10 Russian Matrioshkas
by SquishyB

Comment:
Beautiful colours, and, again, the idea is good. I am not sure that the shallow DOF works here to bring out the concept of perspective. It might be good to try the image at various F stops (does the Coolpix allow you to set F-stops?, I don't know). If using presets, try the "landscape" preset, it usually has the most depth of field settings (whereas "portrait" uses a much more shallow setting usually).

Something else. When looking both at the thumbnail and at the full-size image, the first thing that hits you in the face with it is the first, big, out of focus, partial doll to the left. It looks like a big balloon intruding there. It uses up almost 1/3 of the whole picture, and on the left hand side (when looking at a horizontal image, most people look at it left to right). It doesn't really work to have it there. Starting with a full doll would be better IMO. But that's just my opinion.

"I'm mellltttiinng!! What a world, what a world!"
by SquishyB

Comment:
Neat picture, good idea.

A couple things that possibly work against the image (as far as scores at DPC goes) are: (1) not everyone will make the connection to the Wicked Witch, and you are at least in part relying on the title for people to make the connection - it's gotta hit them in the face, the title needs to complement the photo, not explain it. (2) It's a black outfit melting into grey, and it just doesn't have enough appeal to captivate the audience. (3) The subject (robe/hat) looks a bit like a black blob, no detail.

Please don't get offended, it's hard to make constructive comments.

Maybe try different background and more dynamic lighting for a similar image. Maybe try not cutting off parts of the subject. Maybe in colour. I don't know, I think the idea has a lot of potential, but it would be good to experiment with different executions.

746 Years old and more beautiful than ever
by BHuseman

Comment:
Beautiful image of this tree, I like the moon in the upper right hand corner.

There is a bit of a halo effect around the tree that takes away from its beauty.

I think two thing this image has going against it is that it has all that other stuff behind it (fence, powerlines, other tree, etc.). Also, even though it is a beautiful tree, by itself it doesn't really connect with the viewer - ithout your title, hardly anyone would know that this is a really old tree.

You could experimenting with making images of this tree (or portions, even closeups of it) from all sorts of different angles (for example, laying on the ground under it, really close, from all sides, whatever). You could also experiment making images of the tree with different skies (cloudy, stormy, in the evening, early in the morning, in fog).

The Drive Home
by BHuseman

Comment:
I like the idea of this picture quite a bit, very much actually. However, IMO, as an entry to a challenge, especially a free study, it looks sort of too "sloppy" to get a good score. It is tilted, and even though tilt might work here, it is not tilted enough to look intentional (it looks accidental). The windshield looks hazy and dirty. The colours are too much into the yellows.

A couple ideas to try: (1) a clean windshield; (2) anchoring the camera more to one side maybe, or maybe rotating the camera slightly; (3) adjusting colours in post-processing.

.
by boysetsfire

Comment:
This is wonderful! Bucket is right, it's a good one for the Open Challenge (but you might have a better one still).

4144-4155 GOG Pano sml Pbase.jpg
by smellyfish1002

Comment:
Good job! Another beauty.

Your Mom's at Church on Tuesday...
by walrus451

Comment:
Interesting colours. The image is very sharp. Why that title?

Portrait of a musician part 2
by tmph

Comment:
Beautiful sort of candid portrait of a guitarist.

Lemon - With A Twist
by ustiebitz

Comment:
Cool shot! Tell me, is it under water partially? How did you light it like that? It's beautiful!

Tanisha
by Brad

Comment:
Her eyes are exceptionally reflective.