Zen Bokeh
by breckinshire

Comment:
Critique Club

This photo does technically have bokeh, as it displays round balls of out of focus light, but their connection to the subject of the photo seems non-existant. If you look at some of the high scoring photos, you can see a link between the subject and the bokeh. The level to which you have met the challenge is the most basic level, which goes part-way to explain the low score you got.

The photo itself, ignoring the bokeh challenge element, is also flawed in a number of places. You obviously used a shallow DoF to get the background out of focus, but in doing so you also made the edges of the head out of focus. As the black onto a light background is the highest contrast point in the photo, it should be in focus as it's what draws people's attention first of all. Also, in resizing for the web it looks like you have lost sharpness in the details of the face. Try running USM at about 150%, 0.4 radius, and 0 threshold to see if that improves the sharpness.

There are a lot of pieces of dust and things on the face and the bowl which are distracting. Since this was an advanced editing challenge, I would have suggested you cloned them out to give the appearence of a cleaner photo.

The lighting on the face is good, enough to bring out the details but not too much, so we can still see its dark black appearance. The exposure on the foreground white powder is good too as detail remains. The problem is that the bokeh in the background is very overexposed and is the brightest part of the photo and draws the eye over there away from the subject. This would be okay if the bokeh in the photo was more interesting, but at the moment there is nothing really there to look at.

The subject you chose (figurinne) rarely does well on DPChallenge as people see shots of them as 'cop-outs'. It's a good attempt but with some major flaws. Good luck in future challenges!

Into the Light
by artvet

Comment:
Critique Club

This is a great photo and definately fits the Bokeh challenge. The colour and contrast are in my opinion spot on, but I see one major flaw which I think stopped you scoring higher.

Lens Flare.

Whilst it is true that the bright orange glow adds impact to the photo, the green and blue flares on the crisp silhouette of the branch do not. Under advanced editing rules it would be perfectly legal to use the clone tool to remove these and enhance the overall appeal of the photo. Also, the orange streaks on the branch should also be cloned out in my opinion. It is enough for the light to overcove the branch shapes in the bokeh, as that creates a good enough mood, without them obscuring the main focal point of the photo.

Composition-wise this is pretty good. I think maybe moving the branch up or down in the frame slightly would help, bringing it a bit more off centre, but it doesn't matter all that much in this case.

The Cloud Factory
by e301

Comment:
Best in the challenge. 10+fav

California Dreamin'
by charmayne

Comment:
Wow how weird! I have been humming this song for about 10 minutes and then I see this shot with the title. Bizarre :)

Haunting Sunset
by vtruan

Comment:
I think this is a bit too oversharpened due to the halo and jaggies around the roof. The clouds are pretty cool tho :)

mesange14.jpg
by kosmikkreeper

Comment:
Great photo, the abstract qualities and the timing are perfect.

HCMF
by BobsterLobster

Comment:
Excellent shot, the angle you took it at makes it extra interesting and there's so much going on.

#35......"To be a father she can look up to, with pride."
by parrothead

Comment:
Excellent photo, one of my few 10s in this challenge :) Deserved a higher placing in my opinion :)

Tree spirit
by RUEDISCHMUTZ

Comment:
Critique Club

To me this photo looks too dark overall. The black background is good but I feel the tree itself is too black. In post processing, using levels could fix this. Also it's quite soft. A quick application of Unsharp Mask could easily give it a little more definition.

I think the composition is a little dull, as the photo is very flat and doesn't appear to have any depth at all. Taking the photo during the day and getting a blurred background would help this, so would choosing a different angle that's not so front-on, but then of course the face wouldn't be visable.

It actually took me a long time to find the face, and I'm still not entirely sure that what I see is what you intended the face to be. I would encourage you to put info into the Photographer's Comments box in the future. Maybe a closer crop on the face would make it easier to spot, as some voters only spend a few seconds on each photo and may have voted you low when they couldnt find the face.

Spend More Time With My Family
by Travis99

Comment:
Critique Club

Congrats on your top 10 placing Travis with this very nice photo.

The first thing that strikes me with this photo is the frame. Some people may like it but I really don't and think it detracts a LOT from the photo. I gave this photo an 8 in the challenge but it would be a 10 without the frame, as it is part of the presentation and should be judged as part of the photo in my opinion. Not only the frame, but the bevel on the actual photo makes it look quite 'tacky' in my eyes. As far as the other post processing goes, I think it is very well done, with nice sharpness, and the contrast not to strong, as to give a misty early morning feel. I think the crop may be a bit too narrow. It makes the photo look quite small and I would love to see more detail at the top of the frame, and perhaps a little less at the very left. This would improve the detail you'd be able to show.

All in all a very good photo fully deserving it's top 10 placing.

Message edited by author 2005-01-09 12:28:59.