The Storm Advances
by cools98

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club! :)

I will attempt to critique your image on four basic areas. Keep in mind I'm not a trained professional. ;)

1. Composition: Extremely well-composed image. Very strong subject and great leading lines. Well done.

2. Technical Details: The focus is good, your choice of aperture, ISO, and shutter speed work well together. The contrast (not just related to the challenge) is a bit subdued in the central portion of the image, partly because of the sheer depth of the shot I'm sure.

3. Aesthetics: Very lovely to view, and I'm sure that most DPCers will agree that challenge notwithstanding, it's a great shot.

4. Relationship to Challenge: Because of the muddied tonal range in the middle and upper parts of the shot, I'm afraid that the relationship to the challenge was weakened for some voters. That said, you still scored above average, which means that many were able to put that aside and vote on the other outstanding qualities of this image.

Overall, your image has some strong points and some points in which improvements can be made. Keep shooting and submitting and I look forward to your next entry!

Laurie :)

Considering Options
by davidcara

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club! :)

I will attempt to critique your image on four basic areas. Keep in mind I'm not a trained professional. ;)

1. Composition: Your scene is composed well, except for the fact that the most important element is smack dab in the middle. Many times (more often than not), you want to place your subject off-center for visual variety and to create some sort of drama, movement, or mood. If this were my shot, I would step to the right more, or crop the right more, and have more lead room on the left side. You've also got a rather large white stripe above her head, created by the buildings, which draws the eyes away from her (the eyes are naturally drawn to the brightest parts of an image). Perhaps shooting from a bit higher perspective might tone that down, or cropping judiciously.

2. Technical Details: The focus seems a tiny bit soft and oversharpened. Your aperture was at 6.3, which is OK, but a wider aperture would allow you more control over elements like blurring the background and making your subject stand out more. The scene is pretty bright, and with the ISO at 400 outside, it makes it even moreso. ISO 100 on your camera would probably be sufficient, even on an overcast day. The higher the ISO the more unnecessary noise you introduce to an image anyway, so I try to use the lowest ISO possible.

3. Aesthetics: I am a sucker for candids. I love them. This one has a lot of potential as well. She definitely seems to be considering something, which draws us in to wonder what her problems are. The image lacks a certain bit of "wow" that DPC voters crave, but is a good image for candid photography.

4. Relationship to Challenge: You have a strong grey tonal range, but not much in the way of blacks and whites. I think that tweaking the contrast and curves might give it more umph and create a stronger link to the challenge.

Overall, your image has some strong points and some points in which improvements can be made. Keep shooting and submitting and I look forward to your next entry!

Laurie :)

StreetSmart
by Nazgul

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club! :)

I will attempt to critique your image on four basic areas. Keep in mind I'm not a trained professional. ;)

1. Composition: The composition of this one is really nice...a good amount of lead room, helping us to wonder what he's looking at, and a nice bit of background to set the scene.

2. Technical Details: Wonderful combination of excellent focus, wide tonal range, great color, and skilled post processing.

3. Aesthetics: This was one of my personal favorites of the challenge, so to me it's spot-on aesthetically. I love images that aren't "DPC pretty." This one is no exception! :)

4. Relationship to Challenge: Meets the challenge perfectly IMHO.

Keep shooting and submitting and I look forward to your next entry!

Laurie :)

Contrast
by sigrun_th

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club! :)

I will attempt to critique your image on four basic areas. Keep in mind I'm not a trained professional. ;)

1. Composition: The composition of the image is fine, with the focal point being off center. There are also three different planes of visuals that you can discern, with a foreground, a middle ground, and a background. The image suffers, however, from a lack of interest in the top half of the image, as the subject stops dead center in the vertical sense.

2. Technical Details: Your commenters mentioned the grain/noise issue. I won't go into that other than to say that many at DPC do not like grain or noise of any kind. I'm not like that, because I have a fair amount of shots that are quite noisy and grainy because I like them that way. :) HOWEVER...the grain in this shot doesn't add much in the way of mood or emotion, because the subject itself is rather devoid of mood or emotion. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Also, the focus is a bit soft on the subject itself, which DPC voters don't like either.

3. Aesthetics: This is a love-it or hate-it shot. It's rather abstract in nature, which might turn some voters off. It doesn't have the "wow" factor that DPC voters crave, which explains the score and placement.

4. Relationship to Challenge: There is some contrast, but overall the tonal range is rather muddy and the noise really detracted from the contrast in general.

Overall, your image has some strong points and some points in which improvements can be made. Keep shooting and submitting and I look forward to your next entry!

Laurie :)

serenity
by melodee

Comment:
Howdy from the Critique Club! :)

I'll critique the four basic areas for you but remember, I'm not a trained professional. :)

1. Composition: This image is framed in a lovely way, with a nice line created by the bridge and various planes of visuals to add interest. The willow tree, however, obscures part of the bridge which IMHO is the focal point of the image. Perhaps moving around to your right a tiny step more might have gotten less of the sweep of the willow branches in the foreground. A person on the right end of the bridge, or something in the background might have also added a little more "wow" factor to the image.

2. Technical Details: The focus is good in your image. As others have commented, there might be some oversharpening, especially in the limbs. You have a little bit of glare/blown highlights in the water, but in this case it works, especially for this particular challenge. The contrast itself seems a bit muddied. The tonal range is more or less all greys, with no specific blacks to compare the whites with. Some burning might be effective as well, when allowed by the challenge rules.

3. Aesthetics: Lovely, peaceful, and serene.

4. Relationship to Challenge Topic: As I mentioned earlier, the contrast is just not quite "high" enough for this particular challenge. Perhaps boosting it a bit might create more of a range for you.

Overall, a good image and attempt at meeting the challenge head-on. It simply lacks the mass appeal and "wow" that DPC voters tend to look for. That's not a bad thing, either (MHO). Keep shooting and can't wait to see more! :)

Laurie

Just Being Me
by smilebig4me1x

Comment:
Cher, this is really cute and it does look "just like you!" I can see your skills as a photographer developing over time. Very well done. I might suggest to work on the eyes a tiny bit more to remove the red, but that could also be enhanced by this crappy monitor I have at work so ignore me. ;) Anyway, great shot. :)

relaxed
by hopper

Comment:
Hopper, to not only have exceptional photographic talent but also such a beautiful model at your fingertips is just a double blessing!!! Wonderful image, as usual. :)

Windows to the Soul
by elsapo

Comment:
Just stunning, as usual!!!! I think you and she make an exquisite team. You're both going places!!!! :)

Undone
by jmoore

Comment:
One of my personal favorites in the challenge. Emotive, telling, and technically well-executed. Lovely treatment as well. Excellent work. :)

One year after ...
by Mambe

Comment:
...and you remain beautiful! Pink is a great color for you as well! Wonderful light, great sharpness, and unique. Wonderful job, Mambe! :) :) :)