Wintertime in the fishing village
by Drake

Comment:
Hello from the Critique club

An appealing image that meets the challenge

I can see why this place appeals to you so, it appeals to me too, all those lovely old wooden structures and walkways. I generally like your composition, the river with its reflections an ice shapes is enticing. I like that you have converted it to mono however the tonal range and contrast is somewhat limited, you should have made much better use of the filters to emphasise certain aspects of the image more then others. The one thing that really lets the shot down is the blown sky which in itself is something to be avoided but it is also very dominant in the image overall. I think you could have greatly improved the end result by tilting the camera down to avoid this bright sky so that the you excluded it in preference for more walkway foreground. You would still have had an interesting sky in what was left of it.

Thank you for your entry in this very demanding challenge

Northern Lights over Vermilion Lakes
by Citadel

Comment:
Hello from the Critique club

An appealing image that meets the challenge

The Northern lights are a spectacular event to witness and especially to photograph and there have been a lot of amazing examples on DPC over the years. Your image whilst it might not be the most impressive in terms of the aurora itself is nonetheless very pleasing because you have made the effort to compose it using a landscape that would stand on its own merits alone. The foregrounds are often very tricky in this situation but I think you have handed it quite well with sufficient detail to enhance the landscape. The sky and clouds are a spectacular addition but they do dominate the aurora to a somewhat minor entity so reducing its impact a little.

A great image in a tough challenge, thanks for your entry

Liquid Art #11 ~ Hat & Ruffle
by Ecce_Signum

Comment:
Hello from the Critique club

An appealing image that meets the challenge

Truly an artistic result. I'm sure a lot of patience was needed to get this high standard image of a technically challenging subject, thanks for all the technical detail. The focus is nice and sharp throughout with the action frozen in sharp detail. The colours add to the appeal, the way they have separated with the little yellow fringe is just great. The only thing I can question about it is whether it might have been better to exclude the top drop, I think I would have preferred it without but thats just my personal opinion.

I'm sure you had a lot of fun doing this if not only from the many different shapes you will have encountered. In any other challenge this would have been on the front page but well done anyway.

-Flight-Path-
by sfalice

Comment:
Hello from the Critique club

An appealing image that meets the challenge

It certainly fulfils the challenge brief isolated against the plain sky as it is. There appears to be a lot less detail in the bird than I would have expected, it looks as though its been cropped from a much larger image although the lens suggests that this is not the case? There is a lot of noise in the image which is, I suspect, why it has not been as well received by your voters as perhaps you would have expected. I wonder why you used such a small aperture I would have thought f8 would have sufficed which would have enabled you to shoot it at ISO 400 for a much less noisy image. Also as the bird was soaring a slower shutter speed at about 1/1000 would also have sufficed again easing the ISO/noise problem further.

I think there is a strong argument for significantly increasing the brightness of the sky to raise it to a high key alternative.

As for the bird, I'm probably wrong but it looks like a herring gull to me. Sorry you didn't receive any comments during the challenge, I hope this makes up for it. Thank you for your entry.

Bischuit crum
by RussianMasterPhotographer

Comment:
Hello from the Critique club

An amusing image that does not meet the challenge

Thank you for making me laugh RMP. Your take on the challenges here is always interesting and you are continuing to maintain your high standards here again. What about a suggestion as opposed to your low key approach you could try a high key alternative?

Thank you for your entry.

Incoming
by Phocal

Comment:
Hello from the Critique club

An appealing image that meets the challenge

The way the water and the misty background merge seamlessly into one is what makes this works so well. The composition is good. It is certainly minimalist though any more than what we have would start to lose the feel, in other words there is just enough. A plain post may have been preferable but there was nothing you could do about it at the shooting stage I think it would improve it if the notice were removed.

I find the exposure way too dark and too low in contrast, I think this would be greatly improved with several stops more exposure to brighten everything up substantially, it would make a great high key shot.

Thank you for your entry.

On the edge
by tosk

Comment:
Hello from the Critique club

An appealing image that meets the challenge

Definitely minimalist! I love your angle of view, as you say, it looks as though its balancing a piece of wire. The composition is good with plenty of negative space, The lighting is good, it reveals the orange's roundness well, the whiteness of the wire stands out well. The only minor criticism is the bright light of the right of the frame, I think a more uniform background would probably have worked a little better. Generally, a good shot that fulfils the challenge brief very well.

I'm sorry you didn't receive any comments during the challenge, I hope this makes up for that. Thank you for your entry.

Hiding in the limbs
by Drake

Comment:
Hello from the Critique club

An appealing image that does not meet the challenge

Whilst it is a very appealing image Drake, I don't see it as a minimalist image in any way. The focus is nice and clearly defined on this very attractive bird with a shallow DOF to isolate the bird both from the foreground and background. That is where the problem is, there is too much foreground and background for a minimalist shot, if we simply had the bird on 1 twig against a plain sky background then it would be fine. The twigs and foliage are just too much and, interesting as the snow may be, it adds another element where we are seeking the opposite.

Thank you for your entry.

Life is a Masquerade
by vawendy

Comment:
This really should have scored higher, it got a 9 from me, but regardless of the score its still a stunner, thanks for sharing it with us.

Art Of Cycling
by robst

Comment:
Undoubtedly my favourite of the challenge with a very rare 10 from me, perfectly captured