Shhhhhhhh
by simplerlife

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

I'm sorry you haven't received any comments, hopefully this critique will help

I feel for your model this pose and the hard chair on which she is balanced looks very uncomfortable and because of that it makes me too feel uncomfortable. I'm all for originality but I think a more natural pose would have worked better perhaps sat on it facing the back with her legs either side. This pose is also making her shoulder massive by comparison to her lovely face.

I like the dark background and the way your model merges into it though I would have preferred it if the white dots on her shoes had been subdued or removed they spoil the effect somewhat. I like her red gloved hand and her action with her finger but the tip is a little too close to her nose. I like the reds throughout they work well but again, with that pose everything is dominated by the shoulder and for me loses its impact.

The lighting generally works apart from the chair legs which again hamper the effect of everything merging into the background. I think some sympathetic processing on the skin would also have helped overall.

I hope my comments don't come over too negative they are meant to be an honest appraisal of my reaction to the image, keep at itâ€Â¦ Sid

Broken lawn
by soniapino

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

My first impressions are that this not a lawn and does not meet the challenge brief.

This prompted me to google the definition of the word lawn and I was surprised to see that it is usually a plot of land that is mowed and cultivated so the key word here is usually but not always. So, with that in mind I have to broaden my outlook especially reading your location and description.

I do like your composition and I do like the colours, I also like that you have included the child for additional interest and impact, it works for me. I don't have a problem with the foreground tree I think it also helps direct attention towards the child.

Its funny isn't it, how the two comments you have received are both so opposite to each other in respect of the lighting. My own feelings on the lighting are mixed, the direct overhead lighting does nothing for the main subject which should be the 'lawn', but the bushes behind have some effective shadows that help break the background up.

What I don't like is the white area behind and to the right of the boy, I find it very distracting, also the brown area to the left of the boys head is equally distracting. I like that there is so much greenery in respect of the challenge brief and I also like the boys colours that help break it up. It looks as though it was appreciated by the voters with a reasonable score and no sub fours, so well done and happy shooting. Sid

e x p a n s i v e
by Ja-9

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

First of all, many congratulations on your blue ribbon.

What an impressive location, the avenue of trees are quite amazing. For a shot that is dominated by those trees and the path it says a lot about the overall impact of the shot that it has won this challenge brief of lawns.

I see you have received a comment about it being a rather too central composition but this is one of those situations where this is really the only viable composition, I don't even think a lower viewpoint or reducing the tree canopy would have worked, that would have placed far too much emphasis on the path itself which is obviously a complete no no here. Regarding the path, I see you wish you had put more detail and emphasis on the path, personally, I think the exact opposite especially in relation to the challenge theme I would prefer it even more subdued to reduce its competition with the lawns.

I have to say I'm not keen on the pink that pervades throughout the image, apart from the most obvious areas of the path and the pillars of the house it also seems to be present in the tree trunks too which just gives the image a rather unnatural look. The inclusion of the people, even as minute as they are, adds a welcome human element to the image.

Anyway, once more well done, keep 'em coming! Sid

Do you remember...5,4,3,2,1...Thunderbird are Go !!!!
by clickodak

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

A generally well constructed shot that meets the challenge well.

I'm afraid I can only vaguely recall the show, I like the viewpoint you have used and from memory I think you have used a commonly seen composition for your shot, you certainly seem to have convinced your two commenters, so well done for that. The lighting and exposure are good too.

Initially I thought it was a plain blue background but I see there are some subtle clouds there, unfortunately there is also a vapour trail to the lower left which once observed becomes a slight distraction. You have generally done a good job with your editing apart from the red nose cone which has a halo around it and again, once seen becomes more obvious.

I think you've done a good job of it, to be honest there's not a lot more I can add so 5,4,3,2,1â€Â¦ Sid

Homage to Three Worlds
by VBW

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

I must admit, whilst obviously, I've heard of MC Escher I had not heard of his three worlds so I had to google it, delightful. A competent image that meets the challenge and should have scored better, It certainly doesn’t deserve all those sub fours.

I really don't think you have a problem with the focus, you have to accept that you are shooting through water which inevitably is not going to give you the same sharpness as air. At least you have managed to avoid the common problem in this situation of focussing on the waters surface which certainly would have rendered the fish soft. If you manage to come up with the magic formula in post-processing that will render unsharp images sharp then I will be delighted to hear from you.

As you rightly point out the 'pollen' on the waters surface is distracting and would benefit from removal and it may be this alone that has resulted in its lower than deserved score. I know its removal would have been tedious but I think it would have been worthwhile. Perhaps a quicker approach would have been to select these with colour range and simply subdue them thus making them much less conspicuous.

I like the dynamic shape and the dorsal fin just breaking the surface, I like its vivid colouring, I like the distorted reflections from the ripples, the reflections themselves are not too bad either, shame there weren't the leaves to complete your homage but a very good attempt I would say.

Happy fishingâ€Â¦ Sid

sunset
by sidpixel

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*
Oh cor blimey, I've drawn my own image for critique! I didn't realise that could happen, ah well...

Well, I've certainly learnt a hard lesson from this to make sure I thoroughly check ALL the detail. Not only was this a rushed entry but I had thoroughly cleaned the sensor before going out so I didn't even bother to check for sensor dust, I should have done because I changed lenses several times. No excuses, lesson learnt.

The Dark World
by otto22

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

Congratulations on your 7th place finish with your high impact image that meets the challenge well.

I assume this is some sort of catherine wheel type firework? Anyway, you have chosen a very suitable subject and handled it very well with your sufficeintly long exposure to display it in a very interesting way. You have also wisely decided to include its reflection in the water thus making it more than doubly interesting because of the ripples on the waters surface, it works very well indeed.

Unfortunately I find myself inexorably drawn to the centre of the bright oval trying to work out the detail therein instead of admiring the rest of the image as fully as I want. I think there's an argument for cloning out this part of the image to avoid the distraction, funnliy enough the reflected part is nowhere near as distracting but for conformity you would probably need to remove that too.

I'm not sure I agree with one of your commenters about the photographers on the right, they are discrete enough not to interfere with the main interest and indeed you would expect something like this to be enjoyed by others as well and so it adds a human element to the story, so I like it.

The light from the firework adds a nice touch of light to the surrounding areas and against that rich blackness of the water and the navy of the sky with its specks of starlight works really well. You made an excellent job which has been justifiably rewarded by your voters, well done. Sid

Gravestones
by mklarenbeek

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

Welcome to DPC Michiel with a strong maiden entry that fulfils the challenge brief.

I like that you have converted it to mono and made good use of the tones available to you, I particularly like the sky with its lovely rich gradation though there do appear to be some problems in the lower left. I'm not sure if your commenter means this to be the banding problem but I don't see the sort of banding problems I would normally expect. This patch looks too abrupt and regular for that as though it is the remnants from some cloning or repair of some sort?

Given your exif it looks as though it was a very bright day which might explain why you've gone for such a small aperture, I would have thought you could probably have got everything as you wanted it with about f8, especially as you are using the wide angle end of your zoom. That's just an observation and makes no difference to your final image.

I do like the low viewpoint and composition, this is what gives your image its impact, well done. The shadows are a little dense, I would have liked to see just a bit of detail, I think the highlights are just about ok.

The one thing that mars the image is the lighting. If you had shot this at a different time of day when you had some oblique lighting on it, it would have really picked out all the lettering on the headstones and increased its appeal and impact enormously.

This is a very commendable start Michiel, we look forward to seeing lots more from you, Sid

You Will Not Be Forgotten
by Ja-9

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

I'm sorry to see that you didn't receive any comments, hopefully this will make up for it. In terms of the challenge brief, being a monument it obviously fulfils that.

You've chosen a pretty impressive monument for your subject and I like that you have converted it to mono with the most important parts of it standing out from the background. There are however, one or two things I am not keen on and might have done differently.

I am not happy with the overexposed sky but perhaps you gave it some +EC to get more detail into the faces? I'm not sure how close you were and what focal length you were using but looking at your exif there would have been some scope to use a larger aperture to reduce the detail in the background.

As it stands this is pretty much a record shot of a monument in other words it simply records it straight on without a lot of creative input, from this viewpoint I find the reflections in the base distracting. Given the nature of the subject I don't think you even need to include the base and I would have tried it from a position further to your left and closer in to frame them from the guns up using the flag itself as the main background. This position would also have overcome your sky problem and allowed you to get a better exposure of the faces and it would have stamped your own creative input to it.

I hope this helps, Sid

OKC: Remembering When Time Stood Still
by postoakinversion

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

First of all, congratulations on your 8th place result. The long exposure has enabled you to create an image with impact that has clearly been appreciated.

For me the sky with its motion blur from the clouds is what gives this image its impact, I also like the startbursts of the lights from the small aperture you have used. I'm not too keen on the wide angle effect on the buildings but I think if you had used perspective control you would have altered the whole image to its detriment. Equally, the more exaggerated an effect is the more acceptable it becomes.

The biggest problem I have here is the amount of overexposure from the illuminated areas. I tend to agree with your commenter that combining separate exposures may have been a better choice or perhaps a reversed graduated filter to reduce the exposure of the lower half may have worked better.

As a stranger, I need your description to confirm that this is indeed a monument, and the time, I assume is not a clock as I thought, but a permanent reminder of the time when the deed was done? So, given all that it obviously fits the challenge well.

All of this is rather academic given your result, well done.