Tea Party
by dartompkins

Comment:
greetings from the Critique Club

Charming, charming little girl. No wonder you wanted to enter this sweet image in competition.

Well, the job of the Critique Club is to suggest how to improve your image, so I'm here to give you some thoughts on how to make this little girl stand out as a major attraction.

Your commentors have already mentioned the lamp backlighting. I'll mention, in passing, the OOF canister in the foreground. And maybe the furniture in the left background. Unfortunate distractions.

In my art classes, our instructors frequently talk about how to tell a story, mostly by making a composition simple. In this image, I would translate that advice to: A prettily dressed little girl, a tea cup, a sugar bowl, a nice tablecloth. an appealing smile. a plain background. And, yes, the close-up pose you chose. (Um, this is not easy to do.)

The image you selected is certainly keepsake material. She and you will surely cherish it for years to come.

And I wish you continued success at DPC. It looks as if you are having loads of fun with the group.

Alice

Summer Poetry
by elee3009

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

Well, your commentors gave it to you straight. This very nice image suffered from "blob in the foreground." You accidentally created a barrier that made it hard to get at the beauty of that pink flower and flower stem in the middle ground.

I tend to forget sometimes that it's okay to do a little groundskeeping. If only with a clothspin (or the like) to keep intrusive vegetation out of the way of the subject.

I'd probably suggest a little more focus on that pretty pink flower, either by use of a tripod or waiting for any wind to die down for that split second you need to make it sharper.

And finally, (I know,enough already!) you might try cropping out that partial blue flower on the left. This would concentrate the viewers attention on that lovely pink flower that I think you want as your focal point. See what you think. Is it better? Or not?

Still, I'm glad to have seen this image. Not only does it make me nostalgic for what I think may be peonies, but it makes me see this lovely garden spot through your eyes. Thank you!

Alice

Red Door Yellow Wall
by otisXmike

Comment:
Yes!

Looks good.

Alice

Country Morn'
by rayg544

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

Straight from the Camera. Dark. Um.

You have an excellent composition here and lovely colors as well. (And I'm a sucker for those rolled haybales that seem to flow so nicely into the countryside)

A Critique Club member is supposed to suggest ways to improve your image, and yes, I caught that note that you work 12-hour shifts.

But still, it's the lighting that needs to be improved for this image to work perfectly. Many photographers wait hours for that perfect moment that will make their image The Perfect One. So without post-processing and without the ability to wait for the perfect moment, well, you did pretty darn well with this very nice image.

I'd love to see you revisit this image someday in the right light. You'll have a winner, for sure. (And hey, it's right across the street!)
.>)

Red Door
by otisXmike

Comment:
Great capture. NIce change with the red door. Wonder what it would looklike with a nice bright yellow ochre paint on the wall... Hmmm, or a genie's lamp at the bottom of that great wall thingee (and then colors in the thingee) Oh, heck, I'd better stop now...

IN any case, good job.

Alice

DPC Psyche Ward
by idnic

Comment:
Fantastic!

And, yes, the typos (tpsychos?) add to the originality of the piece.

Do some more!

Alice

Sunburst
by GoodBeye

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

Welcome to DPC! I see this is your 2nd challenge and that you are doing very well.

You have a lovely image here and thje voters quite rightly liked it. There really isn't too much to 'critique' here. Placement in the frame is fine, the foil of the oof flower in the background works well and the colors are nicely photographed.

The only thing that might be considered missing is that little something extra, that pizzazz, that puts an image on the front page. Perhaps lighting? Bouncing light from a gold reflector? or even a tiny flashlight? I don't really know. Just tossing an idea out ...

In any event you have a good image here, one you can be proud of.

Best of luck in future Challenges.

Alice

Wild
by Alain

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

What a nice bright orange bloom you found. You chose just enough depth of field to capture the entire wildfower and still leave plenty of 'bokeh' background.

While you scored comparatively well with this image, I have a feeling that the bright green background may have been a negative factor. Sometimes, it helps to have a black cloth (or some neutral color) to use for background in garden shots. This concentrates the viewer's focus on the flower and eliminates competition from distractions. Just a thought, of course. But a bit of cloth doesn't take up much room in the ol' camera bag, and it does come in handy sometimes...

Glad you had so much fun with your flower photography on your trip.

Keep up the good work.

Alice

Under The Bridge
by talj

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

Gee whiz! I like both of your entries, but this one came to me to be Critiqued so I won't dwell on your flower one except to say it's handsome and I wish I'd thought of the idea.

Okay, the commentors seemed to be divided between symmetry and not so.
My vote goes for the way you have it. That tree (bush) on the right absolutely makes the image. (Well, so do the strong lines and still water, but they don't make my point.) Besides the obvious attractions this image has going for it, it does have that little edginess that comes from asymmetry and it looks good.

BTW, in judging horizons, just take a look at the water. That water is absolutely straight across and that fact insists the image is correct. Optical illusions are fun, and in this case, perhaps tricked a few viewers.

Keep up the good work. YOu've figured out how to present images well and I really, really look foward to seeing more of your work.

Alice

Simplicity
by freakin_hilarious

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

Well, here is a nice little softspoken entry that seems to have received 'average' votes.

I like the lighting on this. It tames the plate which could have become dominant and intrusive. Perhaps just a little more lighting on the pink flower to give a bit more depth...

The one thought that stands out is a point that is made in my art classes once in a while. And that is composition. The "rule" (and yes, they are made to be broken) is that we chose one, three or five items in a composition. The reason being, especially for the two items, is that the viewer bounces back and forth between the two objects never knowing where to concentrate his energy, and, confused, simply moves on.

Anyhow, a little more pizzazz and maybe one more flower might make this extra special.

Continued good luck in future challenges. You have some nice work.

Alice