DSC_1631.jpg
by brayburn

Comment:
Love this. It has a timeless appeal. SO New York.

The Lion King
by muur88

Comment:
Or were you and Pawdrix together when you both got this guy? Funny coincidence though

Rainbow Wall
by Covert_Oddity

Comment:
OK, I thought I was going nuts, but apparently you and Dougi555 hang out in the same neighbourhoods!

Elbow Falls
by Citadel

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

This is one of those images that has so much potential but really falls short due to the processing. The composition is excellent.

I think unless you are using a tripod, you are always going to be better off using one image and exposing it 3 different ways in photoshop prior to importing into HDR software. This would have stopped the ghosting which is present.

I often find after tonemapping an image needs to have a few adjustments made in PS. I think in this case a boost in contrast and saturation would have gone a long way, but even those would not have compensated for the ghosting in the original HDR merging.

Try it again using only one of the images. I expect it will look a lot different. Still a beautiful location and fantastic scenery.

Sunrise in Duquesa
by Larry109

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

Amazing rays peeking from behind the clouds. It's always nice to be able to capture light like this.

As far as entering this in the free study, it is lacking a real subject. Yes, I get the subject is the clouds and sun, but there is not enough there to hold the voters attention. In a free study particularly you really need to be able to WOW the voters and sadly this does not really do that.

Not sure there is much you could have done from a technical point of view, I believe the main reason it didn't break a 5 was due to the subject matter.

The Forgotten River
by MistyMucky

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

I have never tried using photoshop for HDR, seems it is a useful tool as this does not look in anyway "cartoony".

However, as can happen with HDR/tonemapping programs, it does feel a little bit flat. The colours, which I believe at this time of year should be very vibrant, do not really pop. I think a boost a slight levels adjustment and a small saturation boost would have helped this immensely.

As far as the composition is concerned, I really feel as though it is very cramped. I notice now that Hotpasta commented to that effect also. I think it would have been very nice to see a bit of space vertically, perhaps so we see a bit more of the river bank.

Overall it's nice image that probably would have scored a bit higher with some very minor enhancements.

Caroline
by Jessi

Comment:
Greetings from Critique Club.

Well, as both of the other commenters have said, this is a very nice candid shot. The little girl seems very comfortable with being in front of the camera.

From a technical point of view, I wonder if the DOF is just a little bit too shallow. It may have worked better if more of Caroline was in focus.

I also find the white balance to be a little bit off. This may just be my personal preference but I feel it is just a little bit too warm. A bit cooler, only a tiny bit mind you, may work better. Also, I think the image is slightly overexposed. I don't know if you were intentionally aiming for that, but if not, then I think a slight adjustment to brightness may have helped.

Overall, I thought this was a pleasant well done image, but probably lacking the DPC WoW factor to score much higher than it did in a free study.

As Cute As It Gets
by jomerner

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

Very cute subject, so soft and fluffy. That said, the subject probably hurt you a little bit because it is lacking the DPC Wow factor. That probably cost you a few points.

From a technical point of view, the depth of field is very nice. The foreground focus however seems to be a bit off. The really sharp part of the image seems to be the blades of grass just directly in front of the gosling. I would have preferred to see the gosling itself in sharp focus. It's not that the bird is not in focus, per se, it's just not tack sharp.

Concerning the exposure, the image feels a little bit underexposed. This could have been fixed during post processing with a slight levels adjustment. This would help the colours pop a bit more too.

I like the composition and the choice of using a square crop was a good one as it works well.

Sorry it didn't score a bit higher for you.

Her imagination drove her to always look beyond ..
by AmeedEl-Ghoul

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

One of the risks of using a shot so similar to your original ribbon winning image, is that some people will score you lower. Seems there were quite a few who did this. At least you know the reason is only because of a perceived lack of originality and nothing to do with the quality of the image. Definitely not wrong to enter it, but be aware that your score will suffer as a consequence.

Both images are very strong. I like the composition of this image, the square crop is excellent. The colours really pop off the screen.

I don't think there is much I can offer by way of critique, the image scored lower than the furniture challenge due to the previously commented reasons.

Washington Square Park
by pawdrix

Comment:
Steve, I like this very much. It feels a lot less raw than some of your other recent stuff, but works well. The light through subway grids (presuming this) creates some very subtle and nice backlighting.