frame.jpg
by kjennings

Comment:
Very nice...perhaps a little neat image is in order on the sky...blues tend to show noise but it could just be my monitor. :)

ac4.jpg
by kjennings

Comment:
Very moody and emotive. :)

antelope2.jpg
by kjennings

Comment:
This is exquisite...the people really make the shot. Beautiful! :)

glass.jpg
by Di

Comment:
I think this is really nice, Di...the lighting is wonderful and I love the heart refracted in the birds. You should have entered! :)

Flight of a Seagull
by Artyste

Comment:
Umm...wow. This works on so many levels it's not even funny. :)

Game Over
by DefyTime

Comment:
I remember commenting on this one during the challenge but I can't for the life of me figure out why it's not posted...so I'll just tell you that this was the only 10 I gave in this challenge and I am completely MYSTIFIED at it's placement. This is a stellar shot. Enough said. :)

The lamb
by sdburbank

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club...and welcome to DPC!!! :)

I see that this is your first submission, so I will give you a few pointers about this place as well as talk about your image.

Do yourself a wonderful favor and look at all the tutorials and helpful information under the "Learn" tab at the top right of the home page. You'll find one in there about resizing and submitting your images for challenges, which will correct the first thing you were probably knocked for in the voting...SIZE. Voters here need to see every one of the 640 pixels we're allowed (on the longest side) so be sure to maximize the size of your shot...it helps.

Your subject and light are beautiful, and there is a lot of drama present by the lighting. I agree with the posters who think the angle of the light could be changed a bit, perhaps more on the face of the statue, to enhance your shot. I also think that more light would have made the focus sharper on the face, which also will help your votes.

Voters at DPC are very fickle and finicky...they want to be wowed, they want to be awed, and they want (for the most part) slick, studio style shots with gloss and sheen. Not many of shots of statues, toys, or other inanimate objects fare well in challenges, but are typically received pretty well just for portfolio critique and/or specific uses. This is important to know so that you can kind of see where they were coming from in their comments and in your score/placement. Voters are also MAJOR sticklers for the challenge descriptions and will punish anyone who enters a "DNMC" shot... Does Not Meet Challenge. Even if it's good.

I hope your stay around DPC is a pleasant one, and I encourage you to keep entering challenges. Keep on clicking...and let me know if you have any questions! :)

Take care,
Laurie

Here Comes The Sun
by Pixelstate

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club! :)

What a gorgeous scene... you've captured it very well, too! Your technicals are all spot-on...focus, clarity, composition... nice job!

As far as relating to the challenge, well...you know the voters around here love to be hit on the head with the image and I bet you got more than your share of votes from those who saw this and said "What Sun???" In the average 3 seconds a voter takes to judge an image, I bet you got one second to read the title, two seconds to see the image, and then they moved on. Those who weren't quite as rigid probably gave you high marks for the picturesque scene, and the others, well...they probably gave you 5 and under. They're looking for the sun in the background, not as the light source behind you.

In a landscape or scenic challenge, this would be way up there...but in this particular one, it was just probably a bit more of a stretch in some voters' eyes (those eyes that couldn't see the sun, anyway). ;)

Keep clicking, and let me know if you have any questions!

Take care,
Laurie

Firey Flower
by dabidejpn

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!:

Wow...that's a lot of color in this shot! Great start...but there are some areas in which I think this image could be improved, giving you an even better score than 5.6082.

I'm not one who usually even gets the slightest bit bothered with borders, but this time...well, I think it is a bit much. With so much color in the subject, and especially with the curved line of the glass on the right side already in place, the border just really serves to distract and cut up the visual flow instead of simply adding a frame. I'd lose it for sure.

Your composition is very crowded...I'm sure you wanted to get in close and get the details of the flower, but this particular composition really amputates the flow of the image. If we could see more of the glass, it might help. Voters usually take about 3 seconds to study an image, then vote, and then move on. It took me about 5 seconds to really comprehend that the curved line was the glass and not something else in the frame, perhaps a stem from the flower. You lose votes by not getting the voters' time to study things like this. The reflections of the flower seem more as distractions as well, because of the cramped composition.

The colors are intense, but I think they are a bit TOO saturated. The yellows and reds on the flower itself seem muddy and there is a loss of detail, especially in the center. The light is quite harsh on them, which makes the contrast even more harsh. A softer light source or diffusion would go a long way, as well as scaling back the saturation a tiny bit...just a few points maybe.

Your score was very good, so voters liked the concept a lot...the actual image could be even stronger with a bit more planning and time I am sure. Keep clicking, and let me know if you have any questions.

Take care,
Laurie

The flying fruit
by Ragga2000

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club! :)

I like the concept of this image a lot. The composition is pretty good, the focus is sharp, and the connection to the challenge is spot-on. I do think a few improvements could be made to make this picture go from "average" (looking at the score) to "wow!" I agree with your previous commenters on several things.

Bumpimg up the saturation in the yellows/greens would go a long way to providing some extra "oomph" to this image. Also, since it was advanced editing, some selective contrast adjustments on just the fruit, and possibly a little dodging would really bring it out. I'd be inclined to clone out the little bright point of light to the right of the shadow as well, but that's just a nitpick. The background itself doesn't bother me as being grey, but I do think if you brighten the fruit and selectively darken/burn the background a bit more, it would also add some punch.

Anyway, this is a good shot that scored pretty well in the challenge. Just play with some processing tricks and techniques and I'm sure you'll get some great images. Keep clicking and let me know if you have any questions.

Take Care!
Laurie