Pinwheels
by Lorene

Comment:
Fantastic colors and interesting choice of subjects. There will likely be other pinwheel shots but I am sure this is unique.

The colors are nicely saturated. The composition works well and takes your eye across the frame. The sky is a nice complimentary background to the vivid subjects.

The perfectionist in me would like to see the centers of the pinwheels lined up but that is also quite nitpicky.


The challenge: While perhaps not the most unique subject it is really well done and is certain to be a ribbon winner. (Strangely enough you could pick the color from the three pinwheels to the right).

Well done!

Gyration in Blue
by krnodil

Comment:
Great motion capture. While the typical "DPC Sharp" I like the motion blue that was achieved here. The colors are nice and create good interest. It would be nice to make the background a little whiter but that might be nitpicky.

The composition is well done and compliments the subject well.

The challeng: A natural approach to the challenge however this does have enough visual appeal to stand out in a crowd.

In the still on the night
by Brookied

Comment:
Interesting capture that uses black and white conversion effectively. The contrast and tonality of this image really creates visual interest.

The border is a little thick and distracting. I would use a border about half the width. The border colors do work really well with this shot.

Great sharpness and exposure.

Composition:
A little dissappointing given how great the scene is. The street is available to create a nice leading line throughout the scene which would act as a vehicle to take the viewer's eye throughout the frame. With it being vertical it doesn't achieve this. Moving to the left or right would also allow you to get the whole bike rack. The street would then appear diagonal which would give this shot a nice feel.

The challenge:
There are going to be a few night shots in this challenge. Yours is strong enough technically to stand out however.

....in the wind
by lucifero

Comment:
Simple subject and nice minimalist approach.
The line of the stalk creates an interesting line
Part of the plant is a little dark.

There is a little bit sensor dust (?) in the lower left hand corner that could have been cloned or cropped out.

The sky is a little flat. A bit of postprocessing would create a bit more drama.

The image could be a little sharper or a little softer.

Composition:
A little lacking unfortunately. A more vertical composition would give this more of a restful feel. More diagonal and it would imply more motion.

I am curious how this would look with the stalk coming out of the corner of the frame.

The challenge:
Interesting and unique approach to the challenge. Some might call this DNMC (those who are narrow minded) I would disagree. I like the fresh take that this exhibits.

Sunset Revisited
by thomaspeople

Comment:
Now THAT is nice. This has a lot more wow factor than the first attempt. Changing the cropping really helps and adding more contrast makes the silhouette more dramatic. The clouds really pop now and the orange works really well and gives this a nice warm feeling.

Good job!

shopping-street
by pla2

Comment:
Lots of great colors here and an interesting scene. Something you couldn't control but something I did note is the abscence of people and vehicles on the right. The picture seems a little unbalanced because of it.

The lines of the street work well by drawing your eye into the scene and therefore create depth.

The slight motion blur of some people is effective as it adds a nice feeling of movement in the shot.

Composition:
I am curious how this would look if you did a portrait orientation shot. (Say if you were to crop to the left of the yield and to the left of the left hand side walk (if that makes sense).

Sunset in the Rockies
by thomaspeople

Comment:
Well...sorry to be the first to comment on this. Anyways...here goes:

The colors are nice here and I like just the tiny bit of sun poking over the mountains.

There is some interesting clouds in the sky. A bit of post processing would be able to put some more contrast in them and make them more dramatic.

Being only 640 px its hard to get a really good pana but we can still get a feel for how this would be on a larger scale.

Composition: A little blah. Kind of hard to really do much about it though. I might go a little lower to get more of the mountains. I'm guessing that band of yellow between the mountains and the clouds was what really caught your eye. If you were to recompose this with that in mind it might make this more effective.

All in all you caught a beautiful sunset. Something to consider (and I should do this myself too): before you snap a picture of a scene, think about what caught your eye in the first place and make that your focal interest. Chances are that if it caught your eye it will capture other people's eyes when you take the picture.

The Silent Calm of Dawn
by BrianR

Comment:
Interesting colors captured here. Stranged processing hurts this image. (The grass and the trees appear to be oversharpened and look unnatural.

I like the way the trees frame the picture however they are quite dominating in the scene.

The composition is okay but it could be stronger. I think this compostion is a sort of compromise. Its not really emphasizing any one element. The composition could be changed the to lend emphasis to the sky for instance or to the reflections in the water.

The challenge:
A still reflection certainly is a given for this challenge. The strange processing in the trees give this a harsh feeling however and create a sense of agitation rather than calm. Softer lines would accentuate the feeling you were going for.

spinning wheel
by techdoc

Comment:
lol...its been a while since I've seen this. (My shot of this got corrupted and I only ended up with half of the wheel).

Nice colors and use a long exposure to create motion. There are a lot of distracting elements in the background however.

The composition Positioning yourself closer and looking up might create more visual appeal. It would also get rid of a lot of the busy background. Putting the center of the wheel in the middle of the frame is somewhat boring. An off center position would create visual drama.

The challenge: Right on. You can't say this DNMC at all. I don't suspect there will be a lot of Toys R' Us Times Square pictures entered either so this is quite unique.

As an aside this is far better than the picture I took.

bamboo snake
by Jelena73

Comment:
Creative approach however this does appear to be lacking some focus. I can't really see what the camera autofocused on if anything to be honest.

There is a lot of noise that does distract from this image as well.

The colors are nice and well saturated. The shape of the bamboo does create visual interest.

The challenge: Certainly a unique take on this challenge. While there is isn't actually motion in this capture, the shape of the bamboo creates a sort of visual movement throughout the frame thus meeting the challenge nicely.