composition as such, some areas in the shot do seem to have a bit more interest than others though so maybe a different crop would have worked slightly better.

Camera Work:

The focus seems a little soft I suspect this may have been handheld and I wonder if that 8 shutter speed was actually 1/8, pushing the ISO would have enabled a faster shutter which would have resulted in an overall sharper image I feel.

Post-Processing:

Unfortunately you haven't listed your processing steps so I cannot see what was done to the shot, I've taken the image into PS and found that with a boost to Hue / Sat and some contrast tweaks the colour are quite delightful and the browns glow almost golden like, I also added some sharpening and this helped with the focus issue considerably - it might be worth going over this image again and reprocessing it to see what improvements you can make.

My Opinion:

I think your subject matter was always likely to result in a low score unfortunately, even with perfect lighting and focus I think your options were fairly limited. But as you say in your notes you refound your "sight" on something not appreciated as much as it once was.

Overall a applaud your decision to go with a shot that had meaning to you and also the fact that you did so pretty much knowing it would result in a lower score, keep on shooting!

Good luck in future challenges!

Mark

Toronto Fun Guide
by Art Roflmao

Comment:
Hahaha this is hilarious.

It almost looks like the evolution of ArtRoflmao in steps from right through to left ;)

What the lens see
by Epsi

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club :)

Composition:

The composition is a difficult one to dissect here really, you have used the rule of thirds with the side of the lens which should work well and I guess it does really, the shot looks complete from an "elements in the right place" kind of perspective. The eye is drawn across the image nicely to what is the main subject in your shot, so from that we can assume the goal was achieved.

I personally think you hit the nail on the head with your comment about the reflections being a bit too distracting, had we the viewer just been able to see the very interesting tall building without all the other overlapping reflections I think your score could have been considerably higher. One thing I am not sure about is did you achieve this shot through shooting in to a mirrored surface?

Camera Work:

Considering I am not 100% sure whether this is a reflection or a shot of someone else holding a camera it's a difficult one to call, because of the softness of the detailing on the outside edge of the lens I tend to think it's a reflection so overall you have done pretty well in testing conditions. I might consider pushing the ISO and so achieving a faster shutter.

Post-Processing:

You've managed to pull out the colour in the building which is reflected in the lens pretty well, there's not really much I can see wrong with the processing as I think you would have been very limited in what you could achieve from the original image.

My Opinion:

To be honest I think had you taken a creative image directly of the building in your shot you may well have got some seriously good results as it appears to have some wonderful tones and colours and also seems very interesting in construction, but I do applaud you for taking the plunge and stepping outside of your normal style, unfortunately being different on DPC can yield some very low scores, that's not necessarily a bad thing it just means that your style and what the voters want do not meet, for what it's worth I was one of your 5 scores.

Good luck in future challenges!

Mark

High in the Sky
by dahved

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club :)

It's going to be tough for me to add anymore than I did on my initial comment for this shot really, but I will try:

I really like this shot, I like the position of the arch and the way the sky is almost separated by it, the dark forboding left side is mirrored by the shadow of the arch which works so well.

I think the reasoning I made about it not screaming the challenge subject still stands regarding the received score and I am pretty sure you are aware of that, you've been here long enough to know the situation with the voters :)

All in all a very brave entry, a very valid entry even though it didn't overly connect with the voters, I think it's the sort of image that will connect really well with a select crowd and that sometimes is more rewarding than shooting something purely to score well over taking and entering a shot that you both like and enjoy at the moment of capture.

Good luck in future challenges!

Mark

Rocky Reflection
by IWhispered

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club :)

Composition:

The composition whilst not bad is just a little lacking, with setup shots on DPC you really have to nail the composition if the voters are going to look favourably on your shot, you have an odd number of stones which is generally considered a good thing for balance, but I think there may have been more interesting ways you could have presented them, maybe having one very close to the front of your scene would have given some depth to your shot, at the same time it would have allowed a lot more of the textures to be seen.

I'm personally not keen on cutting the center of an image with the horizon (or represented horizon in this instance), but that's quite possibly just my personal preference.

Camera Work:

The technicals look pretty good, the lighting is solid enough and there's just enough detail in the shadow areas for my taste and your focus is on the money.

Post-Processing:

I think that you have processed your shot fairly well, I might have taken a few different steps had it been my shot, a shadows highlight definitely brings out some more details and then a small contrast brightness boost puts the levels back nicely and just finished off with a little sharpening

My Opinion:

It's a nice enough shot that is well executed, I feel the composition is a little weak - but I am assuming these are small pebbles on a home setup rather than some huge boulders on a lake somewhere as one of your commentors remarked.

Anyway the above is just my personal opinions and I hope they have helped in some way, if not please do not be offended and I am more than happy to discuss this critique further should you wish to pm me.

Good luck in future challenges!

Mark

Far far away Bridge
by Haukur Jo

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club :)

Composition:

I think the composition choices here were quite limited, however presentation wise I personally think I might have cropped 3cm off the bottom and made it in to a pano style shot, for me this strengthens the draw to the bridge, for some strange reason it also limits the impact of the post sticking out the of the sea which in the original does demand quite a lot of attention. These are obviously just my opinions so please don't take offense.

Camera Work:

The technical look great, nicely exposed, great tonal range.

Post-Processing:

Nicely post processed in my opinion, it would have been very easy to over saturate this shot and for me the soft feel (not talking focus here) is a big part of the images charm. I think you have kept the image very "real" so kudos for that.

My Opinion:

I really like the image and could easily see it hanging on an office wall somewhere, it kind of exudes serenity and calm, I think if the bridge had been a little more "in your face" then it would have scored much better, whether my suggestions above would have achieved that or not I do not know, but I believe those steps are how I would have chosen to submit this shot.

Good luck in future challenges!

Mark

Lost River 1
by RebelBlue

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club :)

Composition:

I think the composition is slightly awkward here, the rock is a little too high in my opinion and would make for a stronger image if it was located on the lower right side in the rule of thirds line, this would have resulted in a leading line away from the rock making the picture a little more complete (even though the challenge was rocks I think you would still have been meeting the challenge this way but you would also have had a more interesting composition).

I guess there's a case for suggesting this is also on the fussy side, with the plants / grasses not really bringing anything to the shot, but infact they detract a fair bit and demand quite a bit too much of the viewers attention.

I see this is your first entry so don't worry it will soon become apparent that clean, crisp, well composed and sharp entries are what is generally required to score well here. It can be quite frustrating but at the sametime it's 1 of the best learning curves I have ever experienced.

Camera Work:

The shot looks a little underexposed although that could be due to the processing creating an almost flat look to the image. The rock also looks a little soft on the closest end which appears to be the main focus point of the image.

Post-Processing:

I think a curves adjustment at the highlight end would make a world of different in the histogram, I also think a better way to get a sepia look (if that's what you were going for) is to use DuoTone mode but maybe that's just personal preference. Whilst basic editing is quite limiting there is still a whole load of things you can do to improve an image generally.

My Opinion:

Your score was always going to be pretty low with this image on this site, for the reasons mentioned above regarding DPC voters requirements or expectations. I think there's plenty of scope to move forward and I would recommend commenting on the challenges try and comment on 100% of the images within any given challenge if you can, then when voting is over it's most useful to go back and see how the voters found the images in relation to your take on each one, this gives you some idea of what to submit if scores are your main concern.

Good luck in future challenges!

Mark

Suleyman Mosque
by mimin

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club :)

Composition:

I think the composition is not too bad, although I find the heavy inward tilt a little too distracting it almost makes the building / model look skewed front to back as well as inwards from the edges which takes a while to adjust to. Also the chosen angle has forced you to have a tilted look to the shot, which obviously can work in some circumstances but I feel that as you have had to frame so tight it hasn't worked as well as it could have.

Camera Work:

Nicely exposed and I really like that you managed to retain detail in the shadow area under each arch.

Post-Processing:

I think overall your post work on this shot was really good, I like the detail you have in the building and the textures look good, considering this is a model I think you have done an excellent job of making it look real. The sky has some banding on the left side and I am not sure if this is due to the background chosen (if this is shot inside with a fake background) or to the limitations of file size (I suspect the latter).

My Opinion:

Had you not mentioned that this was a model I probably wouldn't have known any differently, as I do not know if this was taken indoors or is a commercial model and is outside I will only say that the lighting is excellent and very realistic.

I think to improve on the score the shot would have needed to have been taken from slightly more to the left as I believe this would have minimised the effect of the distortion, in my opinion that is what has cost you the most in your final score and a close second would be the banding in the sky.

Good luck in future challenges!

Mark

Dusk at the National Art Gallery
by rhadshaw

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club :)

Composition:

I think the composition is pretty good, I feel you were maybe attempting to frame the shot with the tree on the right but in this case I think it has worked against you in that it makes the shot look overly fussy, with so much going on in the buildings construction I think that getting in front of the tree may have made for a stronger image. However you have created some strong leading lines in to the red area of the building so in that respect maybe you achieved your goal.

Camera Work:

Nice use of a long exposure to get the shot in what must have been fairly difficult conditions.

Post-Processing:

My first thoughts were that this is way over saturated in both blues and reds and if I am honest I think in this case it very much adversely affected your score.

Sharpening looks good, infact all other elements of the post work looks to be fine just maybe a bit heavy handed on the Hue / Sat Sliders this time out.

My Opinion:

I feel your image meets the challenge nicely and is a well executed shot, as I stated above I think the post work (or one element of it) maybe held you back from a achieving a better score, you've captured some lovely lines which lead you nicely through the main elements of the shot.

Good luck in future challenges!

Mark