A Night to Remember
by Shadowi6

Comment:
Critique Club feedback:

I found this to be one of, if not the, best of the eclipse images in the challenge. Obviously I wasn't alone in that opinion!

The only critical thing I would have to say about this shot is that the guy appears to be pointing and looking in a different direction from the moon(s), and it was odd enough that it was actually the first thing that hit me about the image. Were he pointing at the horizon in front of them (more towards the top of the shot), I think this would have looked frighteningly 'real'.

Minor nitpick. Hell of a picture.

Good job!

Venetian Parking Space
by sh0rty

Comment:
Critique Club feedback:

This is a nice capture, if a bit static for a Free Study entry.

While there is no real excitement here to draw the eye, I do like all the textures and patterns and the overall clarity of the scene. Having been to Venice I realize that it isn't always possible to find different angles to shoot from, but assuming it was possible, a different point of view to give more emphasis to the boat and its reflection might make this shot pop.

Good work and I hope you enjoyed Venice! My fav city in the world.

Beautiful Sunset on a Lazy Saturday Evening
by rugman1969

Comment:
Critique Club feedback:

You have an eye for a pretty scene, and that is half the battle.

The other half is capturing the scene and presenting it an appealing manner. Here are a couple of tips that will hopefully aid you in that regard:

1 - Avoid splitting your scene down the middle with the horizon. Shoot it (or crop it) so the horizon is about 1/3rd up from the bottom of the image if it is the sky you want to emphasize (reverse the logic if its the ground you are showcasing).

2 - In camera or in photoshop, try a much lighter hand with the saturation of colors. While the blues are very striking at first glance, the eye starts to notice things like the odd clipping in the red parts of the clouds and, often, a bit of pixelation where the color has just gone haywire.

DPC voters do tend to prefer very bright, saturated colors. At the same time, going too far will cause a bit of a backlash. I think this went a long way towards keeping this shot from scoring a bit higher than it did.

Hopefully these are helpful comments. Good luck!

Transition
by jerowe

Comment:
Critique Club feedback:

These are nicely lit and composed shots, and the triptych approach is something different to look at. While all technically competent, they lack any mass appeal and would have a hard time competing in a Free Study. Still you've captured some nice moments here and are obviously a capable wedding photog.

Good work!

Symmetry
by sz1_

Comment:
Critique Club feedback:

This is a very nice study of symmetry and patterns. I think the wide aperture holds this back a bit by not capturing the scene in as sharp of focus as the subject demands. A slight increase in contrast might also make this look even better by getting all those details to jump out even more.

Good work!

This is my patch!
by KHolt

Comment:
Critique Club feedback:

Who know that Expert Editing Free Studies would attract so many cows?

There is nothing negative to say about this shot, and I think the score it received reflects that. Perfect exposure, great lighting, the focus is dead on, and the bit of natural framing provided by the tree takes it over the top.

Very nice shot.

Gold Dust Woman
by kellian

Comment:
Critique Club feedback:

You have an eye for an attractive pose and a composition that works very well for the scene.

Shooting into the sun is very difficult, and while you managed to save a lot of detail in the subject the cost was an overexposure of the sky which robbed a lot of detail out of that flowing piece of cloth she is holding.

If you have(or can buy or make) a reflector, this is the perfect sort of shot to use it on. You can reduce your exposure a bit and save the sky and the details in the cloth by having the reflector bounce some of that light back up into the model's face.

I also think the Gaussian Blur is a little on the heavy side here, but that could be an artistic decision on your part so run with it.

Good job!

Arriving Somewhere But Not Here
by CorySmith

Comment:
Critique Club feedback:

For a setup shot, you've shown a good eye for creating a scene that works well with the subject. Here the strong points of the image are the perspective of the street moving back to the horizon and centering the subject within those lines to make her pop out of the scene.

Things that likely held this back are the overall darkness of the image, the background clutter coming up from behind her head and a slightly soft focus on the subject.

If you have access to a flash, that would help light the subject so she stands out more while still allowing you to catch the soft morning light in the sky behind her. You could also take another stab at using various masks and other assorted digital wizardry in your image editor to see what could be done - but there is never a replacement for getting the lighting right 'in real life'.

Shooting the model from a lower point of view, or physically moving her forward to block the clutter coming up from her head would help as well. I would keep the centered placement, just find a spot that hides the light poles. Centered compositions are often panned, but think it works very well here.

Sharp focus is the bread and butter of scoring on DPC. This looks like a dimly lit scene so if you were on auto-focus, your camera might have been struggling to stay locked on. Manual focus may be your friend in a situation like this.

Overall, nice shot!

Glow
by pixel_express

Comment:
Critique Club feedback:

This is an eye catching abstract with pleasing shapes and tones throughout the image.

Two things likely kept this shot from scoring higher. First, even sharpness throughout the shot would present all those wonderful patterns to the viewer in crisp detail. Second, the composition itself is rather haphazard. If this is a crop out of a larger shot, it may be worth experimenting to see where placing the 'focal point' (the blue bit) gives the image the most impact. In my mind I see that spot as being the upper right of the image so that the shapes and colors all point/fade down to the lower left.

Abstracts are not often appealing to DPC voters, and tend to get a love/hate response. The fact that this pulled a strong middle-of-the-road score should be taken as encouraging in my experience.

King of the forest
by hajeka

Comment:
Critique Club feedback:

You've captured a very nice wildlife scene here. The aperture selection works well to focus the eye onto the moose. The blurred out leaves in the foreground on the right side are a bit of a distraction, as they don't actually frame the subject and add no real interest to the overall shot.

Composition is well done, taking heed of the Rule of Thirds.

Free Studies tend to be very demanding in terms of delivering a heavy dose of glitz to the voter. While this image may pop a bit more with a tighter crop and playing with the contrast between subject and the rest of the scene, it's placement would likely not radically change compared to the rest of the entries in the challenge.

Nice work!