Hidden Slide
by WonderDude

Comment:
Hello from the Critique Club

An interesting image that meets the challenge.

Yep, there's certainly no mistaking that is well and truly a diagonal! I would concur with your commenters remarks. Although the slide dominates all too clearly the background is also rather too busy. Given the wide angle lens you are using a shallow DOF is not really possible in which case a different viewpoint would have been more effective. I think given the lovely sky I would have gone for a lower viewpoint isolating the slide against the sky and removing the ground level background distractions completely, this would have given it more impact. As it is it is really a family snapshot recording a day out with the kids on a slide, you need more than that to make an impact here.

Thanks for your submission, Sid

Wish it big, or life will seem small.
by EmilyMaeExposures

Comment:
Hello from the Critique Club

An appealing image that is deemed to meet the challenge

An excellent macro of this seed head that shows of the intricate structure at its best. My own perception of bokeh has always been much more clearly identified with specular highlights as opposed to soft or OOF areas which is where I would place your entry. The challenge brief would also seem to veer more towards the soft focus rendering than my own interpretation so feel free to ignore my comments.

I like your off-centre composition it shows the plant's natural surroundings in soft focus that does not detract from the main subject. Your DOF has captured detail in all the important areas well but the sympathetic lighting has also highlighted those delicate areas to perfection.

Welcome to DPC, I see this is your maiden entry, very well done, what a great start, I look forward to seeing more of your lovely work soon, Sid

clouds obscured by sunflower
by posthumous

Comment:
Hello from the Critique Club

An intriguing image that meets the challenge.

You have an interesting abstract here that is one of the few images in this challenge that, in my interpretation of bokeh, actually meets the challenge. The challenge brief and the entries are heavily skewed towards soft focus as opposed to specular highlights such as yours has in the upper left, that is my idea of true bokeh. Having had the privilege to closely observe much of your work this abstract follows your pursuit for originality that doesn't always appeal to the masses here.

Spider
by Shojuro

Comment:
Hello from the Critique Club

An appealing image that is deemed to meet the challenge

A potentially good effort but marred by focus and DOF softness. My own perception of bokeh has always been much more clearly identified with specular highlights as opposed to soft or OOF areas which is where I would place your entry. The challenge brief would also seem to veer more towards the soft focus rendering than my own interpretation so feel free to ignore my comments.

I think you have probably made the best job you could in the circumstances but there is too little of the spider in sharp enough focus for it to work effectively. Its one of the limitations of macro work but the closer you are to the subject the shallower the DOF. I see from your settings that at your chosen aperture you were already on a high ISO with too slow a shutter speed to hand hold. Ideally, you ought to have had a tripod with a smaller aperture, say f16, use manual focus with magnified live view and using a remote release or the self timer you would not have had any camera shake but a sharper image with good focus and DOF.

I like your composition it works well, thanks for your entry, Sid

Focus on the Fly
by WonderDude

Comment:
Hello from the Critique Club

An appealing image that is deemed to meet the challenge

Another well executed macro with good composition and repetition through the use of a soft focus background. My own perception of bokeh has always been much more clearly identified with specular highlights as opposed to soft or OOF areas which is where I would place your entry. The challenge brief would also seem to veer more towards the soft focus rendering than my own interpretation so feel free to ignore my comments.

Your composition works well in placing the fly on one of the RoT hotspots, I particularly like the soft focus flower in the background it adds a lot to the end result. You have captured the fly's iridescence well, an essential element of the image. I'm pleased to see you have invested in good software you will eventually reap the benefit as you learn to get the best from it.

I look forward to your continuing contributions, Sid

Looking for an late afternoon snack
by WonderDude

Comment:
Hello from the Critique Club

An appealing image that contributes well to the open challenge

What a lovely colourful butterfly you've captured here in a profile that shows off his remarkable colouring well. You've quickly adapted and learnt an important lesson of macro photography, to set your lens to the focussing distance you want and move the camera its by far the most effective technique to use, well done. It's a fairly minor point but I would prefer it if your composition was more to the right, as it is I feel the left hand edge is a bit close to the main subject, the butterfly, with space to spare on the right of the flower.

Given the very soft focus background I think you would have been better to use a smaller aperture that would have got the whole of the butterfly in good sharp focus with a little more, though still not distracting, detail in the background. I like your placement of the insects head and the flower head in the brighter part of the background. All in all, its a very competent macro that has the essential elements in good detail.

Thank you for your entry, Sid

Pondering at the Ponderosa
by WonderDude

Comment:
Hello from the Critique Club

A portrait that meets the challenge

A quite straightforward portrait made more distinctive through the use of selective desat which although it separates the subject from the background very effectively I am not personally a fan of this technique. Without your comments and given his clothing I would take him for a cowboy as opposed to a musician especially against the background with the sheriff’s star symbol. It would be more representative of his profession if he was holding an instrument he uses.

The DOF, focus and exposure are all good and whilst your image is perfectly acceptable and competently done it lacks the sort of impact needed to elevate it to the front page but it has been respectably received here so well done.

Thanks for your submission, Sid

In the Heat Of The Night
by imshmo

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An interesting attempt that meets the challenge

A warm welcome to DPC. You have approached this challenge in an unusual and creative way, most people have gone for the more obvious profile of person or animal not an object. However, it is for this reason, most probably, that it has not done as well as you would have hoped. The main problem really is that the object you are profiling is itself in the dark and illuminating the rest of the room and therefore it is the room that dominates, not the object itself. You would have been better to throw a little light on the side of the fire so that you could bring out a little detail and make it feature more strongly.

As regards the image itself, your composition is appropriate with the object given sufficient space but as previously mentioned it is not able to dominate effectively. You have obviously used a tripod which is commendable especially as it has enabled you to use a lower ISO though the image is noisy this is a characteristic inevitable with your compact camera that would have been far worse any higher up the ISO scale.

This is a very commendable attempt for your first entry showing creative thought and good execution, we will all look forward to seeing many more entries from you, Sid

Scream
by snaffles

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An interesting image that fully meets the challenge

As you say, a nude without any naughty bits, well done. It's a great image, very dynamic and appealing it conveys the liberating moment well, I do love your expression, I can hear you screaming! Whilst I do like the image overall I find the area around your hair very distracting, I assume you have done some deliberate post processing to make the dark hair stand out from the dark background? It doesn't work for me I wish it had been left with it merging naturally into the background.

Your lighting is good it illuminates your body well, nice and evenly with just one small and acceptable highlight on the crossbar. Talking of crossbars, I think you would have made the image even more effective by taping over the name transfer on the bike, it is actually quite distracting and its name doesn't add anything to the end result at all.

I like the natural and unpolished look and I agree with your sentiments about Western norms, by presenting yourself in this natural way you have made the end result much more attractive but I must add that you're in pretty good nick anyway.

Thank you for your great entry, Sid

frak(t)SHər
by Ja-9

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An appealing image that is assumed to meet the challenge

This lovely image is all about the lighting. I love the way the extreme low angle of the light highlights the edges of the ripples and creates these dark contrasting shadowed edges too, this together with generally low contrast image makes for an absorbing study. The intervening shapes all add to the end result too for an intriguing end result.

The diagonals of your composition complement the subject well.

The challenge brief sounds very open-ended so within the context of the challenge it works. Thanks for another interesting entry, Sid