Edge on
by Kali

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):

Positives: Great detail and bokeh. I am a fan of highly limited depths of field - so this is pushing some buttons for me. Despite the well rendered detail, much ambiguity remains.

Critical stuff: Ambiguity can work both ways and although this shot is well suited for the recent abstract macro challenge it sits less comfortably in a Free Study challenge.

Overall: There is no doubt that this is competently captured and edited but in the final analysis I'm not sure that this 'cuts the mustard' in a Free Study.

Leaves of grass
by lwkimages

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):

Positives: What an interesting scene - certainly one worth capturing. The limited colour palette makes for an effective image as does the composition - particularly the position of the 'window' in the frame. The longer I look at the image, the more of the detail I notice. The cracks in the stone work for example are captured with great clarity.

Critical stuff: I think the lighting is perhaps a little flat but it is difficult to see what you could do about that without something like Viveza. However, this flat lighting does conspire with a somewhat flat composition (due to your roughly orthogonal orientation to the wall) to limit the amount of depth that is perceived in the image.

Overall: an interesting subject, well, if somewhat plainly captured.

Ultra High Key Panda
by MrE

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):

Positives: I'm a fan of high key images and I like the way you lose this panda in the background, I also like the way I can perceive a little bit of red / orange in the background making me question whether this is a black & white or a colour image.

Critical thoughts: I'm going to be completely honest with you and say that I'd question some of your choices here - firstly, the subject matter isn't the most interesting thing you could have put in front of the camera and the focus, though most likely deliberately off, frustrates rather than fascinates. Compositionally, I just want to move it in the frame a little, but perhaps that is your purpose here, to offer an image which makes us question convention.

Overall, I don't like it, but I hope you do.

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!
by MikeO

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):

Positives: This is a really interesting effect which complements the subject matter perfectly. The monochrome treatment works - I imagine that colour would too but nonetheless I like this monochrome image. I like the way the image has a both abstract and real-world feel.

Critical stuff: I think there is a limited amount of interest in this scene but I think you have done a good job at capturing it in this photograph.

Overall: I'd be curious to a see a colour version but nonetheless this is an interesting and engaging image.

Blue Ball Basket
by jaysonmc

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):

Positives: I like the colour palette on offer here - limited but rich. Though it is the sort of scene that might be passed by, it has intrigued you and is well served by your image.

Critical stuff: My lack of superlatives above has probably tipped you off that I'm not a great fan of this image. I should say why. I think the photography is pretty good, I think you have communicated a vision - I just don't find that vision very compelling. For me, ordinary scenes like this need at least some small element which is quirky - something to act as a counterpoint to the rest of the scene, without such an element I find it hard to engage with an image such as this.

Overall: I think this is a good photograph of an ordinary scene but in the end it is an image which doesn't appeal to me.

Distractions
by gg3rd

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):

Positives: Very effective use of contrast to delineate elements of the image - this is very effective is isolating the busker's face from the rest of the scene. The emphasised shadows work very well to ensure the eye is kept where it should be.

The 'headless' walking woman is a great inclusion, her presence changes the image from one which would have been a little stilted to one which is highly dynamic. The background is something which jumps out only after a longer viewing once the eye has taken the rest of the scene in. The interplay of the silhouettes of the fauna with the light background is fabulous.

Critical stuff: Not much really, I think the scene is necessarily limited in the amount it has to offer but I am convinced you have maximised its impact.

Overall: A really well composed shot which benefits greatly from the editing choices you have made. Great job.

Aneurysm
by Debbi

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):

Positives: This is a very powerful image. I'm not usually a fan of the set-up shot, but the subject matter and message, the lighting, the subtle and limited use of colour and the overall clarity conspire to make this a compelling image.

Critical stuff: You just know I'm going to point out the crop vertex of skull....

Overall: A good idea, message and vision which has been well executed.

Lost Souls
by Neil

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):

Positives: Fantastic perspective, excellent use of camera tilt and an extraordinary use of and representation of light; it is this latter feature of your image which I think is so remarkable. The confidence you have had to keep the image a little dark in places is masterful, it creates so much mood and sense of presence. It captures that time of day when the cones in our eyes are not well served by the limited light. The guy in the doorway is also fundamental to the success of this image - he adds scale and life and I wonder about his arm in the sling and what that means.

Critical stuff: None - I wouldn't change a thing.

Overall: One of those images that just keeps getting better the more you look at it. I don't say this very often but this has a special quality which makes it persistently compelling- so much so that it could be hung in a gallery. For that I feel I must offer it a 10.

Go Daddy-O
by acoppola

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):

Positives: Just a flat-out superb composition. The juxtaposition of the hyper-sharp mic and the guy in the background, separate but linked and coherent is quite excellent. I like the lighting and colours too - bright but still communicative of an enclosed space. You have demonstrated a great eye for a photo here.

Critical stuff: I do think the crop of the chin is slightly problematic but not disastrously so. Thinking about some of the software I have, I imagine using Viveza with a control point on the guy's cheek and taking down the luminosity of that whole area and lifting the contrast a little. Just choices though and it would certainly offer a less authentic image. I think such an approach might have address the slightly flat lighting though.

Overall: A really great capture - good job!

forecast
by nixter

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):

Positives: Some of the images I find myself commenting on this comment series are ones which have much wider appeal - this is one of those. The quality here is so high, how could anybody not love it! I wonder whether you stood over the reflection and waited for the right people to come along or whether you were really, really fortunate - I'd put money on the former; this is too 'crafted' to be accidental. I love 'crafted' images - for me, that's what photography is about.

Everything is right about this image - the focus, the camera angle, the exposure, the composition...even the border (and I hate those things!!). A 10 from me.

Critical stuff: Nothing really.

Overall: Stunning, I hope it ribbons.