My snowshoes
by snaffles

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

First Impressions:

Unique perspective and choice of subject that made me pause and actually pay attention to the photo. Second impression is that those are some cool pants and the third impression is Holy Crap I really don’t feel qualified to critique a Snaffles photo.

Technical (Comp, lighting, color, focus, Processing):

Your composition seems perfect for this shot as the legs lead the eyes directly to the main subject and the snow acts as a nice clean background. I may have thought about buckling the snowshoes though.

The lighting seems just fine to me and nothing is blown out. The focus also seems ok but in my opinion I wonder how this would look if you blurred the legs and had just the shoes in focus. Your processing is also just fine, not overly done and I imagine just a bit of enhancements to the original.

Challenge:

Not sure why you labeled this as a shoehorn as they are shoes and that was the challenge 

Artistic/Emotion:

Well the pants add a nice artistic feel to the shot and the colors compliment each other nicely.

Summary:

A solid 5 for a last minute shot is nothing to be disappointed at. The technical work on this was good but in the end it just didn’t wow many voters. I do like that you chose a different view and subject from the norm and your photos are always interesting to look at. I voted this a 5 in the challenge and imho ended up with a score that is pretty accurate.

Girl's Night Out
by clarmore

Comment:
How dare you be different, you should know better lol. I love thios shot and gave it a 9. Posting on Posthumous Ribbons, Part IV

No mom ... I have not seen your shoes ...
by Tyra

Comment:
I love this shot. Should of been a top ten imho. Posting on Posthumous Ribbons, Part IV

All they found were his shoes...
by bob_bobski

Comment:
I really liked this shot, should have finished higher imho. I wanted to do a shot similar to this with an old pair of kids shoes but it didn't come out right. Putting this over at Posthumous Ribbons, Part IV

Out of gas, Out of road
by Conch012

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

First Impressions:

Was that this really doesn’t seem to meet the challenge.

Technical (Comp, lighting, color, focus):

The composition on this seems a bit cluttered, especially with all of the background elements. I would suggest trying to isolate your main subject a bit more to draw the eyes to it.

The lighting is a bit harsh, likely due to time of day and the high iso. I would suggest for this shot to drop the f-stop down around 5.6 or so to get some background blur and definitely lower your iso to 100, especially in bright daylight.

The focus is fine but as already mentioned I would drop the f-stop to get the background out of focus.

Challenge:

This shot really didn’t fit the challenge and that is likely why you received numerous 4 and lower votes.

Artistic/Emotion:

N/A

Summary:

If you are new to photography I would suggest reading up on the relation of aperture, shutter speed and iso. Also keep entering challenges, as that is how you will continue to grow. I hope to see more entries from you. If you look at some of the recent ribbon winners you will see that their first entries finished similar to yours.

From Blaauwberg
by LonnieD

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

First Impressions:

Is that it is very, very grainy.

Technical (Comp, lighting, color, focus, Processing):

Your composition is fine and I like how you framed everything. The lighting is ok but really all I keep seeing is all the noise. It makes it very difficult to appreciate anything else within the shot. I honestly think the problem began when you chose to use an iso of 1400. I would suggest dropping that way down and lowering your f-stop to compensate. If you wanted to really have stop motion then I would say to come back later when you have more daylight to use then you could use a higher f-stop to have more of the image in focus, you could lower the iso since there is more natural light and you could even use a slightly faster shutter speed.

Now if you wanted to get the dawn sky then I would suggest a tripod, lower shutter speed, lower iso and a higher f-stop. This would give a beautiful motion blur on the ocean and then bring out the colors in the sky.



Challenge:

Meets the challenge

Artistic/Emotion:

N/A

Summary:

You chose a beautiful subject but all the good was lost in the noise. Most voters make their initial decision on a photo based on first impressions. If it is a decent shot that doesn’t grab their attention it will probably get a 5 or 6. If it grabs their attention then they will likely spend a bit more time on it and that is when the 7+ votes come in. In your case I think most voters just saw a very noisy photo and hit the 1-4 key and moved on. Keep at it and continue to enter the challenges and you will grow. You already have some nice shots in your portfolio. I also recommend reading a bit on iso, aperture and shutter speed and their relation to each other. Keep on shooting.

Nebula
by olbol

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

First Impressions:

This is a cool looking abstract but I don’t know what I am looking at.

Technical (Comp, lighting, color, focus, Processing):

The composition works well for this shot and I like how you have different shapes and colors going on throughout the image.

The lighting seems a bit weird, not bad but I am guessing this is just the natural light on the subject. I would like to see a bit more lighting to give this image some pop and a bit of contrast.

The colors are nice sea tones but they could use a little boost to really grab my attention, nothing over the top just maybe a bit of saturation.

I don’t really see any issues with the focus at all. As for your processing it doesn’t look like you really did much. All I would suggest is to try and bring out the colors a touch and get more contrast in the shot.

Challenge:

Meets the challenge but I think some voters didn’t get what they were looking at and I don’t think your title really helped much.

Artistic/Emotion:

This was a nice abstract and a different take on the subject. It is always nice seeing different views on a challenge.

Summary:

This shot was pretty well done but it could use a boost to grab the voter’s attention. In a challenge with so many vibrant landscapes this, sadly, is just lost in the mix. You got a few good votes I am guessing from voters who appreciate the abstract. In the end this finished about where I would expect it to on DPC. A solid 5 to me is a good shot that just lacks impact or a shot that doesn’t fit in the DPC mold. I encourage you to keep up with the different views on the challenge and just work a bit on some technical issues.

Every good architect knows direction is everything.
by Callisto

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

First Impressions:

WHITE. My eyes are immediately drawn to the bright white area on the upper left.

Technical (Comp, lighting, color, focus, Processing):

The composition seems quite cluttered, the price to pay for shooting in the forest I suppose. The problem I see is that your main subject is one of the last things I get to as my eyes are drawn away from it at first. Perhaps a different angle on this would work better, something that really draws my eyes to the main subject.

The lighting on the snow and sky is beautiful. You can still see all of the branches and it has an almost dreamy feel to it. The problem is the lighting on your main subject is dull and you loose a lot of detail in the shadows. Being a basic editing challenge I’m not sure what you could do to change that. If it was advanced I would suggest shooting 2 separate exposures so you can keep the nice light on the snow but also bring out the detail on the tree.

The focus seems quite soft, which I personally like on the snow but I would like the tree to be a bit sharper. Perhaps lowering your f-stop to sharpen the tree more and blur the background more. This would sharpen the tree and also draw my eyes to it more and the background would not compete as much for my attention.

Challenge:

Meets the challenge well and I like your creative take on the subject.

Artistic/Emotion:

Good creative take on the challenge.

Summary:

I like your view on this and with a few improvements this could be a good shot. The majority of your votes came in at a 5 and to me that says that it was a decent shot with a few technical errors but it just didn’t really leave much of an impact on the voters. Stick with it and continue to submit to challenges, you have a good eye for it and you will continue to improve.

Tube man
by jmespiga

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

First Impressions:

Is that this is a very dull and flat shot. Nothing really grabs my attention except for the uniqueness of the subject. I am just ready to go on to the next photo as there doesn’t seem to be anything here to hold my attention.

Technical (Comp, lighting, color, focus, Processing):

The composition on this really doesn’t work well, I would like to see more of an angle perhaps or maybe not cropping it in so tight and adding something else to the shot to give this some perspective. As it is I don’t know if this subject is 2 inches tall or 10 feet tall.

The lighting is quite poor as well but it doesn’t look like you used your on camera flash which was wise as that would have likely just cast a harsh light and likely a lot of glare. If possible I would have liked to see side lighting on this. Best investment that can be made for a new photographer is off camera lighting. Just starting with a bounce flash that you can take off the camera and position where you want it can really work wonders.

The color on this is quite bland but I think the bigger issue is that there is no real contrast at all as some of the commenter mentioned. The focus also seems just a bit soft. Either try and get the whole thing tack sharp or if you want to focus on just one area use a low f-stop and make that area sharp with the rest intentionally blurred. As is it just seems slightly blurred.

Not sure if you really did any post processing on this except for resize. As mentioned by Yo_Spiff levels, curves, saturation, contrast, sharpening etc. would likely enhance this shot.

Challenge:

This meets the challenge and you were very creative in your choice of subject which likely got you a few higher votes.

Artistic/Emotion:

As mentioned your subject choice was creative and it is nice to see out of the ordinary subjects.

Summary:

This was a good idea but it just fell flat. Keep up with your creative eye and just work on the technical and you will continue to grow as an artist. Also if you enjoy the comments you are receiving it is helpful to mark the comments as helpful. This shows those leaving the comments that you are thankful for them and they will likely leave more.

Bridge Over Not So Troubled Water
by Ter

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

First Impressions:

Pretty looking snapshot of a city.

Technical (Comp, lighting, color, focus):

While the rule of thirds is a guideline that should be broken at times, this is not one of those times. I think this shot would greatly benefit from aligning the group of buildings on one of the thirds. I do like how the railing and arch lead my eyes to the buildings though.

Great lighting on this and it all seems well lit with nothing blown out and the colors are cool and clear. Your focus also seems well done.

Challenge:

This meets the challenge so I don’t think any voters knocked your score down for that.

Artistic/Emotion:

With a slightly different composition I think this would have more of an artistic feel to it, as is it seems more like an unplanned snapshot that was lucky to have the railing to lead the eyes.

Summary:

I think this was an ok shot with parts of it well thought out and others just more like a snap shot. It didn’t deserve sub 4 votes but such is the nature of DPC. I would say this is a solid 5 shot with potential to be much better. The focus, lighting and colors are all very nice but I feel as though your composition hurt this more then anything. Your processing was done very well and you take some great shots so just keep at it.