Mind Travel
by levyj413

Comment:
Hi, Greetings from the Critique Club:

Composition: I had to work this to show you what I mean. I am glad you were inspired by another photographer...but there are some areas that have let you down. There is way too much vacant space. It is good to have vacant space...but I can still see some detail in it...and that just confuses and then loses the viewer. I know the image that inspired you had books...but it was also taken at a different angle. Please see my version below. This could have been better if I had worked on the large version...but it is just to give you an idea.

Technical: As you can see I have darkened the book area some more to alleviate the distraction...and the image becomes more peaceful, more relaxing. The chair seems welcoming. I also touched the Hue/Saturation and Brightness/Contrast.

Overall: I think you were on the right track...you wanted an old feel to the image and yet to be inviting and calming. You did that but you were lost with a few of the details. Watch your details in the future and you will find the image you are looking for.

Old Charm Dresser
by rosiehall

Comment:
Hi, Greetings from the Critique Club:

Composition: I like the idea and the richness of the dresser. However, I don't like the clutter on top and around the dresser, especially the open doorway and the object on the lower right of the item. Maybe try a different angle for this image. There are two ornaments (??) on the lower part of the dresser...I can understand the candle but I can't make out the one on the right, therefore I cannot relate it to the story. That is basically what you have to think about...telling a story. If any part of that image is not necessary...then get rid of it.

Technical: I like the lighting and the focus for the image. I can see you have cropped in, judging by your Aperture and the Focal Range. I do like the richness of that wood...and that really does hold the viewers attention...but as I said before the clutter is damaging to not only your image but your score.

Overall: Great try...and a beautiful sample of a piece of Furniture...but wrong composition for the best way to display this subject.

NOTE - I was just about to finish this critique when I read your about. Why do you crop and resize so close to opening the image. You never know when this would make a great print. I always do any adjustments first and save as a PSD. I also save as a new image in JPEG and that is the one I will then open and crop/resize/sharpen/sfw. It gives you greater control when you are working on a larger image.

Bench Ends
by neophyte

Comment:
Hi, Greetings from the Critique Club:

Composition: This is great. It is well balanced and yet shows great detail work. The different women and hair really adds more interest to the image instead of a simple mirror style format. I like the idea of different shoes and am pleased you stayed with the same colour range.

Technical: Lighting, focus and settings spot on. No improvement there. I would've, however, cloned out that hideous wall plate. It is very distracting and drops the cleanliness of your image.

Overall: I think you were so close to being up there on the first page...just a tough challenge and only very minor details in your image held you down.

Come, rock with me
by snaffles

Comment:
Hi, Greetings from the Critique Club:

Composition: Oh, this one I just had to work with. It is so inviting and just plain adorable. I love the colours and the compositon. The set up is great...but that Teddy...steals the show.

Technical: I only had your small image to work with so please overlook the harsher details...but this is just to give you an idea of what I am talking about. I gave it a shot of Shadow/Highlight and then played with the Brightness/Contrast as well as the Hue/Saturation. I then added a new layer and gave it a 50% grey fill turned to Overlay Blend mode. Then using my black and white paint I painted with varying opacities to highlight certain areas as well as darken the edges. It is a great method to play around with.

Overall: I think this is a beautiful image that has loads of potential. Keep up the great work.

Evening Shadows
by pmichaud

Comment:
Hi, Greetings from the Critique Club:

Composition: The good old plastic chair. It is something that everyone can relate to. But that red pot is distracting, especially against that background. It makes the image too busy. I like the off centre composition. You did well there.

Technical: The chair seems soft. I can see that the camera has focused on the beam of wood at the bottom behind the chair. Try and focus on the chair and then recompose to get the composition. I would like to see some Shadow/Highlight to bring out the beautiful texture details of the wood.

Overall: I think you chose a great image for the challenge but with a few minor corrections this could have scored much better.

Ough it is cold outside
by lastef

Comment:
Hi, Greetings from the Critique Club:

Composition:You obviously live in an area that is prevalent for snow. What you need to do is take into account that there are members that don't experience it. So you have to show a little bit more in your image. With that I mean, the chair...doesn't really stand out as a chair. It is lost in the background, which is of the same material. The viewer doesn't really understand the story...there is no surrounds to explain the situation. Maybe include another item to relate to the snow season or show a bit more of the surroundings.

Technical: Your settings, focus and lighting were correct for this image. But as I said before, the composition let you down. Maybe try and being a little more creative....maybe in your PP add a little punch to the wood textures to separate them a bit more.

Overall: This image has lots of room for improvement...and that is good. As once you get perfection you may as well give up....as there is no longer a challenge.

I See an Ikea Idea
by jgrieco

Comment:
Hi, Greetings from the Critique Club:

Composition:Love the idea and the combination of the hard lines and angles against the softness and delicacy of the petals and pastels.

Technical:I feel the main let down is the crooked lines due to the lens perspective problems. This can be corrected in PS. The partially greyed background is also an issue...it seems to swallow up the flowers. I feel maybe a lighter background to allow the flowers to control a larger area.

Overall: I feel you are on the right track and I know that next time you will pay a little more attention to the finer detail of the image. Keep up the great work and I look forward to seeing more of your work.

High Chair
by Lorene

Comment:
Hi, Greetings from the Critique Club:

Composition: Okay...I love the simplicity, the vivid colour and the way you have angled this image. Top marks for all of that.

Technical: The only area that I feel could do with improvement is the noise. I see you used a low ISO but the noise is really showing up...try running it through Neat Image to rid the image of that let down.

Overall: I think you are definitely on the right track to fulfilling the DPC image cliche. Keep up the great work.

New Balance
by freakin_hilarious

Comment:
Hi, Greetings from the Critique Club:

Composition:This is great. I love the idea and the execution of the image. I like how you have put it off centre...but am getting lost in the vacant space on the right. Maybe if you could have put a bookshelf or something there upside down...so when you flipped it, it would have looked even more convincing and also fill up the space.

Technical: You have the settings, lighting and focus right...but I would like to see some Shadow/Highlight used to bring out some of the shoe details and show some richness in the wood. I feel the green is very off putting and would like to see that changed to a different hue.

Overall:I think this is a fantastic effort....and with a little more detail concentration you can really pull off a winner with it next time.

Furnishings complements--3D painting
by Rino63

Comment:
Hi, Greetings from the Critique Club:

Composition:Oh dear....why did I have to get this one. I liked this one when I first saw it in the challenge. Oh well...okay let's give it a go. I feel there are a few basic errors in your composition. I just love the frame and the whole idea...but the placement of the subjects needs work. As you can see in the version I uploaded below, I have moved the wine glass away from the pears. I also shortened the amount of space from the subjects to the edge of the frame. I would prefer to see the bottom of the subjects too...just like in a real painting. Maybe you could have put some books under the fabric to raise the subjects up.

Technical: You did pretty well here. You were dealing with glass, fruit, black on black and the frame. I selected the fabric in PS and adjusted the levels to remove the obvious signs of the light on the fabric. I also gave the glass a hit of Shadow/Highlight. I didn't touch the pears, but I did give a touch of Hue & Saturation and Brightness & Contrast on the Frame.

Overall: I think you are onto a great series here...just play with it a little more and you will get the details to where you want. Keep up the great work.