pull
by posthumous

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club:

Pleased to pick this one up - as you know I didn't vote on this one and my comment in voting was pranksterish.

I think what I like most about this is its distinctiveness - it looks like one yours. Also, the whole image feels more than a little dangerous to me - the animal seems exotic; a panther perhaps.... I'm immediately reminded of images of the Beast of Bodmin. The leash looks lethal, like the trail of some special effects bullet - indeed the end appears to stop prior to the beast like a bullet frozen in mid air.

The tones are just fine and contribute to the feeling of the image, conspiring to reveal and obscure with simultaneous effect.

Compelling and distinctive.

Paul

Chips in Space
by DiscoVader

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club:

I think this is both imaginative and effective - especially within a challenge that didn't make it easy to achieve either.

I like the ambiguity of the foreground chips and I really like the darkness of the whole piece - in fact I think that's the key to the whole shot, lose that and it would be much more ordinary.

I have to say though, your image didn't convey notions of space-borne chips but rather like a dim low sun rising above an ocean casting weak and early light onto the crests of waves - the foreground blurry chips forming a blurry foam of surf. That's a lot to convey with a few chips!

Good job.

doll
by khamael

Comment:
Greeting from the Critique Club:

Well, if you are going to shoot between neck and knee it would be a shape not to shoot this! It is a very interesting bikini after all ;-)

I like how this is suggestive of a Bond movie and I also like how the play of shadows on her skin creates interesting lines - like the way we can see she is wearing sun glasses.

Body and bikini aside - I think we need to ask what added value your photographic choices made.... the most eclectic choice you made was the lateral crop - was this the full frame? I actually think this is a good choice but it may not be for everyone.

I think the coloration is bang on, it creates a feel-good sunny impression.

If I had one criticism it would be the story - or lack of it; your close crop constrains our view... I wonder how this would look in landscape orientation with more to her left and right; the inclusion of some environment context is often goos for story telling; of course you may have just spared us more sea!

Paul

Exposed along the Path
by ph0t0trip

Comment:
Greetings for the Critique Club:

I didn't vote in this challenge so I'm looking at this with fresh eyes. I like the left hand side of the picture better than the right - the washed out landscape and the very smooth gradations of blue in the sky is very attractive. I also like how you've divided the image with a strong diagonal element. If I'm honest, this image isn't shouting 'chips' at me but none of the commenters picked upon that so you've clearly communicated enough chippiness!

I think the scrubby bushes atop the outcrop look a tad over sharpened - if you used a global sharpening tool you may wish to invest in something that allows you to selectively sharpen.

Of course the focus of the image is the crumbling rock strata and this is very nicely presented, the play of the light emphasising the texture of the rock.

Overall, although this is competent work, there isn't a huge amount of intrinsic interest in the scene and such your choice of subject probably placed a cap on the maximum score this would pull in.

Paul

outsource
by posthumous

Comment:

Originally posted by bvy: The careful viewer is rewarded with the z-axis. This image is very three dimensional.

Moral to self: Take more care!

The Watcher
by picjunkie

Comment:
Greetings for the Critique Club:

This is a fine dog portrait - no doubt about that. Your conversion is very nice too and for my money, this is sooooooo much better than your 'Would'a Should'a Could'a'. That one isn't even in the same league as this one - in fact not even the same sport. If this image is something honest and interesting like rugby your other image is obscure and hard to look at - like greek wrestling.

Jokes aside - there's lots to like here, the highlight in the dog's left eye, the CND motif on the collar, the slightly grungy window frame with the water-flecked glass and most of all the personality of Sadie shining through. The overall composition is really good too, with her ear tucking into the corner.

You should be pleased with this version - I think it is an optimal edit and I think those are quite rare.

Well made.

Paul

outsource
by posthumous

Comment:
Greeting for the Critique Club:

Typical! First few goes at this Critique Club thing and I get one of yours! Baptism of fire (fitting then, that the wood appears charred!)

OK - time to 'fess up, I gave this a 3 in voting (I've said it now): hopefully the things I didn't like about it are the things that appeal to you.

I'll start off with what I did like - the deep blacks, they have an unusual richness about them, almost luxurious and indulgent, I quite like the white flecks of the wood too and how they suggest a constellation.

So, why the low score... It is of course a very two dimensional piece, completely minimalist in the Z axis, I feel the image acts like a bit of a wall, keeping the viewer out rather than inviting us in to explore. I wonder if the dark, dark tones compound this effect - this image feels like a no go area (no viewers allowed - move on). In voting, that's what I did - I hit you with a bit of a drive-by vote. No such copping out here though.... Being 'forced' to write a long comment is allowing me sufficient time to engage with it and I do declare, its a bit of a grower. If I think back to the challenge brief - all that stuff about light and shade and texture and form - well you've nailed all that.

One thing I do note as I look at it is that I think I would prefer it rotated 90 degrees clockwise. Years ago I had a previous life in geology and with the rotation your image offer nostalgic suggestions of rock strata - the juxtaposition of materials, tree, wood and (suggestion of) rock appeals to me.

Paul

naked
by Rino63

Comment:
Greeting from the Critique Club:

I was one of your 6s so I liked this well enough in voting. Your shallow depth of field, title and subject matter give the image a certain light intimacy that works well. I like the neutral light too, not at all dramatic - it adds to a sense of everyday which again adds to the intimacy because it serves to create a non-posed feel.

Your tones are spot on - quite cool but effective.

Beyond the toes you have created a sense of ambiguity - right foot on left knee (I think) but the background mystifies - I can see from the folds that it is fabric but it isn't at all clear as to how it relates to the body of the subject.

Overall, a simple but well made image.

Paul

Nobody's Home
by Ja-9

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club:

Janine - what a pleasure to be able to offer an extended comment to one of your images. Small payback for the huge commenting commitment you offer to others. Thanks for what you do. It is very significant.

I should begin by 'fessing up and letting you know that I was one of your 4s, I can see I'm below your histogram peak so you can take these views as somewhat atypical of how your image was received more generally.

The image is well constructed: exposure, toning and contrast all serve your image well, as does the composition with the placement of the window in the frame. Although your title invites us to create a story for the image - giving the building a history, the information we have to construct the story is limited - we have no sense of scale, no sense of how this part of the building relates to the rest and noting about the world around it, you as the photographer and thus us as the viewer. In that way, the image is quite abstract, we are left only with form and structure - now that's really interesting isn't bs use the sub-text of the challenge was to create an image that communication light, shade, texture, line and form and I have to admit you've been very successful with that brief. Perhaps a title that invited consideration of the structure, what was there, rather than absent people and a back story would have helped people like me to realise what you were doing.

I don't remember the image in voting which suggest I did a drive by. Perhaps that's the issue.... Picking this up as a critique comment, like the Free Study comment series I do, forces you to stop and think but in general voting, especially in a large challenge, a visual hook to keep people long enough becomes important.

Perhaps that's harder for you to see than for most people, as one of DPC's most prolific commenters you find the time to look and comment to a much much greater extent that the rest of us. Given that you probably never do drive-by voting yourself, perhaps you don't construct images as cynically as some others - I resort to gas masks and naked models on occasion and there is a part of me that knows that such provocation at least buys me the time of the drive-by voter... Perhaps they'll then notice the light, the toning and the story....

Here then, you've made an image that meets the brief to a greater extent than most in the challenge, including my own ribboning image but it isn't one that has kept people long enough to appreciate it. I see you got two comments... I also notice that neither voted.

Anyway, I hope my words offer some insight into how voters received your image, though as I said at the beginning, I've been harsher than most.

Best regards

Paul

The eyes have it.
by Bill666

Comment:
Greetings from the Critiques Club:

I remember this very clearly from voting, evidence that the image has impact. How could it not, it is a very bold composition with the truck looming large in the frame. I think you were to right to the potential in this particular vehicle, the array of lights fascinate. I just noticed the location, I would never have guessed this was a British vehicle - an even more remarkable find.

I'd also never have guessed this was a multiple image HDR, that's good, you've kept it subtle and all the more effective for it. Your choice of toning is well made, the slight brown tint echoing the inevitable rust.

Overall I think this is nicely seen and nicely made - I gave it a 6, slightly above your overall score.