fleur
by halopes

Comment:
Love the way the flower looks like it's coming out of her handbag. So well spotted.

The Light in the eyes
by RulerZigzag

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

What a gorgeous baby! Sorry it did not score a bit higher for you.

From a technical point of view, as I think you already know, the baby's face is not totally in focus, but the important feature, the eyes are, so that's a good thing. Looking at your technical info, I think if you had upped the ISO to 200 or even 400, then you would have got a faster shutter speed and increased the chance of getting more of the baby's face in focus (if that was what you were aiming for). I don't think you would have suffered too much with noise at 200 or 400.

I think for me the main reason this didn't score a bit higher, is the composition. The frame is just a little bit too tight for my taste, I think I would prefer to see a little bit of space around the bottom and right side.

One last comment. I think although it did mention black and white in the challenge description, that some people were actually scoring lower for just a B&W image. Mostly people were expecting some kind of toning.

Nice image, and sorry it did not score higher. Had I voted, it would have been a 6 from me.

Running Away
by JoanieP

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

Your comments are quite defensive, so from the beginning you obviously knew you may get dinged for it not being straight. I have to agree with you, it gets old being told things are not straight! It certainly doesn't affect my view of this image at all.

Obviously this is a set up shot, so it would be interesting to see how it looked in horizontal orientation where the boy may not be so centered in the frame. I think it works as it is, but I'm trying to think of reasons why it may not have scored to it's potential.

One person commented that the boy, clearly the primary subject, is not entirely in focus. On studying the image for a bit longer I think I would agree. It's only ever so slightly off, but enough to make a difference in scoring.

Overall I think the composition and subject are excellent and I like the title.

Coming now to the main reason why I think you did not score as high as you probably would have hoped. I do believe that the toning in this image is a little bit heavy. I think sometimes when doing this type of challenge, the less is more approach is the way forward. Looking at the top 3 images, you will see how subtle the toning is on those. (I could also listen to my own advice on this point!)

Hopefully this is helpful to you.

Sarah

Waiting for you
by Cuttooth

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

I have just read the comments on this image, which are actually quite interesting. Of them all, I have to agree with Zeuszen.

Of course, the subject is a little dark for DPC, and because it requires the viewer to consider it for more than 5 seconds, I suspect you got some low votes from the speed voters, which is a pity, as it certainly an image that tells a story.

I would personally never tell you that you should have cropped out the foreground. However, what I will say is that if you are concerned about your score, then cropping the foreground may have helped you. I have noticed recently that DPC voters don't particularly like shallow depth of field in the foreground. I happen to like it as is, it adds to the overall mood.

I could see this image used as a dust jacket for a murder mystery.

As far as the score goes, I think you knew going in that this may not score so well. The score certainly does not reflect on the quality of the image.

Development
by aliqui

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

So, now how on earth am I supposed to offer you helpful feedback? :) I think the votes speak for themselves. No 1,2 or 3 votes should say something.

The choice of subject and composition is excellent. Your processing has been done so very well, not a hint of the over the top look that so often is seen when using Topaz.

I suspect this looks excellent in colour too.

Sorry I don't have any pearls of wisdom for you, other than to say, very well done, this is an excellent photograph.

Duotone or Bust
by robinegg

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

I think you did pretty well considering it's your first day with the D700. Usually takes a few days to get the feel of a new camera (at least I find it so). You scored pretty well with this image, so well done. Interesting to note you did not receive any ones or twos, congrats, that doesn't happen often.

The diagonal composition works extremely well for this subject. The duotone conversion is also very well done. I wonder how it would look with the focus on the front bust rather than the middle one? Don't know if it would have helped your score at all. I actually really like it as it is. I didn't vote in this challenge, but would have likely given it a 7.

Have to add the title was really good too!

Little Farmer
by CassieDoodle

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

You have no idea how difficult it is to provide you with some constructive feedback on this image. As far as I am concerned, there is little to improve upon and I am at a loss to figure out how it didn't score over 6. My only conclusion is that you got dinged because it was just a straight black and white.

The composition is excellent, the tilted angle works exceptionally well here. You have cropped it beautifully, the depth of field is lovely and the catch light in his eyes is gorgeous.

As I said, I don't really have anything to give you in terms of how to improve, as I think this is an excellent portrait.

Well done, I'd be delighted to have such an image in my portfolio.

A slow dash across the path.
by Bill666

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

Quite a nice choice for this challenge, although I can imagine, as you stated, that the colour version is much nicer, especially given the nice lighting and the time of year.

Excellent choice with the DOF, I think it worked very well with both foreground and background out of focus. I liked the fact you got down close to the subject, so we are almost eye level with the snail.

I think what hurt you in this challenge is the placement of the subject. I feel sure it cost you about 0.5 in points. If you had cropped the image slightly differently so the snail was more to the right of the frame then I think you would have found the image was more appealing to the voters. Not saying I don't like it as it is, but, in terms of why you may not have scored where you thought you would I think this is the reason. Try it with a different crop and see what you think.

250kph @ 1/160s = Radical!
by Ecce_Signum

Comment:
well done on the top ten Andi.

Stranger's Feet in Passing
by brianlh

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

I have to confess I was a little surprised this did not score higher. I thought it was a pretty strong image for this challenge.

Composition is good, it includes just the right balance of "busy-ness".

One comment I would make is that the image doesn't feel really, really sharp, but looking at your EXIF I can see that maybe a product of the 1600 ISO a relatively slow shutter speed. Without any image stabilisation it is difficult to get things tack sharp at less than 1/60.

Overall, I really like this image and am still surprised it did not score higher.