Life Imitating Art
by FromDaRock

Comment:
Congrats on the red! Is this from a meetup?

Bad Dream
by Bear_Music

Comment:
Great capture, Bear! Congrats on the blue.

Sycamore
by posthumous

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

A very interesting shot of an old tree - I didn't know sycamores grew that far north.

Couldn't figure out at first how you got this effect, I was thinking it was almost a slow zoomblur stopped halfway. But now I see it's a lensbaby, it all makes sense :-) Very odd combination of sharp and soft which is probably why it didn't do well; voters tend to like sharp images. Toss in a shallow dof challenge and makes it all the more fun to look at and interpret. Comp is a little too centred for me but the separation of fore-, mid- and background is something truly special. Wish it had done a little better but that's DPC for you.

Keep up the good work!

Susan

Victory
by doctabrez

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

OK, first things first. Your image is supposed to be titled, Aftermath. No ands ifs or buts about it. You will automatically get a lower score because you didn't follow that one simple rule, as indicated by a pretty yellow flag next to the challenge description. You made it through medical school, for crying out loud. Surely you know how to be thorough and careful in everything you do in practice, right? (I should add that I am the daughter of an MD so I actually do know what I'm talking about).

Now. Image is cluttery, no real focal point, just a bunch of guys drinking. Pity cause the exposure is good and at least you know your settings! But there is just no POW! factor here. Look at what won and you'll start to get some idea as to what is expected from you here if you wish to do well. You need to do much, much better if you wish to improve.

Also, if people are going to take the time to comment on your image and try to help you, it's only good manners to tick off the check box next to each comment to indicate that you at least appreciate that they made it in the first place. This rule goes double for critiques. People who tend to not tick the box are usually seen as unappreciative and will not get many comments in the future.

Hope this helps.

Susan

Life in Bloomfield
by mrsmcharris

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Hmm this photo needs a lot of work. But first and foremost, the one and only rule that really matters here in the very, very, VERY tough realm of competitive photography?

READ. THE. RULES. I cannot stress this enough. And this challenge description had a cute li'l yellow flag icon next to it, which means that there is an extra rule in place that MUST be heeded if anyone's going to give your image a second look. In this case, that meant that you had to title your image 'Aftermath'. No ands, ifs or buts about it. It's right there. You got many low votes, and most would be due to this alone. At best, I would I have given this image a 5 for at least making an effort; but as is I would have given it a 3.

Now, onto the image itself. I won't call it a photograph, because to me a photograph is an image into which some thought and knowledge was put, and it shows.

This is only a snapshot, shot on the fly without any attention being paid to the basics. It looks like it was shot during lunch hour with a cellphone. The quality is extremely poor - see the jagged edges around the subject's head? - you get those artefacts when something with a very low mp range was used to take this image, then the image was blown up. The bleached-out white section that is almost all the whole lower and right side of the frame means no attention was paid to trying to compensate for the strong overhead sun. The photo should have been straightened, a level horizon somewhere to give the viewer a sense of equilibrium. Even just ensuring that the window sills in the bg were level would have helped out somewhat.

Which is sad, because if you knew what you were doing, this could have been a very strong image. Most street photogs coming across this person could have built an entire story around this, using only things like different angles and adjusting their settings accordingly to suit the subject.

Sorry to be so harsh in this instance, but at times it gets frustrating to see such basic mistakes made. This site can teach you a lot about photography, but only if you are willing to learn. I see that you didn't indicate that any of the commenters' comments were ticked, as they should have been.

We can only teach as well as you can learn.

Susan

Spherical View
by primabarbara

Comment:
Excellent work! How on earth did you not capture yourself in the reflections? Oh and congrats on the HM :-)

Aftermath of a overstressing workingday - the whole office is burning...
by Tani_M

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Fascinating pic and colourful, I like it a lot for the ominous feel. But you MUST pay attention when there is a little yellow flag, which signifies a special extra rule is in application for that particular challenge. In this case the only acceptable title was Aftermath; by not following this rule you've ensured yourself a low score. Although this is a pretty pic, it just doesn't quite mean the challenge description. Now, if this was a pile of smouldering rubble and smoke with firemen everywhere, it would be clear that it was truly an aftermath of a fire. But here there is nothing to indicate something has happened.

Apologies for having to be a little harsh but this is a very, very competitive site. If you want to do well here you must read, understand and follow the rules.

Hope this helps, feel free to PM me

Susan

Drink and drive...The aftermath could not be a party of pleasure
by clickodak

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Very good message you're trying to put across here, Marcel, and I applaud the effort. The shot needs work mostly in the composition, the dof and lighting are quite good. First off, a level horizon especially as you have a liquor glass with booze(?) in it, which automatically gives us a colourful focal point to look for. So the horizon we seek, so we don't get dizzy looking for it, is the surface of the booze. It MUST be level. You also need more room, especially around the glass, as this is looking a little cramped.

Otherwise looks pretty decent, but as Bear mentions, the word 'Aftermath' is supposed to be the title. When that little flag appears next to a challenge description, pay close attention and read it carefully. Other minor changes I would make apart from ensuring the glass and its surface were dead level: I probably would have stretched out the handcuffs as far as possible from one another. Just to put some space between the keys and the glass. I also might have sought to focus on the fore part of the handcuff on the left, with the keys. But that's me.

Hope this has been useful!

Susan

Message edited by author 2015-12-13 19:57:38.

T H E · A T T I C · S W I T C H
by Mond

Comment:
nice textures, interesting switch

Breakfast Shift
by mrbig65

Comment:
haha! Been there, cleaned that :-)