riding the rails
by klkitchens

Comment:
OK, I'm going through the Free Study submissions, purposefully finding those images I think are shot with a less conventional eye - this is one of those images! Thanks for offering something that isn't just DPC friendly eye-candy (though of course there's nothing wrong with eye-candy). I'll be picking one of these images for the Mu (most underrated) award:

Positives: I think the tilt really works here, especially with the placement of the rail in the bottom left corner. I quite like the coloration too.

Critical stuff: I think the softness / glow in the image is perhaps a little overdone.

Overall: An interesting picture but one that is perhaps a little over-edited.

If Walls Could Talk
by Basta

Comment:
OK, I'm going through the Free Study submissions, purposefully finding those images I think are shot with a less conventional eye - this is one of those images! Thanks for offering something that isn't just DPC friendly eye-candy (though of course there's nothing wrong with eye-candy). I'll be picking one of these images for the Mu (most underrated) award:

Positives: I really like the stark editing here, the blown walls work very well indeed and you have communicated the height of the building very well. I like how the textures have been brought out too.

Critical stuff: not too much, I like it as it is.

Overall: A very effective image which benefits from a well crafted edit and a great POV.

smoke shop
by jet200nyc

Comment:
OK, I'm going through the Free Study submissions, purposefully finding those images I think are shot with a less conventional eye - this is one of those images! Thanks for offering something that isn't just DPC friendly eye-candy (though of course there's nothing wrong with eye-candy). I'll be picking one of these images for the Mu (most underrated) award:

Positives: An interesting juxtaposition for sure but even more interesting for me is the monochrome choice. I do like it, I think it is brave to not offer up the neon colour. I like the light too - the blackness particularly and how the neon is the only respite in this area. The foreground figure is very well placed too; a great POV.

Critical stuff: The small line top left is a little distracting and could've been cloned out under advanced rules but it doesn't hurt the image too much.

Overall: An interesting choice for a Free Study, I'm pleased you did.

Serenity
by bnilesh

Comment:
I really like this image, for me it is much more successful than yesterday's. Everything is right with this one. Superb.

misunderstood
by njsabs

Comment:
Typically wonderful work from you. With such proponents of the art contributing, I think we are in for a bit of a treat with this side challenge.

Would you be able to add the technical data? I'm particularly interested in lens and aperture information. Many thanks.

Max 1
by Paul

Comment:

Originally posted by ErikV: BTW, interesting mix of clothes -- formal jacket with casual shirt and hat -- must have been Dad rather than Mom who dressed him. :-)

That made me laugh - this was Christmas Day - he decided to put the jacket on and the hat was new so 'had' to be worn. He was under the illusion he looked cool! Rest assured I pointed out the error of his ways! He does look very young in this image but he is 9. He looks his age in the other images I'll share.

I should comment on the lighting - natural light from a very large window behind and to the left of me.

Message edited by author 2010-01-01 21:43:06.

Bored . .
by Jedusi

Comment:
What a fabulous example - I'm currently doing very well in the 'portrait of a wild bird' but this blows mine out of the water (and over the horizon too!)

The girl in the window
by GinaRothfels

Comment:
OK, I'm going through the Free Study submissions, purposefully finding those images I think are shot with a less conventional eye - this is one of those images! Thanks for offering something that isn't just DPC friendly eye-candy (though of course there's nothing wrong with eye-candy). I'll be picking one of these images for the Mu (most underrated) award:

Positives: This is a very interesting image with an excellent silhouette that has a story to tell. Although the black and white works, I do wonder how the colour image might look.

Critical stuff: The portrait crop offers some environmental context to the image but I think a near landscape crop, just showing that storey would have been a bit more powerful. The near voyeuristic quality of this image is possibly a double-edged sword; I think it adds story - so may find it a little creepy.

Overall: An interesting image which is effective but it may not make too many friends of the voters.

Day One
by LMA128

Comment:
I love the coloration here and the POV and the overlay is OK too. It'd be just as good without it but it hasn't harmed it any.

It's a great image though.

Dhanraj
by bnilesh

Comment:
I do agree with Stephen, it does appear like the focus has been missed on the eyes - the part of the scarf closest to us and the nose is in focus - what aperture did you use? Also, and I hope I'm not going to offend, I think the post processing is a little heavy - the haloing behind the (his) left side of his head and the somewhat tone-mapped appearance detracts from what is most probably an awesome shot. I'd love to get my hands on a RAW of this and have a play.

I should clarify that I think it is a really good image - I'm just not sure we're seeing the best of it here.