The Truth according to Man
by dali_lama_2k

Comment:
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The Truth according to Man
by dali_lama_2k

Comment:
Hi, Critique Club here...

I get what you're going for here, but I think this might be a case where you can't get the feeling of being there to translate through a photograph. Your central points are the sign and the overall appearance of this lot and to that end, the placement of the sign is good, it's the first place I looked when I opened the image. Then my eye followed the strong leading line, which is the fence, but unfortunately the line leads us to a place in the photo that doesn't contain anything of interest - the middle right side. It's such a strong element in this photo that it's hard to get past it without being distracted by it. You have to make an effort to see beyond it to delve further into the image - not a good thing for a viewer. Also, I think the sign is too dark, I would have liked to have seen some detail in it.

The building that appears to be run down is in shadow which makes it hard to actually get the feel for it. Looking through the fence give the image a feeling of isolation, but at the cost of distracting the viewer from whats inside.
So I think to improve, you want to shoot at a time of day that best shows your subject. You'll also want to be conscious of what the various elements are contributing to what you're trying to say. Remember the old photography adage... What doesn't contribute to the photo, detracts from it.

To do well here, you'll have to either have eye candy, a hugely emotive subject, and/or a technically perfect image.

I hope you take this mostly negative critique in the spirit in which it was given - and rememeber, this is only one opinion and not gospel.

Good luck to you in future challenges.

Message edited by author 2010-02-27 15:18:32.

Small Yellow House
by soto

Comment:
Hi, Critique Club here...

The colors are great in this image, I really like the buildings and how the colors work with one another and how they play off the terrific blue sky. The exposure is right on, and sharpness is right there as well.

A couple commenters talked about the lower third of the image being a distraction, and I agree. I think it might have made a full point difference in your score if it had been cropped 90% out. Maybe there was a reason why you didn't, but without knowing the scene it would seem to me that this would have been a better shot in landscape to show more of the great architecture rather than in portrait showing the wall.

Hopefully this was helpful.

Minimal
by dahved

Comment:
Hi, Critique Club here...

I have to congratulate you for taking chances. Unfortunately, when you crawl out on a limb, sometimes it breaks. I think this one broke.

I think it scored low for a number of reasons.
1) People don't know what it is. If this were an abstract challenge, people would expect that but in these types of challenges it's mostly eye candy that scores well.
2) I pulled it in to Photoshop and it's a couple stops underexposed. That gives it a sort of muddy appearance.
3) The dark edge in the upper right is a bit of a distraction. I think you could have cropped it out and still maintained your rule of thirds as you did with this composition.

I hope this is somewhat helpful. Good luck in your next challenge.

Merry Go Round
by ankursomani

Comment:
Hi from the Critique Club...

Very colorful image here! I love the motion of the merry go round.

I would have liked it better if something was in focus, it looks like you tried it hand held. 4 seconds is a long time! The other thing is the light in the center is really bright and is a distraction. I don't know if there was another angle that would have minimized it, or if that's just the way it was. In any event, a large distracting element like that will get lower scores than one without.

I think it's quite artistic, even with all elements blurred and I rather like it. Now that the challenge is over, maybe you could try cloning the light out and see how you like it.

Winter Sunset over Lake Louise
by Citadel

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club...

I like this image. I like the tracks at the bottom because the lead the eye into the mountains. I wish the Sun wasn't quite so overexposed, but then the mountains would have been even darker and being a basic challenge, multiple exposures were out. I also would have liked to see the mountains lighter, but per above, you were limited.

One thing that could be better is there are halos around the edges of the mountains. I usually see these appear from too much sharpening or other processing in high contrast areas.

Sorry I can't give you a better critique, but I don't think there was much you could do better under the circumstances.

A house in the woods
by arndis

Comment:
Greetings, Critique Club here.

I think this fits the challenge well. I think you did a good job of controlling the whites and keeping the subject well exposed. I like that you got the rocks in the picture for some foreground interest.

To me, this suffers from not being very dynamic. I think it's a bit linear due to being taken from pretty much straight on. I also think it's too squashed in the frame. I think if you had a wider shot so you could have captured more of the environment around it (assuming the environment is picture worthy), and gotten it from more of a 3/4 angle, it would have scored better.

Keep in mind this is just one person's opinion, do with it what you wish.

ice
by alina

Comment:
Hi, Critique Club here...

I have to applaud you for taking chances by rotating the image the way you did. Unfortunately, it doesn't work very well for me.
The vertical line on the left is too strong for the more subdued colors of the ice so that gets all the attention.
There is a weird color cast on the background behind it too. Maybe since there is so little color you could have just gone completely black and white.
The diagonal line of the ice makes the eye want to follow it, but upon arrival at the end, there is nothing there.

Overall, I think this one is kind of flat and not very interesting to look at. But as I said before, good on you for thinking out of the box. Keep working at it, good things will come.

Nap anyone? 1, 2, 3,.....
by jayzundel

Comment:
Hi, Critique Club here...

Great interpretation on the challenge theme - very creative.

I think you did a great job exposing for the sheep while keeping the white snow white and not blown out. I like that the three sheep in front are looking at you.

But there is something, I think compositionally, that is not fully engaging me and I can't quite put my finger on what it is. Maybe it's that the three main figures are too centered. Maybe they are too linear and in a predicable pose in relation to the camera. Maybe it's the sheep on the left that is looking out of the frame and creating an implied line that my eye wants to follow. To be honest, I'm not sure what the missing piece is.

A couple thoughts.
1) try cropping the sheep that's not paying attention out, that would eliminate that distraction as well as move the main group off center.
2) get low for a more dramatic angle. People get used to seeing things from eye level so shooting from a different angle gets our attention.
3) maybe isolate just a few (usually use odd numbers in composition) to provide a stronger focal point to engage the viewer.

Not saying that any of the above are right, just food for thought.

If I had voted in this challenge, I would have given this a 6.

Hopefully this is somewhat helpful for giving you things to consider.

Keep having fun!

Night At The (Glass) Museum
by smardaz

Comment:
Hi, Critique Club here...

I like a lot of things about this image. I like the richness of the blacks, The direction of the glass sculpture and the leading lines of the row of lights. Problem is though that I'm not sure I like them all in the same photograph. To me, there are a lot of elements competing for attention. It's hard for me to follow the sculpture into the picture and not be distracted by the bright lights and lines on the left. Same with the single bright light on the right.

There are a couple issues that stand out for me.
1) as already mentioned, too many strong elements competing with one another.
2) the subject, the glass sculpture, is devoid of detail in some areas. I realize shooting glass is difficult, but since you chose it as your subject matter...
3) the composition could be a little tighter. I played a bit by moving this around on my monitor to see if I could find a stronger composition and I found that (to me) it was stronger if I cropped from the right to the edge of the sculpture to eliminate the bar and the majority of the light on that side. From the bottom just past the blue reflection, which to me is a distraction. From the left just past the first yellow/orange light. That was just to move the end of the glass sculpture a little more off center. The result of the crops above would result in more of a pano crop but I don't think that's bad. Of course the cropping is all artistic vision so I'm just presenting you with something to think about, not what's right or wrong.

Once again, I like the image but these are my opinions about what would make it better for me.