Twelve Months
by ShotMD

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

Congratulations on a fine finish in this Challenge. 22nd out of 600+ is a pretty good ending!

Duotone treatment fits this image perfectly, as does the expression on your daughter's face. Those wide open eyes, wise beyond reason, are brought to the center of our attention with this technique. Interesting, I tried several different crops by moving the image around on my screen. While (imo) you went to the very edge with this crop, it quickly grew out of balance with a more pronounced one.

so, all in all, a great image, that shows the care and attention you put into it. You were quite well rewarded by our voters, and certainly have an image you, your wife and your daughter can be happy with.

Generations
by rwouthuis

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

Terrific image here. I'm delighted to have drawn it from the Critique Club files. And I swear that camera on the right looks way too familiar!
;>)

As many of your commentors said, duotone works well in this image. IN trying to see just exactly why it works well, I see more technical excellence. There is the deep, pleasantly rich color tone. And then the contrast between the slight background woodgrain and the smooth machined finish of the cameras, and finally the nostalgic effect of portraying 'old' cameras using 'old' film techniques.

All in all, everything clicked (pun not intended, but I'll take it) and you were rewarded quite well for your work. Frankly, I think it should have scored higher, but still your score is at least respectable, and you have an image that will fit well in your portfolio.

I shall look forward to seeing more of your work in future Challenges.

Material Girl
by shabbychic

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

Before we start on this image, I just want to say how much I enjoyed your "I didn't do it" pic. It certainly did deserve all the accolades it received.

Okay, to the matter at hand. I guess your commentors really hit the nail on the head when they discussed the model's closeness to the background and the fact that the background is so bland. Other than that, I think the image is cropped well and compositionally okay. The skin tones were done nicely and the image certainly met the Challenge.

I can't go much further than that because your camera settings are not listed. When you request a comment from the Critique Club, it helps us a great deal if we have your technical information as well as those all important notes in the Photographer's COmments column. And thanks for entering those notes.

Looks as if you are having fun at DPC and I'll look forward to seeing more of your images in the future.

Alice

It was in style then, I swear...
by Shermy

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

Looks as if you had fun with this one. I like the composition; the girls (and their garments) fill the frame very well and certainly their apparel meets the Challenge nicely.

There does look as if there is a scrim or veil across the entire image. I don't know if this is a technical problem or deliberate. It is, however, a little distracting. Some of the colors, primarily the reds, do not come through as crisp, perhaps again due to the diffusion. As someone mentioned in your comments, the models are placed very close to the backdrop, so cast shadows that I don't think you really wanted to be there. It would have been a nice touch if you could have found some white material to also cover the floor, as it does stand out.

Oh, dear. All the above sure does sound a bit negative, but on the plus side, I think you learned a lot taking this image, and certainly you and your models look as if you were all having a very good time.

One final note: I would suggest, that when you ask to have an image commented on by the Critique Club, you include your camera settings and give us a little hint in the Photographers Comments column of what your thoughts/intensions were when you made the image.

You have a fun portfolio, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of your images in DPC.

Alice

20km charity race with plenty of fortitude!
by KHolt

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

Before I start, I just want to compliment you on your Country Life entry, HOme Time. Spectacular seeing and great capture. That dog frisking along in the rear put 'the frosting on the cake' for the story portrayed in that image.

Okay, back to the matter at hand. You did something very difficult here, you isolated the runners beautifully from the landscape. Each of them stands out against the desolation of the terrain. The path, where it shows, looks forbidding, and the viewer wonders how these people know where to go next. Thus becoming part of the story.

YOu didn't score very well on this image, and I sat here for a long time trying to figure out why. I can give you a couple of my best guesses, and you take it from there. First: Perhaps the image, overall, is a bit dark or murky on the screen? Second: I wonder how powerful this image would have been with a different crop. I tried it about halfway between the frame edge and the telephone poles and, again, below the poles. A horizontal orientation seemed to work pretty well.

Whatever your score, you have again told a good story and this image is certainly a keeper.

If We Hold On Together (There is Hope and Fortitude)
by librodo

Comment:
{b]Greetings from the Critique Club[/b]

Hello, Librodo! Once again I have the pleasure of looking more closely at one of your images. As if one of your images needed to be critiqued.
;>)

About all I can really say is what I said last time I viewed one of your very fine photographs:

"You have a lovely image here and have been richly rewarded by our voters.

"There is little I can tell you on how to "improve" this image, so with thanks for the opportunity to view it once again, I shall move on to the next image in the Critique Club queue."

Innocence
by Brin

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

It is always an adventure to open a new image to Critique, and this is certainly a good example of that.

It's an original, exciting picture; one that is deceptively simple, yet needs a good deal of study to comprehend. As an aside, I'm glad you Icelanders are getting enough sunlight and blue sky to manage a good image this time of year ;>)

I"m of two thoughts about the child and the cloud. The child has 'cold' tones; the cloud 'warm' tones. Obviously difficult to obtain in one photograph, but in two - there they are. Even though it is an anomaly, I like the juxtaposition. That bit of tension takes this image from a 'photo' to 'art'.

Even though you were not rewarded highly for this Challenge entry, I hope you are pleased with it. It is a good one.

Alice

Vunerable Heart
by Sunshine86

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

Congratulations on a very nice finish in this Challenge. This is a terrific, well done entry . I like your control of colors and composition.

The contrast between straight lines and linear shapes against the soft roundness of the heart and the face fragment work well in this abstract.

All in all, this is an exceptional image for which you were very properly rewarded with a high score.

Keep up the good work and you'll be in Ribbon territory soon.

Tucker's Heart
by shelw128

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

What's not to like about this appealing little guy. Beautifully placed in the frame, his expression is priceless and that sweetly little formed heart certainly meets the challenge nicely.

His red coat against the red of the barn works so very well. The one tiny problem I can find with this very nice image lies in the left lower corner; that white patch, probably snow(?). You see, it's the brightest spot in the image and the viewer will instinctively go there to see what's important instead of going to the foal's face where the center of attraction most certainly is.

You scored well with this fine image and I see from your profile your score keeps going up just about every time you enter. Keep it up, shelw128, and you'll be on the front page in no time. You have a good eye.

Megan Silva, 3rd-time ODAC Player of the Year
by Skip

Comment:
Gracious, that's good.