Deconstruction (Falls)
by Rikki

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club:

You have received a generous critique from Damon, Rikki, so I won't add too much here.

Of course you have immortalized the Vallencourt Fountain.

And you have achieved the High Contrast aspect that the Challenge called for. In composition, I think it is a bit heavy to the left. I'd like to see the sculpture fill the frame. Then, while I like the idea of people in the frame to give it scale, the pink girl is too bright and takes interest away from the main subject. The guy in white works well.

I like the use of the polarizer which does nice things for the sky and prevents the high key areas in the Fountain from becoming too "hot" and thus losing definition.

Keep up the good work!

SFAlice

Muse
by elsapo

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club:

This will be a short critique, because I think you achieved what you wanted with this image and it works well.

The only observation I'll make is that a viewer will look into the eyes of the subject first, and it is unsettling to have one pupil missing. It gives something of a vacuous look, which I'm not sure you want to have happen, especially with that complementary title.

That said, continue doing the good work you are doing.

Out of the Dark
by thomaspeople

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club:

This is a charming picture of a little train with directed lighting to put the engine strongly in the picture with the remainder in the act of emerging into the light.

Unfortunately, as you've already gathered from the comments, the directed lighting wasn't perceived to be strong enough to qualify for "High Contrast."

It has also been my experience that toys (trains included) simply do not score high at DPChallenge. It's one of those facts that one might as well take into consideration in choosing a Challenge entry.

So, you have a delightful image that the voters didn't think met the challenge particularly well, but would make a charming addition to a young person's bedroom wall!

As they say, "win some, lose some."

Good luck in future Challenges.

Miss Brown
by anthonyczaja

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club:

You chose a suberbly beautiful subject for your entry in the High Contrast Challenge. Those classic features could take the emphasis on line and contour and still win through.

It is the background that troubles me. It competes tremendously with the subject, "Miss Brown," and leaves the viewer confused as to what you want the viewer to look at. I'm not the one to suggest what background you should use; you know your territory, I don't. But I would suggest that with a model like that, and with High Contgrast as an objective, you simple the background down to concentrate attention on the model.

Still, it's a powerful image and I'm delighted to have had the chance to study and enjoy it.

SFAlice

Dawn
by Dufus

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

Wow, what a great shot of a Reykjavik dawn! It justifiably scored well.

Now, as to composition. The layers of color and texture contrast well. I'd suggest, if at all possible, that you try this shot from some angle where the Radisson Hotel isn't visible. The bright white is a distraction from the lovely colors that make up the major part of this beautiful image. You have plenty of "High Contrast" without it. The large, long building in front is a slight distraction as it is neither centered in the foreground, nor enough off-center to add interest to the composition. However, I do like the city of Reykjavik to appear in the image. It gives another layer of texture and reinforces the contrast between nature's work and that of man.

Technically, I think this is just fine. I wouldn't change a thing.

You have a beautiful city (I visited it some years ago, and remember it well) and you have captured a special moment. (come to think of it, in September, seems to me dawn lasts quite a long time.)

Mamiyaflex
by annah

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

This image, justifiably, scored well in the High Contrast Challenge. Technically, it appears to be flawless and it certainly meets the Challenge.

While an off-center composition can be visually exciting, I think this one may suffer just a touch from that technique. It might be interesting to try this image with more of the old camera cut off on that right side, or pull the entire camera into the frame, but still very much off-center.

You have a very good eye for photography. I'll look forward to seeing more of your work on DPC.

Old New Juxtaposition
by DemonLlama

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

You have created a humorous image that no doubt got many chuckles from voters. Whether it was a bit subtle for the voters is another question.

The contrast between the guy with the camera and the Minute Men is right on, topically. But technically, the guy in the white shirt is a bit hot and the soldiers are in shadow thus graying them out. I wonder if a polarizer would have helped make this image pop. Or perhaps, in another situation like this, bracketing could be helpful.

Composition might be slightly better if the camera guy was positioned to the right just a touch more.

Still, a fun image, and one to enjoy looking at.

Instrumental Abstract
by kyebosh

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

You have done a very pleasant abstract for this Challenge.

I would suggest that, while the two very hot areas in this image are certainly in high contrast to the remainder of the image, they are probably not enough to influence voters to judge it high in this category.

You obviouly had fun with the abstract itself with good colors and just enough in focus to give a foundation. I'd suggest moving that focus point into one of the sweet spots (rule of 3rds) to keep the viewer in the picture to enjoy the color patterns.

It's always fun to experiment with a good lens. I"ll look forward to seeing more of your work.

Birthday Shoes
by PoetryInColor

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club:

Congratulations on getting through your first Challenge.You have entered a priceless image of this lovely little baby.

Compositionally, I'd suggest that you crop the image a bit tighter; the carpet really doesn't do much of anything to enhance the picture. Perhaps, instead, you might introduce a brightly patterned pillow. The lighting is quite good - a bit of light to the right wouldn't hurt. And you might want to explore photographing Hannah from different angles, although I realize you wanted to accentuate the feet.

Finally, you learned early that voters take the Challenge theme extremely seriously. So, while this is an appealing image, most felt it just didn't meet the challenge of photographing shoes...

You have a good eye, and I'll look forward to seeing more of your work in future Challenges.

Good luck!

Perferred Shoe
by mandrade

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club:

Well, it meets the challenge just fine, it's interesting, funny and nicely photographed. And you had a patient significant other who held a pose very well for you.

Composition is good, nice neutral background. I like the spot of red in the skating shoe. I see nothing negative in this image. Maybee a tad over-sharpened. Oh, yes. Someone pointed out your typing wasn't so good in the title. Ooops.

I like it. Keep up the good work.