Boats of mine a-boating...
by pwm6

Comment:
From the Critique Club:

First off let me say that I like this shot. That said...

What I like: Overall composition is nice! You have the model on a third line and the rope going down to the boat almost on a third line. You have awesome colors going on. Great exposure to stop the water and good DOF making for an image with depth even though there is no other objects to add to the depth.

What I don't like: This really could go in both categories (like/don't) but the lighting is a bit harsh on the subjects back. It' has great gold tones but you're just a touch blown out in that one area. I know that this isn't practical in this situation, but a touch of fill light to bring out the details of his face would really rock here, but what can ya do...

Why didn't this score better? I think I would have to agree with shannylee13 when she says that it's a touch to snap shot like. What does that mean? If you don't have an emotional attachment to the subject, it just doesn't ring a bell with the viewer. I also think that it was a little bit of a stretch putting a kid playing with a toy boat in a Transportation challenge so you probably got a lot of DNMC votes.

Yours
TC

Gunshot
by Pano

Comment:
From the Critique Club:

This is a different take on the challenge. I'm not sure I really like it, but it is what it is.

The flames 'coming out of' the barrel of the gun don't look right. Too much color. Too many different colors. You have a bullet that isn't a bullet, it's a shell with the bullet still inside. The color of lighting on the face and hand don't match the color of lighting of the bullet and flames. The facial expressions of the model on the left look forced. The hand holding the gun is at an odd angle to the wrist. Put all these together and I think it explains the score that you recieved.

My personal oppinion: This looks too much like digital art and not enough like photography for me. Nothing personal, just MHO.

Yours
TC

Sunset Skier
by BakerBug

Comment:
From the Critique Club:

First off I gotta say how much I like this shot. Looks like it was a lot of fun to shoot it.

What I like: From a compositional point of view, this shot is flawless. It can't be easy to frame like this while on a boat moving fast enough to pull someone across the water. Love how you had the chance to shoot this so that you had the sun reflection almost perfectly behind the skier. The background adds to the shot nicely adding parallel lines to the wake. I REALLY like how you have the tow rope lit by the sun. It really seperates it from the water.

What I don't like: I ain't got a boat to shoot shots like this from... Just kidding! This is more of what DPC voters don't like than my personal preference. The shot is quite soft. You can see it in the tow rope. The water isn't truly frozen either. This may be just because you're on a fast moving boat shooting at a fast moving subject and you're propably hand held, not that a tripod would help... Your shutter speed just wasn't fast enough to stop the action. The shot also has the appearance of being oversharpened. This is most likely just a side effect of the backlighting. When you resize to DPC challenge sizes, subtle backlighing can end up appearing like sharpening artifacts. This probably looks fine in print, but it's another thing to think about when picking the kind of shots that you want to enter in challenges if you care about your score.

All in all a very nice shot. Most people who see this would be amazed. Unfortunately DPC voters are photographers...

Yours
TC

Watch Out !!
by ingib

Comment:
From the Critique Club:

This shot begs for my what I like/don't like treatment so here goes.

What I like: The square crop works very well here. You have an excellent composition with the cloudy sky as a background. The clouds are not only a background, but add lines that lead your eye into the subject. Nice vivid color on your subjects clothes and hat. Cool capture of the knife appearing to be flying at your subject. Nice overall capture.

What I don't like: I'm assuming that this is a juggler. Two of the things that he is juggling though are in his hands. If you could have captured two or even all three in the air this might have been cooler. It's too bad the subject was facing away from the sun. I understand he did that so that he could see what he was juggling, but from a photographic standpoint this didn't work so good. Too much shadow in his face. I would like to be able to see him looking at the knife. I don't know if fill flash would have helped this or not. Probably not as you shot way faster than the flash can synch to.

All in all a nice shot with a few technical issues that were mostly beyond your control.

Yours
TC

A Soldier Story
by albc28

Comment:
From the Critique Club:

This is an interesting shot from a compositional standpoint, but it has some technical issues that bring it down. This looks like it was shot at the brightest time of day. You can tell this from the harsh shadows and blown out highlights. The colors are really funky. I don't know if you intended this or not. If you did intend it, I must confess that this is a treatment that I do not personally care for. Your sky does not look right (green tinge) and the ground is way overexposed. It also looks like the saturation was boosted a little too much. I think that it is just a touch oversharpened, but that may simply be a side effect of the high contrast. The last thing that bothers me about the shot is caused by the small size that we are allowed to post here in the challenges. I really wanna read the writing on the plack but can not because of the low resolution. Not your fault, but something to think about when picking shots for challenges. Small details sometimes become distractions because you can not see them as details...

Hope this is helpful!
Yours
TC

The Source
by Tej

Comment:
Clone out the tree on the right and this is perfection!
TC

Edit to add: The more I look at this the more I think it would have fit perfectly into the Zen challenge. You have whispered...

Message edited by author 2006-08-14 01:28:37.

Floating
by banmorn

Comment:
From the Critique Club:

Wow, two very easy shots inna row to critique. This is getting too easy!

This shot is very nice! There isn't much here not to like. Focus is spot on. DOF is definately not an issue since the subject is flat anyways. Love how there is very subtle cloud detail in the water. Love how the tones all go together so well. Only thing I would change is to clone out the bit of shadow/stem reflection at the left tip of the stem going down. It seems to catch my eye and suck it in.

Kudos on a nice shot!
yours
TC

Edited to add: I forgot the surface tension that many other commentors brought up. Very nice detail captured well!

Message edited by author 2006-08-13 22:52:24.

Enlightenment
by talikf

Comment:
From the Critique Club:

This is a spectacular image and I'm glad to be able to see it! Everything about it is spot on. You have perfect focus. You have perfect (built in) lighting. You have AWESOME composition! Love the way there is a bit more negative space on top than on the bottom. Makes it feel grounded. The only thing that bothers me about it is how your hair dissappears into the background. Doesn't look right being that there is hair coming over your shoulders. All in all a very nice shot.

Why didn't this do better than a 6.1? I think it's like you said. It probably didn't feel like 'zen' to a lot of voters.

Wow, this was an easy one to write!

yours
TC

Beach-hyper.jpg
by Bear_Music

Comment:
Too digital for my taste...
TC

Innocence
by zxaar

Comment:
From the Critique Club:

This is an very nice study of lighting! I love how you have lit this up from the side. You have almost every type of lighting from raking to straight on. This gives the shot much depth. Great job.

Technicaly this is flawless. You have spot on focus and DOF. Exposure is damn near perfect. Nothing blown out at all. I do think the ever slightest hint of fill lighting, perhaps from a simple sheet of paper, on the shadow side may have enhanced this a bit.

I'm not sure that the centered composition was your best choice. I wonder what the base of the statue looks like below the frame. It would really be cool if your statue was framed so that he looks down at the bottom right corner...

Very nice work!

Yours
TC