A Stained Legacy
by vtruan

Comment:
I gave you 8 for courage.

Conspiracy of Silence
by roadrunner

Comment:
Congrats on the Ribbon with an outstanding concept and image for conspiracy.

Men In Black Agent
by Joey Lawrence

Comment:
well done Joey well deserved Blue ribbon in this image.

The Puppeteer
by Mark

Comment:
Excellent image for this challenge. Just a fantstic silhouette but what I like most is the classic case of all conspiracy of who is pulling the strings. Great idea for the challenge

Bit of the Irish in her.
by BrennanOB

Comment:
Congratulations on the top 5 finish, unlucky not to ribbon but still a great score in a very hard challenge.

Underneath our Fountain
by AP

Comment:
Hello from the critique club,

I think you have an excellent idea here but it needed just a couple of compositional changes and you would have gained a much higher score.

If you were able to produce this image in a more landscape format I think it would have had much more impact. I'm just presuming the background on the left side continued to be dark out of the frame then it would have been nice to see every little bit of spray and droplet against the dark background that would have added a little negative space and given you more contrast to the water which is your theme area of high contrast.

By adding more dark space to the left you could have then cropped up higher at the bottom to the point where it would appear the the cherubs were standing on a rock. This then would have given a more balanced view and helped in obtaining that rule of thirds.

Some earlier comment have mentioned that the cherubs were a little soft in focus but I find that appealing in the sense that they are seen through a veil of water mist and are a mystical figure.

You could have added to the high contrast simply by gaining more interest in the water spray as mentioned in the composition changes above but also i would have not used neat-image this has softened the water and I feel to gain even further contrast you could have done a couple of simple adjustments before converting to B/W, these being (PS:CS) image - adjustment - selective color - use white channel - reduce black color by 60- 70%. This method works very simply and you would have no need to use levels the way you have, similiar effects can be achieved in shadow/highlight.

Overall you had a good image that finished with a good score but it could have scored much higher. The changes mentioned would have let you achieve some of that illusive "wow factor". Good luck with your future challenge entries and I hope you enjoy the site.

Nature's Fireworks
by pedahel7

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

This was a good idea to use the light on the foreground plants and dark background to produce the high contrast.

It appears that your focal point was at the rear of the plants where perhaps you would have gained a better effect if your focal point was at the front of the plants,leaving the out of focus plants in the background.

The composition could have probably been improved by having a little more dark background at the top of the image.

This challenge was a very difficult one to score high in and your finished score of 5.1398 was probably on par for this competition. If I had voted on this challenge I would have scored it 5 - 6 as it does not have a lot of the so called "wow" factor but more of a nice nature shot.

Overall it was a good idea but was in a very difficult challenge to score well. I wish you luck and hope you enjoy future challenge entries.

a soldier's rest
by okiesisi

Comment:
Greetings from the critique club,

This is a very interesting photo that has much appeal about it. Unlike many of the comments you received I think the circle frame that is off centre is a real treat and adds a certain amount irony given the subject matter. Although I'm not real sure how you achieved it.

I like the candid moment you have caught here it really gives the viewer something to ponder what the soldier is writing and who is the letter for, surely a tender moment for a loved one.

It is a shame that the highlights in the hand and face area have been blown out which has caused a great loss in detail but as you mentioned in your notes it was your first attempt and for a first attempt it is very good.

I hope you continue to improve and enjoy the DPC community and wish you well in future challenges and please keep mtrying to be different it is what keeps us as individuals and your frame in this image was a great idea.

Lift Off
by ShannonLee

Comment:
Greetings from the critique club,

My first impression of this image is that you have achieved the objectives of the challenge by producing this high contrast image. On further inspection it appears that the contrast has been achieved post production which is fine to do but it looks like you have adjusted curves or levels a little too much which has pixelated the sky.

Composition wise the image is Ok with the seagull in a good position and caught well in stop action but the horizon looks slightly tilted and perhaps you have too much negative space with the sky, which adds little to the picture other then a nice blue color.

On a more positive note this is not an easy shot to achieve without completely blowing out the highlights in the waves, which are slightly blown out in places but you can still see plenty of detail in most of the waves.I'm not sure if you have over increased saturation but the foreground sand area looks a little unatural in color this can also lead to the pixelated sky which by the way could probably be corrected with neat-image if you are that way inclined.

Your final score of 4.675 is probably on par for this challenge and had I voted on this challenge it would have been a score of 5 or 6.

I hope I have helped you with this citique and feel free to e-mail me if you have any queries regarding my comments. I wish you all the best in future challenge and hope you enjoy the DPC community.

Bit of the Irish in her.
by BrennanOB

Comment:
This is a great portriat ! You have got the lighting and exposure perfect, I hope this scores as high as it deserves. Well done