Tire Pump Tradesmen
by tegarahadinata

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

A poorly executed image that meets the challenge.

Can I begin by echoing your commenter Deve and welcome you to DPC. One thing about DPC as you have found with this entry, is that they are not very tolerant of technical flaws such as poor focus, camera shake etc., and this is reflected by your own comments and in your low score.

You say you were in motion as you were taking the image? If that is the case, I strongly advise you to stop and take your time over your next opportunity! Unless you were speeding by even at 1/500s you should have got a sharper result than this, but it may be the equivalent of camera shake but I think the problem is more likely to be poor focus. Either way the end result is far from perfect. You also have some flare in the right of the frame which I can't logically account for unless you were shooting through a window?

Having said everything I have which all sounds rather negative I do like your composition with the main subject at the bottom of the frame. The lighting is such that it emphasises the tradesmans vehicle with his company name on so towards that end it adds to the challenge theme.

I'm sorry you have got off to a lowly start but I hope you will have learnt from your efforts how important the technicalities are in getting a quality image. I wish you well with all your future entries, Sid

We started dying before the snow, and like the snow, we continued to fall.
by posthumous

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An intriguing image needing the title too to fulfil the challenge brief.

Given the nature of the challenge the title is as much a part of the viewers interpretation and therefore the end result as the image itself. I like the high contrast mono treatment you have given the image, I like the gritty irregular surface of both the road and the snow it works well together. I like the diagonal of the composition.

I can see the relevance of the snow in your image but I am struggling to see how the road marking contributes. My interpretation, which may well be wrong, is that it signifies divergence or splitting up and that in doing so the loss of our collective strength and so we will fall? Or is it that the road marking is showing signs of decay and was starting to fail before the snows came and they will soon cover it completely? Your comment about a Google shoehorn doesn't help me, I don't understand it. However, like ubique I was intrigued by the title and had to check it out on Amazon, it looks absolutely my sort of book so thanks for the lead! Perhaps you will read the book too?

Thank you for yet another stimulating entry, Sid

Thinking of all I had lost in the course of my life: times gone for ever, friends who'd disappeared.
by tegarahadinata

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An image with potential whose title fits the challenge.

Given the nature of the challenge the title is as much a part of the viewers interpretation and therefore the end result as the image itself, taking both into account here I feel you have not made the most of the opportunity. I may be wrong but it just doesn't feel as though much thought or effort has gone into it.

I assume your crooked placement of the clock is deliberate though I'm not sure what if any relevance it has to the effect you were after. So, we have a crooked clock against an out of focus background of what? Clutter? Again I can't make the background contribute to the end result. The clock itself is poorly lit with harsh shadows some of which are obscuring parts of the face. I like that its in mono but thats a purely personal thing.

I think to give your title more meaning that I would have put the clock round to its correct position against a sufficiently focused background of an empty bed with ruffled pillows signifying the friend who has disappeared or something along those lines.

Sorry I couldn't be more positive but thanks for your submission, Sid

"It Was Love At First Sight", Joseph Heller, Catch-22
by Drake

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

A great capture whose title fills the challenge brief.

Wow, from one eagle study straight to another of yours and an excellent capture it is too! I can see that eagles are indeed a favourite of yours and your perseverance has paid off well here you have a great action shot. I can understand your love of the birds but I wonder how many others here will share it certainly some will but not all which means the image on its own without your title will probably not fulfil the challenge brief therefore it is dependant upon your title.

With regards to the shot itself, you have a great panning shot that has captured good sharp detail of the bird particularly those talons, I wouldn't like to be on the receiving end of those! I'm no expert on eagles particularly bald eagles but I assume the colouring of the head is due to this being an immature bird? The wing shape is good but I would prefer to see some motion in the wingtips with a lower shutter speed but that's just me, I know most people here seem to like everything frozen with high shutter speeds. The other thing I would prefer is a little more room for the bird to fly into, your composition is good and with the available space gives a little more room for it but there's the problem for me, it is just too tightly cropped. The dark patch below him might be better if it were merged more into the surroundings but its a minor point.

All in all an excellent shot, I look forward to more eagles from you, Sid.

"Already Gone", by the Eagles......
by Drake

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

A good wildlife capture that fits the challenge well.

A good capture your timing and subject fits the title and challenge perfectly. I like that you have managed to get good detail in the birds against that bright sky. Talking of sky it is so bright it is overpowering and would benefit from being subdued somewhat. It would also be good if the whites of the birds, in particular their heads, could be improved they have a blueish tint that detracts.

There's nothing you can do about it I know, but the birds wings are tending to be camouflaged by all the tree's structure which is unfortunate as its not showing them at their best. Your composition is good with room for the bird to fly into whilst still giving sufficient space for the remaining bird. I think your bright sky is the biggest problem here the image actually hurts your eyes if you look at it too long.

Thanks for your submission, Sid

Who'll Stop The Rain
by HUETH

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An interesting image that meets the challenge.

I am not familiar with the song so I'll be guided by your image and title to assume that it fulfils the challenge brief. Many photographers put their cameras away at the first hint of rain, I'm glad you didn't, rain creates many more possibilities. I love the ripples from the raindrops and I like the diagonal reflection, I think it adds interest. What I am not sure about is the red at the top right, it doesn't feel enough of a feature to add to the overall image it feels more like an intruder.

Excuse my ignorance but CCR doesn't mean anything to me so its not helping in my interpretation. If you imagine yourself as an insect this must appear like our oceans do to us and as such it has interesting features such as islands with the main one forming the focal point.

Thanks for your submission, Sid

Stairway to Heaven
by mrjssims

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An interesting image that meets the challenge well.

What a novel and original interpretation of the song, I like it. I was thinking its a shame we don't have the first two strings as bright as the others and then I realised we are looking down from the top of the neck and these are the thinner top strings.

I like your wide open aperture and resulting shallow DOF and the chosen focus point, its working very well. I also like the mono conversion. I still keep looking at those top two strings its a shame they're lost by comparison though I doubt there's much you can do about that. Perhaps a slightly smaller aperture may have defined them over the frets more?

In respect of the challenge title the frets translate very nicely into a musical stairway to heaven, I like your thinking, thank you for a great submission, Sid

I Just Wanna Dance
by MAK

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An atmospheric shot that meets the challenge.

I wasn't sure at first that this fulfilled the challenge in that it should evoke the emotion you feel when you hear your favourite song but I can see from your title and the inclusion of the dancers that in fact it meets the challenge well. That looks like a nice lens that you have used to full advantage, the shallow DOF works well and there are some nice colours.

Whilst I don't like blown highlights, its inevitable in this scene that you are going to get them but in fact they are such a part of the scene that they add to the overall effect. I like the green and red rim lighting on the subjects. I don't think the ceiling apparatus adds anything and the frame would have been better lowered to include more of the foreground people in preference which would also have emphasised the dancing element more.

A good entry thanks for submitting, Sid

Trinity
by OK-Photography

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

Congratulations on your top ten finish for a fascinating and well executed image that fully meets the challenge.
I love your original (well, it is to me) and unique interpretation of the challenge brief I can only imagine the amount of �sweat and serious work� that went into it. I had forgotten all about this technique, I remember reading about it a long time ago but I have never tried it myself, I suppose the occasions where it is appropriate are few and far between but I'm glad you resurrected this for me.

I whole heartedly agree with you, the matches are an absolutely essential component of the whole image, you have captured them very well though I do have a problem with the large area of blown highlight on the end match, its a shame. The threes themselves have come out very well, I love their colours and am mystified how you achieved the variations of colour was this through the flash gel? If so, how come the colours are not universal or is it a combination of separate images?

Anyway, the end result was well worth all the effort, most enjoyable, thanks for submitting, Sid

Full steam ahead
by asij

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

Congratulations for your top ten placing for a fun image that meets the challenge well.

There must have been a lot of time and effort that went into the creation of this appealing and humorous image. I am not at all qualified to critique your compositing skills, although I have a basic appreciation I have never done any at all so I will approach this from the end result as an image in its own right regardless of the process involved.

My first impressions are of a fun image that has been well executed for an impressive end result. I like your composition with the main character in the lower right with plenty of fascinating detail throughout the rest of the image. I love his 'Heath Robinson' gun so intricately constructed and implausible that one would imagine on pulling the trigger a flag appearing with the word 'bang!'. The facial additions and his expression make him look deadly in an 'only joking' sort of way that adds to the humorous impression.

The background landscape is all very interesting and convincingly conceived, I like the steam train and its position but most of all I adore that airship its really the icing on the cake adding the final confirmation that this is an image to be savoured for its humour.

Well worth all the effort it must have taken and a pleasure to be able offer my thoughts, such as they are, thank you for submitting, Sid.