lune a l'orange
by posthumous

Comment:
greetings from the Critique Club

Well, Posthumous, we meet again! I doubt I am the only one doing critiques in the Critique Club, so it must be pure chance.

Another of your abstracts that could be taken literally with its oranges and complimentary blues. But you chose to march to the beat of that other drummer again, and while some enjoyed your work, the scoring was downhill. However, I understand the scoring is not what you are after - and the Comment by Spooky11, the person from Belgium, whose English must have come painstakingly from the dictionary, surely made it all worthwhile.

Best regards,

Alice

PS For those worried about the word Macula. It can mean dense or densely packed cells.

Message edited by author 2010-04-07 19:59:18.

Poppy
by jnenvir

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

Ah, California Poppy, jnenvir, so that means we are neighbors. This is as orange as they come and you certainly met the Challenge spot-on!

Yet it received just an average score. It has good definition, and that blue makes a nice complimentary contrast. Perhaps if that blue could have been brought out a bit more (I use Selective Colors a lot to make that happen) it would have made the image pop. Then, the poppy is just a tad flat and you do have such nice shadows in there. These are just thoughts to play around with.

There are SO many ways to shoot a California Poppy and aren't we lucky in our state to have so many of them to practice on!

Alice

Hugh: "The Presentation of an Orange Raspberry..."
by 777STAN

Comment:
GREETINGS FROM THE CRITIQUE CLUB

Awwww, 777STAN, and you worked so hard on this one too!

When doing a set-up like this, it probably is even extra-important to consider the size and make up of the props, keeping everything in proportion and in perfect balance to create the illusion.

Consider making the backdrop perfectly flat, perhaps with a poster board or even with the blanket you used on a very flat surface. Then, unless the chipped part of the plate contains some of your illusion information, either disguise it or select another surface. finally, consider that the "eyes" and the "mouth" are pretty much the same size here, where even in most illusions the 'eyes' are likely to be smaller (or larger).

You have good sharpness and probably used a tripod. Good! Did the shadows come from a flash? Or lighting? If so, with a tripod, it is usually possible to just select a long-enough exposure to get the image sharp without the extra light.

Still, all in all, it looks as if you had fun creating this cute little image, and that, 777STAN, is what it is all about!

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