True love - matching silly outfits
by Melethia

Comment:
love that dog's expression!! he's sick of love!

family
by boysetsfire

Comment:
Holy crap this is good. I can't fave it, though. You're on my "no fave" list because you have too many good pictures.

Forbidden Love
by samhall

Comment:
the lengthening of the owners' limbs make them seem like greyhounds themselves. I love this.

Becoming One
by dsidwell

Comment:
This photo rocks!

A Mother's Love
by pibby

Comment:
This has a realness and immediacy missing from most nude family portraits. Very good.

Between Horse and Rider
by lovethelight

Comment:
great shapes, great negative space. well done!

Always rushing
by Simpa

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

It's great that you are trying a different angle for your shot, but being different is not enough. I don't think you quite achieved the effect you were looking for. I don't get a sense of rushing from this. The legs look oddly static. I'm not sure why, but I have some guesses. For one, there's a comfortable space between camera and pedestrians, a comfortable stretch of ground. A little uncomfortable closeness could create a disoriented sense of being rushed, or of people rushing past. Another possibility is to slow the shutter speed down so we get some motion blur. And then there's always the method of taking hundreds of photos until you find one with enough people who are taking long strides, who seem to be leaning precariously forward on their way.

I notice some complained about the tilt. I think it's my reading-left-to-right bias, but if this were tilted down to the right instead of down to the left, it would convey rushing to me. Also, most of the motion here seems to be going "up" instead of down. If you're going to tilt, most of the motion should be going down.

Be advised, I'm not telling you how to score higher. I'm telling you how to achieve the effect you desired. The latter is what it's all about. If you want to score higher, find a pretty woman, put a lot of makeup on her, shine a strong light on her face (with a reflector to get rid of shadows), put her on the thirds and blur the background.

Catch! Mardis Gras 2007
by shadowdoc31

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

You got a 5. I gave you a 7. Let's discuss.

It's a well-timed capture that involves the viewer: we feel like we need to catch the ball! That's the good news. So why didn't you score higher? I have some ideas. First of all, the focus is soft. Soft focus is appropriate for street photography and also appropriate for this dynamic shot in particular. But that doesn't matter. If the focus isn't sharp the voters will punish you. Also, it has bright dynamic colors. Why is that bad? It's not bad, but the DPC voter has such a narrow idea of what street photography is that they will think it is DNMC. They don't understand how fantasy is part of the street. They don't see the gritty nature of this particular fantasy, the solid street that lies beneath it. (the angle is slightly disorienting: the street is nowhere to be seen; but disorientation, suddenly looking at something being thrown at you, is consummately "street." ignore the dnmc)

The DPC voter is also remedial when it comes to composition. They think that cropping off the top of the head is a bad thing. They don't realize that composition should be bigger than the photograph, it *should* take your eyes out of the frame (a common misperception here is that the eye should remain comfortably within frame. such a composition is as boring as it sounds). Notice how beautifully centered your subject is (the DPC voter will often punish for this). The stability of this centering is counteracted by a strong upward diagonal. The mask hides the emotion of the thrower. Perhaps the DPC voter punished you for this as well. The DPC voter likes obvious, naked emotion. But the mask is creepy, it is creepy not knowing what the thrower is feeling. And *that* is the emotion. Emotion is for the viewer, not the subject.

Be proud of this photo. Your camera settings were good for street photography, a proper exposure, a long depth-of-field, quick enough shutter to avoid camera shake. If I hadn't been overwhelmed by the sheer number of great photos in this challenge, I probably would have bumped my score higher.

My advice to you is don't ruin your photography by trying to pander to DPC voters.

alone in the street
by fchosson

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Okay, there's me and then there's DPC. First, I'll make some guesses about DPC. This shot is noisy/grainy, as would be expected from an 800 ISO (adds grain) and a slow shutter speed (blur from camera motion). And then there's the f stop of 4, which does not have a large depth-of-field. In general, DPC likes as much of the picture to be in focus as possible. An f-stop of 8.0 is generally thought to be narrow enough for a long depth-of-field but wide enough to let some light in. Night shots are tricky, though. For one thing, you can't trust the automatic exposure setting. Night is supposed to be dark, but your camera doesn't know that. This shot looks much lighter than it needs to be. You could try underexposing by about 2 stops, or you could just find a fixed setting. For that lens, I would try ISO 400, f8, 1/60th sec (a general rule is that the fraction of a second should be the same number or higher as your lens size. since this lens is 18-55, 1/60th is a safe bet to avoid camera shake). I might even try ISO 200, f8, 1/60th sec. You'll have to experiment for yourself. And then there's color correction. This is very red, probably because the camera is expecting sunlight and getting incandescent light instead. You can set the white balance in camera or fix it in Photoshop later with color adjustments or "photo filter," if you have it.

So, that's for DPC. For me, grain, soft focus and even the red tint enhance and refine the solitary mood of the photo. And without a mood, the photo would be pointless. The subject is silhouetted in an interesting way, her shape is good and clear. I gave this a 6, the same score I gave one of the ribbon winners. 6 means that the photo is good, it succeeds. To score higher, it must be special. It must be something I would want to put on my wall. There were a lot of similar shots in this competition: a small lone figure in the distance, dominated by perspective lines from either a city street or an arcade. This one didn't have anything to make it stand out. The ACE sign? not very interesting to me. The wall of graffiti adds a little interest but is hardly a grabber. My favorite thing, besides the silhouetting, are the halos around the streetlamps (which would have been lost if you took my suggestions above. be careful of that!). Perhaps different processing could have emphasized that more. Black and white, for instance. The graffiti might have been more interesting in b/w as well, but I don't really know until I see it. You've got a great eye, though. Keep taking photographs!

:)

Le Croix Flambé
by GeneralE

Comment:
brilliant brownness. this is conceptually fascinating, beautiful to look at, out of the box, and shows a sophisticated openness to what can be achieved photographically, all within basic editing rules. this picture's a champ as far as I'm concerned.