• Let there be peace on earth ~ And let it begin with me •
by Ja-9

Comment:
Hello from the Critique club

An interesting image that meets the challenge

To echo one of your commenters, very appropriate for a Christmas card, indeed you may even have done exactly that with it, in which case you should have some happy friends and relatives. The decorations are appealing against the soft focus background, composition is good too, all very appropriate for the time of year and challenge. Though I know its difficult there are a lot of blown highlights I am not so keen on

Thank you for your entry Janine, hope you have a lovely festive holiday and a creative New Year to you.

Holidays together
by Silent_Jimmy

Comment:
Hello from the Critique club

An interesting image that meets the challenge

I think you have found a relevant scene where you have the potential to mimic the distinct shapes of the church with the foreground and this may indeed have been your intention but I don't feel it made the most of the potential. First I think a bit tighter crop was needed, by going in a little closer on the foreground end excluding some of the distracting reds on the edge of the frame together with less sky. By moving a little further to the left you could have mimicked the background church's shape in the foreground more effectively. Having said all that, if that was not even your intention then please ignore everything I've said!

Thank you for your entry, hope you have a lovely festive holiday and a creative New Year to you.

What is the true meaning of Christmas?
by tolovemoon

Comment:
Hello from the Critique club

An interesting image that meets the challenge

This is a nice decoration to have chosen for your subject, I like that you have filled the frame and included its hanging string against a soft focus background, however, I do think you could probably have improved the background? As it is on string I would imagine you could have twisted it round to a position that enabled you to avoid the distracting bright light? The light is completely overblown as are parts of the frame and leaves on the left too. The decoration itself lacks sharpness which may be a focussing issue, movement of the decoration or more likely some camera shake from the slow shutter speed. You did right to use a high ISO to raise the shutter speed and this may even be your highest shutter speed? A tripod or stable support would be very highly recommended in this situation and would have enabled you to use a lower ISO too.

Thank you for your entry, hope you have a lovely festive holiday and a creative New Year to you.

Moravian Star
by dpeden182

Comment:
Hello from the Critique club

An uninspiringing image that meets the challenge

The star itself is quite impressive but I'm afraid the rest of the image doesn't really have a lot going for it. I like that your composition is off-centre but I really think your choice of subject would have been better suited to portrait orientation to balance more coloured lights against the large star which dominates the image. As for the moon it is so insignificant especially in the context of the star I think you would be better to remove it to be honest. As for the figure it is so ill-defined that most people may probably not see it at all which is probably a bonus because once seen it becomes an irritant and again would be better removed.

The main problem is it is black with a big star and a few coloured lights but there isn't sufficient detail anywhere to hold you, it just isn't interesting enough, sorry.

Thank you for your entry, hope you have a lovely festive holiday and a creative New Year to you.

Santa and His Reindeer
by dtremain

Comment:
Hello from the Critique club

An appealing image that meets the challenge well

Very creatively done, this is an excellent way to approach your subject, though I'm probably biased because of my love of reflections! There's very little not to like here, I like the clarity of the glass reflection against the darker mass of the rest of the image, I like the missing bits on the door pillar, I like the chrome strip reflections. I adore the bodywork reflection and its distortions. I like your composition and the placement of the reflections, especially the sledge over the door handle, it all works very well for me.

The only minor criticisms I do have concern the top of the image, in particular the distracting highlights, they would be better cloned out and the whole of the top dodged to subdue it to the same level of darkness as the rest of the image.

Thank you for an excellent image, hope you have a lovely festive holiday and a creative New Year to you.

Me 'n my Girl
by eniko

Comment:
What a gorgeous image Eniko, though I'd probably prefer the original without the filter.

all at once
by jagar

Comment:
Congratulations, a truly excellent image!

A wonderful mix of allegory and pathos, perfect timing and composition together with lovely mono processing, superb. Well done John

Bloated...In Death as in Life
by Phocal

Comment:
Hello from the Critique club

An interesting image that meets the challenge.

Great use of fisheye lens to create an allegorical illusion as you have. I like your mono processing, perfect for the subject it enhances it very effectively. The vault you have used is also perfect for the scene with its cracks and ageing textures it adds a realistic impression to the concept you are trying to convey. I see you were disappointed with the light, a photographers recurring difficulty, but given the nature of the subject I would say this has worked well for you especially the dramatic sky. Just a couple of minor criticisms, that white knob stands out like a sore thumb, it just keeps drawing your eyes to it, I think it would benefit from some dodging to subdue it a little. The other thing is the very tight crop, its just too tight. I can understand your dilemma, to get the most out of your lens you needed to be in close to exaggerate the distortions but I just wish we could see all of it complete.

Great subject, great image, well done Ronnie.

The Struggle
by tanguera

Comment:
Hello from the Critique club

An exemplary image that meets the challenge fully

Congratulations on your excellent result for your equally excellent image, and thanks also for the synopsis of all the hard work you had to go to in order to create the image, we are all indebted to you.

This is very allegorical and symbolic of the troubled times we are living through. The pose of the two men is very dynamic and your splendid choice of lighting has defined the physique well, especially of 'faith'. That same lighting generally works well in defining the most important aspects of the image to good advantage amongst the predominant darkness which in itself is equally important in making the image work as well as it does. I would imagine it was difficult to decide on the right pose that gave both equal emphasis whilst still looking authentically combative, I would say you have achieved it well. I can also imagine how hard it was to time their falling cloths with the shutter to achieve the dynamic result you needed and again I would say you have achieved it well.

The only minor criticism I would voice concerns the effect of the lighting which has given emphasis to the white cloth making it stand out quite significantly from the rest of the image especially in relation to the red which also given it smaller size is comparatively insignificant. The same lighting is also causing near blown highlights on the left of the reason banner. I would suggest that some dodging on these two aspects would correct this minor problem.

I would say you achieved your goal of a biblical scene and your comments about the banners are relevant but I would say they do not adversely affect the end result. It's good to see that it has been so well received in terms of votes and comments, very well done Johanna, another to proudly add to your massive roll of DPC achievements!

Exhaustion
by Phocal

Comment:
Hello from the Critique club

An interesting image that meets the challenge well.

Congratulations on the ribbon, very well deserved. A great image that captures both the strength and the fatigue. I like to do cycle racing shots myself and end up with no end of 'head down no eyes shots' so this challenge would have been a welcome relief to such as myself! Your focus and DOF is accurate and appropriate and coincidentally echoed by the name of the bike too. I have to make comment about the background which I do find a rather unfortunate distraction and wonder, contrary to my previous comment, if a smaller aperture to bring out enough detail to recognise it better may have improved it.

Well done for submitting such a strong shot that has been justifiably well received