Jaws
by gmink

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

A good macro that meets the challenge well.

The original image is a good macro and most definitely inanimate, a great idea. However, the processing has let it down badly, it has left it looking unnatural and below par. There is a lot of noise which at ISO 1600 with a modern camera is surprising unless this is a compact camera, which having just googled it I see it isn't. The end result is a loss of detail where it matters all those edges and the striations of the metal should be pin sharp and they are not but in a noisy sort of way.

Your exposure is just a little too much, there are areas of the image where the exposure is blown, for example the edges of the handles at the lower half of the frame and the tips of the jaws and the screw itself, all important areas. Some loss of detail may also be explained with the very small aperture you have used. I know the DOF can be exceedingly shallow but assuming this is your smallest aperture I would always use a stop less ie., f24 as you will get loss of detail through diffraction with the smallest apertures of your lens.

I think it is for these reasons that this excellent idea did not fare better with the voters. Thanks for your submission and apologies for the delayed critique, as they say, 'better late than never', or at least I hope it is, Sid.

Please feel free to reciprocate on any of my images, I would welcome your feedbackâ€Â¦

Mute Macro
by mhlambi

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An unusual image that meets the challenge brief.

A fairly interesting image in the way it isolates the word mute from the rest of the machinery through the shallow DOF but I find the dusty surface very distracting in a detrimental sort of way, its taking away from the subject which is not an amazingly absorbing subject in the first place. I do like the way the DOF is working here and the OOF elements, if anything an even wider aperture would have made more of the G8 less distinctive and isolated the mute word more effectively.

The subject is most obviously inanimate and therefore succeeds in terms of the challenge, there's not a lot really I can add except to say, thanks for your submission and apologies for the delayed critique, as they say, 'better late than never', or at least I hope it is, Sid

The Shape of Music
by ericpi

Comment:
I love your silhouette here, its an excellent composition and lighting effect, well done

Talc in Motion
by ericpi

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

Congratulations on winning with an excellent close up that meets the challenge

Not strictly a macro as required by the challenge but not everybody has the equipment to enable them to produce macros so I regard close ups as perfectly acceptable in the context of this challenge.

So, I get the pleasure of commenting on your entry again, and my original remarks and score of 8 still stand. I don't know where you got the idea from but it is a great one, well done. You have captured the moment really well with this minimum flash against the black background, the patterns of the wispy talc as it is dispersed are very attractive and appealing.

I didn't really pick up on the stray bristles of the grey brush as others here did but I can see their point especially as the lower brown brush is so much better in this respect. The composition is very effective with an appropriate amount of brush bezel at the top and bottom of the frame, the crop is good not too tight.

What a great way to introduce yourself to DPC, an excellent result for an excellent submission, apologies for the delayed critique, as they say, 'better late than never', or at least I hope it is, Sid

Lava-Bead
by Pangurban

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An unusual image that meets the challenge.

First of all, thanks for broadening my experience, I'd never heard of these before, quite fascinating. As regards the image itself it makes a good record shot to document lava beads and I suppose the ribbon adds some interest but beyond that the image is not really very stimulating.

It stands out distinctly against the black background and the DOF is good giving some softness to the most distant part of the ribbon, the lighting is a little flat but helps to illustrate the porous nature of the rock. It has something of a floating nature to it so that is in its favour but its difficult to get excited about it.

Thanks for your submission and apologies for the delayed critique, as they say, 'better late than never', or at least I hope it is, Sid

Time to Get Vaccinated
by adriano74

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An unusual image that meets the challenge well.

Your unusual viewpoint has made for a fascinating image that gives us a view of the needles that we wouldn't normally be able to appreciate. For instance, I hadn't realised that the tips appear to have a distinctive surface on their lower half presumably to harden and sharpen them.

I am intrigued at the incredibly shallow DOF you have with such a small aperture but your focus is very accurately placed on that lower half of the needle point which emphasises that surface. I like your composition, it works well the OOF background image provides an interesting backdrop that has something of an 'aliens' feel to it. All in all an excellent and true macro as opposed to the many close ups in the challenge, they are indeed truly inanimate. I scored it a 7 during the challenge and would do so again.

Nicely done, thanks for your submission and apologies for the delayed critique, as they say, 'better late than never', or at least I hope it is, Sid

Water
by headlesspiderman

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

A unique choice that partially meets the challenge.

Your choice of subject fills the brief in the respect that it is not animal, bug, etc but it could be construed to be animated in that there is action in the flow of the water itself so its possible that this may be reflected in your score.

The image itself has limited appeal due to the shallow DOF and image noise but the subject itself is not really that interesting either. Given your settings you could have reduced the noise with ISO 3200 which would still have given you about 1/4000s plenty fast enough to stop the action. Perhaps a lower viewpoint may have enabled you to emphasise the flow as a peak against the level of the surrounding water but as it is it is just not that interesting, sorry.

Thanks for your submission and apologies for the delayed critique, as they say, 'better late than never', or at least I hope it is, Sid

Guitar curve
by clickodak

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An appealing image that partially meets the challenge.

This is more a close up than a macro but it is certainly inanimate. You've made a lovely job of this Marcel, the black backgrounds work well to isolate the detail of the guitar. That same detail is unfortunately part of the problem in that the worn areas of the instrument are quite prominent, I think for this sort of image to work at its best it needs to be a new or an absolutely pristine guitar.

I like your composition with the three strings on the right leaving sufficient room for a balanced background on the left. Given you comments there is also the possibility for a vertical composition just up to the outer edge of the sound hole embellishments, in that way the top curve could be included and our attention would be concentrated purely on the classic curved shapes ithemselves against the black. I think the simplicity of such a composition would have had more impact.

Nicely done, thanks for your submission and apologies for the delayed critique, as they say, 'better late than never', or at least I hope it is, Sid

Playing with Light
by Catherine_B

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An appealing image that meets the challenge.

What lovely vibrant colours this glass lamp, most unusual and very appealing. It looks as though you have used on camera flash? I can't help but feeling how those lovely colours would have looked with backlighting, I would love to have seen how that looked, I suspect it could have been quite stunning. As it is, the lighting has caused hotspots on the surface here which have blown out amongst the surrounding colours which is a shame because for me it mars the end result.

I would also have liked to have seen the shape of the lamp if it is as beautiful as the glass it could have been good to have taken this as an abstract with the light coming through it and parts of it in soft focus, ooh, I'm getting excited just thinking about it!

I scored your image a 7 during the challenge but on this closer look I would probably have deducted a point for the flash blowouts. Anyway, thanks for your submission and apologies for the delayed critique, as they say, 'better late than never', or at least I hope it is, Sid

pawning a stolen kiss
by posthumous

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*
An appealing image that meets the challenge brief.

A tender moment well captured and titled. I like your composition with us able to see this interesting location and most of what they will have captured in their selfie. The climbing plant in the foreground and similar behind them forms the natural frame that enables you to fulfil the challenge nicely.

This will have been a difficult exposure which you've done a pretty good job of, you've managed to retain detail in a lot of the shadows and highlights without too much significant over and underexposure, well done.

Thank you for a pleasing and interesting entry, Sid