The Brick Layer
by owen

Comment:
---Greetings form the Critique Club!---

Very clever idea for this challenge!

This is one of the few "shadow only" entries that actually works. The white bricks may get lost on monitors that are not well calibrated. They are just at that right level to get blown out on weaker monitors.

Even tough I think it works well with just the shadow and the bricks, adding another element might have pushed this one into the elite scores. The entries that scored higher had more than just the shadow and what is was cast on.

Other than that, I think it is a strong entry perhaps deserving of a higher score.

I hope this helps. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

David

Zen
by Tej

Comment:
---Greetings form the Critique Club!---

This photo meets the challenge very well. The shadows play an intricate part in the photo.

The shadows don't seem to go with the subject. By that I mean I don't see a connection between the subject and the shadow. That is not necessarily a bad thing, it just makes it a bit unsettled for me.

In you comments you say these are leaves. For me, I would no have known that. It looked to me like some sort of vegetable. I see now that they are leaves.

The composition is good. The eye moves nicely across the photo.

I do like the contrast of the color of the leaves against the monochrome background.

I hope this helps.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

David

Surrounded by shadows
by Ragga2000

Comment:
---Greetings from the Critique Club!---

1st impression - Awesome photo! Beautiful colors, nice lighting, good composition. A very nice moment!

Meeting the challenge - This is probably where you suffered the most in the scoring. There's nothing technically or aesthetically wrong with the photo. For a "Shadows" challenge, while I get that there is a shadow around the adorable child, I feel the shadow should be a more of a major element of the photo. The shadow should make the photo what it is or at least improve the photo significantly by its presence.

I am sure this will be one of your favorite photos for years to come. In a different challenge it could have scored in the 7+ range.

I know I'm not telling anything you don't already know. It is difficult to critique a well done photo whose only fault is that it didn't fit the challenge.

Again, excellent photo. I MUST visit Iceland sometime!

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Dedicated to Edward Scissorhands
by Rino63

Comment:
---Greetings from the Critique Club!---

The photo meets the challenge, no doubt. But it doesn't really go much beyond that. The photos that scored high in this challenge had more than just the shadow. This picture needs something to give a context. The "Hitchcock" comment is true. I'd like to see some other element of the situation, the potential victim, more of the surrounding room, etc.

The choice for black and white is a good one. Of course there's not much color to a shadow on a white wall anyway.

The frame is a little too thick for my liking, but that's just my opinion. Others may like it. I've found that less is more with framing on DPC challenges.

The best trait of this photo is the composition. You fill the frame well guiding the eye up from left to tight then down to the bottom right.

I hope you find this helpful. Good luck!

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

David

Shadow in the sky
by marvin

Comment:
---Greetings from the Critique Club!---

First of all, I agree with you, the image is dreamy and attractive.

There may be an issue with meeting the challenge. This is more of a silhouette, not a shadow. Some would argue that a silhouette requires a shadow. There was a lot of discussion on this in the forums. I'm not making a judgment call on that, just noting that you may have suffered in the voting because of it. You have comments about this as well.

On the photo itself, a slow shutter speed on a moving object can do one of two things:

1. Give a sense of motion
2. Give a sense of out of focus

I think this shot looks more out of focus than an object in motion. To get the sense of motion you need to follow the subject as you fire the shutter. You mention in your notes that you shot this without looking through the view finder. I think that is why you get more of the out of focus effect.

Had the head and tail of the bird been sharper and the wings blurred, the picture would be a lot stronger.

The composition is good and the background sets a dark mood that enhances the view.

All in all a good shot. If you want to practice slow shutter panning, try it on moving cars, bicycles, people running, etc. Choose a shutter speed of 1/30 and pan your camera with the moving subject and fire the shutter while panning.

I hope this helps! I love all the pictures from Iceland. I must visit some day!

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Movie Theater Stair and Rail
by robinsphotos

Comment:
Good execution but lack of a real focal point.

Quit Staring At It!!!!
by buzzrock

Comment:
I'm not

City on Fire
by javakills

Comment:
severely over exposed. 3

Begonia Basket
by skewsme

Comment:
scored low due to lack of focal point. I like abstracts in general but it doesn't work here

Up the stairs
by quiet_observation

Comment:
scored low due to unitersting choice of subject matter