Flying over Vancouver
by jsolsona

Comment:
supposed to be in "jump" challenge, right?

Chrome Distortions
by banmorn

Comment:
This is a wonderful picture but it's all reflection and no chrome, that hurts it for this challenge. Could just as well be mirrors...

So you want the World on a spoon?
by Techo

Comment:
Nice job for basic editing! Congrats on ribbon!

Dual Complexity
by Rikki

Comment:
Jaysus, that's a score! Whatta shot! Congrats!

How To Spot a Lemon
by JPR

Comment:
You're marginally certifiable, sheesh... This was one of my faves in the challenge. I'm way surprised it scored so low :-(

through the trees
by big j

Comment:
**** CRITIQUE CLUB COMMENT ****

This is one of the loest-scoring images in the challenge, and the main reason why is that it seems to bear no relationship whatsoever to the challenge theme of "Playtime". Another issue is the severely blown-out sky areas. I can see a "mood" trying to escape from this image, and it could be evoked with careful post-processing.

However, looking at your profile I see this single image is the ONLY thing you have done in DPC thus far, so I don't even know if you're still actively with us, and I don't want to spend the time going into more detail if there's no point in it.

Feel free to PM me if you're here, paying attention, and want me to discuss in detail how to improve this shot. Please let me know what image editor you are using, OK?

Robt.

Ma! Ma!
by cvhs99

Comment:
*** C R I T I Q U E C L U B C O M M E N T ****

There are aspects of this image that are very appealing. It's areal moment seized, it has an immediate and intimate effect. The composition is pretty good, for the sort of environment it's in. But there are a couple of issues here that are negatively affecting your score.

One of them is totally challenge-related; the child's facial expression denotes worry more than play. She doesn't look happy, basically. That had to hurt your score, I think.

Speaking of the image itself, there are technical problems that are killing you. For one thing, the most important element in the picture is the face, but it's noticeably out of focus. The tab on the gate (?) behind her is in sharp focus. The camera is grabbing focus on a contrasty part of the scene, and not on her face. If you set your AF point to the one where her face is, you'd be fine; this looks like the camera is set to evaluate all points and focus on one it "likes", which works okay for landscapes, say, but not at all well for in-close wotk like this where DOF is critical.

An even greater problem is the fact that the child's totally in shadow and underexposed. And because she's lit only by reflected light from the sky, which is very blue light, SHE'S blue as well. Now, it would be possible to fix this in post-processing to some degree, by shifting the hue'saturation over and so forth, and by using contrast masking and such, but there's a better way for the future; you want to learn to use your camera's built-in flash as a "fill light". You will need to play around with the flash exposure compensation (read your manual) to reduce power on the flash so it doesn't overpower the scene, but the D50 is definitely capable of doing a workmanlike job of fill flash.

Here's a very quick 'n dirty remake of the image; I used contrast masking (there's a description of it in my "Landscape Learning" thread) to bring up the tones on the child. I used a selective color adjustment layer to remove cyan from the "neutral" range. I used a tool I have called "focus magic" to correct the OOF image. Total time about 3 minutes. So there IS potential in the image, although the sharpening will not look natural at any larger print size.



I hope this has been of some help to you...

Leaving Wakes, Floridian's Playtime
by jorr

Comment:
**** C I T I Q U E C L U B C O M M E N T ****

My first reaction to this image is "Nothing really stands out here." It leaves me with a sort of a "ho hum" feeling. It's not a BAD picture, but it has nothing in it that transcends the ordinary. It's no especially dynamic in composition, it's not especially colorful, it's not especially evocative, it's not especially emotional, or moody, or anything. It just "is", ya know?

Compositionally it's particularly awkward, partly because the boat's so centered but especially because the motor's truncated. Another strike against it is "no faces": there's no real sense of "play" here, they may's well be commuting up the swamp. The dog is potentially playful, but we can't "read" him.

I have looked at the images visible in thumbnails on your profile page, and I'm struck with how similar they all are. At first glance, it appears that you approach every composition straight-on, witht he subject centered and with relatively little excess environment surrounding it. It's as if you use the camera to record or memorialize things and creatures, as opposed to using it to give us any sense of your REACTION to these subjects. Does that make any sense?

Consider THIS picture; I realize this may not have been possible, but suppose you were down the shore to right quite a ways and shooting back AT the boat: Imagine the dog's face leering right at us, tongue flapping, silly grin. Imagine the driver of the boat grinning likewise. Imagine a more dynamic composition, maybe a vertical shot with the boat filling much of the bottom of the frame, then some trees and a bit of sky...

I'd like to see you break free of this conceptual framework you're working in, and start to let your hair down a little with some wild 'n crazy stuff. Don't be afraid to experiment. Don't be afraid to let emotion into your images :-)

Robt.

Are u my Mother?
by smilebig4me1x

Comment:
This is fun. Somehow I didn't realize you were into woodies and duckies...

Eerie Reflection
by MacDonald

Comment:
You're right, the reflection's eerie :-)