pipe_array
by rathomas

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Good attempt at meeting the challenge. The tilted horizon adds some dynamism to the shot of a relatively drab subject and I like the leading lines. However, while shooting wide open will give you speed, it will not give you dof, and here the dof seems to have missed the bulk of the curved sections of pipe. Indeed, more of the straight sections and joins seem to be in focus. Once again, I find your ISO to be far too low, and feel that you really need a tripod if you want to do macros. You don't need a $300 Manfrotto at this point, even a $30 Giotto should be more than enough. But shooting fast, handheld and wide-open is generally not the best combination.

Feel free to PM me,

Susan

Dimples
by Darren_W

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

This is a good macro, with nice use of thirds, and true enough there are no straight lines on the balls or letters. However, the b/w does little for what simply appears to be an underexposed shot of some golf balls. Your technicals are fine, but there's just a bit of a ho-hum factor here.

In terms of the challenge itself, I have to agree with EL-ROI...this just doesn't look twisted at all. Many voters on this site tend to be very literal, and do want to see twisted items in this challenge.

Here's a trick that I share with many noobs. Go through this challenge (or any challenge for that matter) and review all the images, either as thumbnails or as full-sized images, doesn't matter...but start at the last page, with the DQs and others that finished at the very bottom. Then work your way up to the front page. As you do, you will notice what works, and what doesn't. It's not about who has the fanciest gear or best knowledge of Photoshop or similar programs; it's knowing how to use what you have, effectively, to create a compelling image.

Hope this critique has been of help, feel free to PM me. Please keep on shooting and entering challenges.

Susan

Twist, Turn & Away
by Ja-9

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Lovely use of bokeh and good sharp focus on a nice twisty tendril of some sort. Very simple and the kind of thing DPC voters love, though maybe it needs a perfect water drop or two to get you into the top 10? ;-)

The only weak spot I can see, and I really had to look, is what appears to be the tiniest bit of oversharpening on the curves of the tendril closest to the camera. Still, very pretty and excellent example of the KISS principle.

Keep up the great work, Janine!

Feel free to PM me,

Susan

Row
by jaysonmc

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

After a glance at your profile and glass available, I'd say you were underlensed more than anything. The 50mm is a great portrait lens and all-purpose lens, but just doesn't have the reach of a telephoto or zoom. This setting would have had me going for my 18-200, which is an amazingly versatile lens for about $600. Easy to come by now and very much worth it.

Apart from that I think that a combo of many factors hurt you in this case. B/W has its place but it just doesn't resonate with me this time round; the comp is ok, nice use of thirds with a high horizon and no centred subjects, but the pov is somewhat uninspired and seems to distance the viewer from the scene; I feel like I'm looking at a TV screen as opposed to being there on the bank watching them. I want to see water flying from the blades of the paddles and the racers' faces as studies in concentration.

Hope this critique has been useful, keep on shooting and entering. Feel free to PM me.

Susan

Bella
by Philthy

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

This is a cute candid and could have done better with a little more work. And no I don't mean in PS sense, and there you did a good job of simply removing a few odds and ends and not drastic changes to the image

However...first off, she's facing into the sun and squinting, so her lovely eyes are in shadow and there are areas of strong glare on the nose and cheekbones. Similarily the shadowed background behind her head splits it in half and detracts from her. The oof hand doesn't bother me as it gives a sense of depth and place. I understand that it's hard to capture children when they decide to be cooperative, which may not be for long. But a lower ISO and much faster shutter could have helped to reduce the amount of glare and shadows, and those in turn could have been taken down a bit by something as simple as covering up the light source (a window, I'm guessing) with a white sheet or similar translucent item, to soften and diffuse the light a bit.

Overall not a bad attempt and she looks like a delightful subject. Watch your light and settings a bit more closely and above all, experiment. Practice does make perfect.

Keep on shooting and entering!

Feel free to PM me

Susan

The sea forms a rock
by Gudjonotto

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Nice silky sky and water, refreshing to see it in b/w as opposed to colour. Good use of contrast and the spectrum of true blacks all the way through to pure whites. The single rock jutting upward makes a simple but strong focal point. Great textures in the rock and sense of placing the viewer there. Don't be disheartened by the score, by the way; Free Studies are notoriously tough to do well in.

Keep on shooting and entering, I want to see more of your work.

Feel free to PM me

Susan

Perfect Afternoon
by cowboy221977

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

This does look like a nice serene setting, with deep green verdant trees and water...but the Topaz'ed sky kills this shot for me. The clouds look muddy and unrealistic in colour, and there's a huge whack of sensor dust near the top right third. Post-processing work, imho, should never, ever be what you notice about a photo; it should enhance the image, not overwhelm it to the point of drawing attention to itself. Sometimes less is more.

Feel free to PM me

Susan

Paradox
by CaptainJack

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

A decent enough shot and does show an interesting paradox, but even without having been to Disneyland/world? it's easy to see that it's a theme park shot. It's a good capture in terms of the technical aspects, but personally I feel that its lack of uniqueness (you can be sure that it's no accident that you can see Everest from that point) is what kept your votes at the 5-6 range.

Keep on shooting and entering!

Feel free to PM me

Susan

Ada Victoria Porta - Missing
by Lad

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

This is a good photo and the girl's face on the placard does seem to be pleading for someone to find her. The colours in the bg are great and help the b/w image pop and draw attention to her. I feel that a much larger shot of the entire scene, of at least the mother carrying this placard so we could see her face too and get some sense of the connection and an echo in her face of the grief she feels. It's probably this lack of a fuller story more than anything that hurt your score.

But very well seen and captured, nonetheless! Keep up the good work and keep on entering.

Feel free to PM me

Susan

the heron
by disassociation

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Very good capture of what looks like the Oz version of the Great Blue Heron in North America. Lovely shapes, nice dof and focus, all I can think of is that the somewhat flat light and lack of popping colours hurt you most. Still you broke 6 with this and in an FS, so that's no mean feat.

Keep on shooting and entering!

Feel free to PM me

Susan