808 CSX 808
by Ja-9

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

Hello! You certainly found a fine example of a workhorse engine for your entry in the Plane/Auto/Train Challenge.

While you met the Challenge spot-on, your engine just didn't meet the tough creative expectations of our voting group. As one of your comments read, a different angle could have made a difference in its appeal. Perhaps a very tight shot could have been fun. With that strange windshield, a tight shot might have given it an other-worldly aspect that would stand out from the crowd.

Who knows! In any event, it looks as if you enjoyed finding this nice image and that's what counts.

Alice

Car Pool Only
by Stang

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

Ah, there's a familiar sight - the California Freeway. You found a good way to interpret the orange Challenge and went with it.

Undoubtedly with a little more time, you could have tweaked this to accent the Orange even more. There is a little more room in Levels to make the orange stand out even stronger while leaving the car pool lane and diamond distinct & separate by moving the middle slider waaay over to the right, but as you say, you had only limited time to play.

The comments on your image show that others appreciated your effort and that's what counts sometimes, in this venue.

Glad you had the inspiration to shoot this one. It's a fun image.

Alice

Concentration
by LonnieD

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

Hello again, LonnieD. I am so much enjoying the images DPC has been getting from our new members living in South Africa.

Now this image does have a lot going on and your comments tell the story, pretty much. It is a matter of time and lots of practice to get to the point where it is easier to make your images simple, yet compelling. Tell the story without distraction. You have many in your portfolio that already have this quality. This one just happens to be one of the busy ones. Still, my goodness, doesn't that bowler have good form, though! He must have been good-natured too, to have the flash go off when he was concentrating on his shot.

So, keep 'em coming and pretty soon you will be getting all "strikes."

Alice

The Big Bang
by Silent-Shooter

Comment:
greetings from the Critique Club

Hello and welcome to DPC. I note you have been a member for just a short time and already have entered several Challenges. You are among a number of South Africans who have found the DPC site lately and it is a pleasure to have you aboard.

This interesting and fun image received a good score from our voters and rightly so. Yes, for a moment, I too thought you were balancing a powdery puff on your model's hand, but your exploding balloon message came through quickly. So about all I can say, on behalf of the Critique Club, is that this is a well-done stop action image, and congratulations for nailing it.

I look forward to seeing more of your work on DPC.

Alice

Taste of Foot, my Favorite!
by KristinaG

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

Hello and welcome to DPC! You are a month into your membership and I see you have already entered quite a few Challenges.

I loved your cockatiel shot with that impish gleam in her eye and the gorgeous color she displays. Your background color went nicely with her orange spot and that yellow headdress - Well!

Unfortunately quite a bit of Dandy was not in focus and this may have impacted your score. If you had the pixels, a closer crop to that head and foot might have focused attention on the action without the distraction of fuzzy feathers & bar.

But keep 'em coming. It is obvious you are having fun with this and more practice will bring better scores quicker than you might think.

Alice

hats off!
by alexgurley

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

Hey, Alex! We meet again. I still remember your bouncing bed image that was SO much fun. You are definitely a People Photographer so keep that up. Please do. While you still could use some work on the technicals, that will come with more image-making and more processing practice.

Yes, as your competition comments indicate, white balance was a problem here and the darks were overshadowed by the harsh flash. Still the expression of your model was priceless and well worth the rest. One easy thing I can point out: it looks as if you have a sensor dust bunny in the lower right portion of the frame. It is okay to close out sensor dust in Basic.

Keep entering those quirky pictures of yours. They are refreshing and fun.

Alice

The Guppy
by Wildfire9

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

Oh, man! What a grand old warhorse you found here. Great shot and excellent processing.

Yeah, a bit of nit-picking in that it would have been nice to get that complete wing in the picture, but hey, even fish-eye lenses can only do so much.

You caught the mood and time of that machine just beautifully and as I said in the opening, your processing was just about spot-on with only a tad of haloing, IMO.

You scored well among remarkable competition and you have an image to be proud of. Not bad for a day's work!

Keep 'em coming.

Alice

Must be Prom Day
by gmink

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

You found some nice bright colors for us to enjoy in this image. And it is well exposed with good sharpness throughout.

Unfortunately the composition of this fun shot does suffer a bit, and the reasons have been well enumerated in your comments during competition. In this Planes/trains/Autos Challenge it seemed wise to concentrate on getting the most out of one vehicle and so the large amount of foreground blue was a distraction, and of course, the guy washing the car was perhaps more the subject than the partial van. our voters can be very literal (as we have all discovered upon occasion) and it looks as if your image suffered from this trait.

When I looked at some of your other images it was obvious that you have a good eye and a good sense of humor so I look forward to the next of your entries.

Keep 'em coming.

Alice

Water Curve
by Deen

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

Congratulations, Deen, on an exceptional image that was not only technically and artistically delightful, but also caught the fancy of our voters. Thankfully, you scored well for this fine shot. Hopefully you did not have to spend too much time cleaning up the bathroom.

Of course, as you know, the Critique Club is here to help those who need a little assistance with their images. You certainly don't need any help with this one, so I will say again, "Congratulations" and move on to the next image in the queue.

best regards,

Alice

Oh-Lay!
by aprudhomme

Comment:
greetings from the critique club

Wow, what a terrific action shot you found. Congratulations. Despite its technical shortcomings, it is a keeper.

Because this is such an exciting shot, I played around with it on my own computer for a few minutes. Now, these are just ideas; not necessarily 'improvements' but ways to change and give a new look to a problem image for comparison, if nothing else.

First, I worked levels just a touch to try to get that b'ground darker. Then, because the contrasts were still too much, I went over and converted to Black & White and moved the sliders as much as possible to keep the blacks and detail in the matador's suit intact and darken the b'ground. That worked fairly well. Then I wandered over to Selective Colors and worked just the White/Neutral/Black sliders for further balance. Finally, because the bull was cut off it seemed a "why not, moment" to cut off a bit of the matador as well. this seemed to give a bit more rhythm to the image.

All this is just to suggest that it doesn't hurt to keep playing with an image. Something might just click.

Good luck and keep 'em coming.

Alice