Midnight Romance
by SatelliteSpeck

Comment:
Wow, such wonderful models! Such beautiful lighting. Such romance, such love....anyways, beautiful gorgeous picture. I want this framed, on my desk. It's absolutely the best pic of us together that exists. Thank you for TAKING it. - 15.

Galaxy of Light
by OneSweetSin

Comment:
Excellent finish!

The speed of technology
by vignir

Comment:
SIX ONES?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?

This is the best shot of the week. This is the Mav Blue Ribbon shot of this challenge.

Exhilaration
by sagestudio

Comment:
:) Nice finish!

Breathing Space
by stephan

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club
Hi again, Stephan! Always one of my fave photographers to comment on!

Composition
I think that you nailed it in your own comments - it could have used a main center of interest to tie the photo all together. It could have been one of a lot of things, but kid with kite would have worked better.

Color
I adore your sky - the shift in blues is amazing. The higher in the sky, the better the colors. Unfortunately, the ground is one big silhouette.

Lighting
The lighting sets the sky like this, which is the best part of the picture, IMHO.

Subject matter
Needs one.

Overall
I think you know DPC well enough to understand what you said in your comments was your ultimate downfall. We see the air around us, and it meets the challenge, but it just doesn't have that "oooooh" or "wow" to it.

The grass grows greener...
by MarkS224

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club
Hi Mark! First let me say I can't believe how few comments you got on this. I'm glad I picked it to CC.

Composition
I think the perspective on the wheelbarrow is more of a journalistic "recording" of this than an interesting piece of art. To me, it's just a wheelbarrow. While that could be said about a great many pictures, I think it really does apply here. What made you want to take this photo like this?

Color
Your colors are actually very weird. I'm not sure why the logs look magenta, but I have a feeling it's the same reason your grass looks unnaturally green. I know we all like oversatured and supersaturated colors in some respects, but I think there's a limit to what looks good (as I learned the hard way in Magazine challenge).

Focus
Your focus is good here. It doesn't stand out, which is usually a good thing.

Lighting
Flat lighting - not very interesting and it doesn't add to the shot at all.

Subject matter
As I said, it's just a wheelbarrow with some grass. I'm not sure if this is country life or suburb life, but it's green, it's living, so I'd say it meets the challenge.

Overall

I think Jason said it best "bit dull and lack of pop." To do well on dpc, you need "WOW" factor, something interesting that would make someone want to come back and see it again.

Keep shooting!
Mav

Country Trail
by Colorado_Jim

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club
Hi Jim, nice to meet you!

Composition
This actually reminds me of one of my favorite shots on DPC: //www.dpcprints.com/print.php?IMAGE_ID=18771 I hope you don't mind me using it to make my comparisons.

In your composition, you used a portrait view, to get more of the trees and a longer look at the path. I think you lost the "isolated and lost" feeling from being in the woods with the inclusion of the sky.

Color
The post processing done on crab's shot to make the colors stand out is outstanding. I would aspire to this kind of shot and these kinds of colors. Your colors are much more yellowy, which may be realistic, but isn't as pretty.

Focus
Your focus is excellent. I wonder what this would have looked like with an f2.0 or f2.8 though. Focus near and have the further into the woods be less clear, as if your path is unclear...etc. Just an idea.

Lighting
The lighting here is a bit direct and harsh. Looks more like a 2pm shot than a 5:30pm shot. The lighting times DO make a difference and I'd aim to shoot in those golden hours (sunrise til 2 hrs later and sunset and 2 hrs before) as much as possible.

Subject matter
Very interesting spot in nature. I think this is a fine subject for a shot.

Overall
I think the colors and lighting hurt your score. Your cam is easily capable of matching the very best work on this site, so I hope you keep at it.

Nice job on a first entry - way better than mine!

Mav

Pacific Coast Hay
by JPR

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club
Hey Jason! Fancy meeting you here!

Composition
I like parts of the composition here. The symmetry is wonderful (good job using what we learned from a previous challenge). However, I think the hay is the main interesting thing to look at and only takes up 25% of the surface of the picture. We have a great zoom, and I would have used it to isolate the hay and the land around it.

Color
Because you're using browns, greens and blues, nothing pops here. There is no 'wow' color in this shot, like a guy in a yellow rain coat walking through the fields. That would be interesting enough to take a picture of. As it is, the subject must carry a greater weight and here the colors don't contrast enough to set it off.

Focus
Your focus is good - glad you didn't get caught in the f2.8 to get enough light, focus on one bale of hay and there goes the focus issue. I like landscapes being landscapey. Our landscape mode works wonders - did you use that?

Lighting
See color - with the white sky and no dramatic lighting, it is kind of flat and dull. (no offense meant) If the sun peeked through the clouds here 3 minutes later, again, you'd have something well worth taking a shot of.

Subject matter
Hay = country. You definitely met the challenge here. I am as interested in hay as anything else I didn't shoot myself, so good job here.

Overall
I think the score was lower than you may have wanted because a) the light is dull and b) the colors are muted and almost appear washed out, plus the white sky phenomenon...

You know I follow your work and you know I like it. Good luck as always and keep shooting!

Play Ball
by Crafty Sue

Comment:
I see the speed. The image quality is below average in focus, lighting and color. You can't make out the kid's face either - try to use a tripod or some solid surface to balance the camera.

American Pride Flyin' High
by purpletroll

Comment:
How does this relate to speed?