awesome
by habibi_gui

Comment:
Welcome to dpchallenge! And, congratulations on entering your first challenge. While I agree that the background / setting is very busy (especially the orange board in the right background, and the florescent light fixture), I really like the parallelism of the two guys\' profiles. You have also chosen a slightly different angle to shoot from (one of the reasons the florescent fixture is in the shot), which adds to the shot.
I think being closer to your subject(s) would have helped: it would have reduced the background clutter and distractions, and it would have helped emphasize the two profiles. You have some decent lighting (maybe a bit too much around the back of his ear), but picking up some nice highlights in his hair.
With portraits, it is crucial that the eyes be in focus. In your shot, the focus is on the ear, and the depth of field shallow enough that the focus is drifting by the time it get to his eye & nose.
Minimal editing is really tough because you can\'t \"fix\" anything - like cropping from just a bit off the back and top of his head, and just before the edge of the white board that overlays the orange one.
Also, don\'t worry about the score. Do photography for your own enjoyment, and to learn and get better at it. Even with your score, keep in mind that 5% voted it 7 or better. Your image connected very well with those. Over 21% thought your entry was better than average.
There are some excellent photographers on this site, and each has a different voting style and rationale. Go look at the blue, red, and yellow ribbon winners in almost any challenge - most of them have some 1, 2, or 3 votes. If you really want to learn, you really do want those voters who won\'t give above a 3 for anything except a creative, excellent picture. It keeps the standard high, and reminds you that you are getting honest votes - not sympathetic ones.
Also on scores - to get above a 5.0, the majority of voters have to be voting 6 or higher. To get above a 6.0, the majority of voters have to be voting 7 or higher. There is the challenge.
Welcome aboard!

Eleanor
by NikonJeb

Comment:
Great capture. Love the quizzical look. Great lighting.

V
by cheito

Comment:
A ribbon on your first entry! Congratulations. (Some of us celebrate last place as a "brown" ribbon.) Not enough info to form an opinion on your ability or intent, but welcome to dpc! Looking forward to seeing more entries from you.

downtown Z
by timfythetoo

Comment:
Congrats on the blue! Very nice.

walking through milk
by posthumous

Comment:
Never understood why this doesn't relate to folks.

For me, the path has always had strong meaning - a metaphor for the course of one's life, the result(s) of a choice, walking alone, walking with others, overcoming difficulty or discomfort (like walking barefoot through the snow), etc.

I especially like the "contrarian" shadows of branches crossing the path.

Sponsored by Yogurt...
by ShutterRev

Comment:
Guess now you know why not. I really like this shot - truck is sharp, wheels blurred, dust kicking up. And yes, it is busy, but I'm guessing you wouldn't have much success trying to get all the folks to move their rigs... ;-p

Milky Waves
by MargaretNet

Comment:
Judge not the image by the lowness of score. Great image it is.

What's pizza without dairy?
by nygold

Comment:
Voters really didn't like this, huh? Regardless of the actual effort put into the shot, it looks like a piece of pizza flopped on a paper plate, and a flash picture taken of it - perceived lack of effort must be thoroughly punished.
The other thing you could play with (since this is Advanced editing) is using "dodge" or "darken" on the white hot spots of light from the flash or light source - even if they were off-white to grey, they wouldn't stand out quite as much.

My Buttermilk Hero
by albrix

Comment:
Keep in mind this is a critique of the picture, not of the photographer. Crop - I think you've chosen well for the crop - enough space left, right, top, and bottom - nose gives additional context, even though it is cut off. Vignetting - not enough to be a visually significant factor.
I think three things that really hurt your score are:
No white whites - yeah, I know buttermilk isn't white, but since it is in b & w, you could make it look white. As it is, the "whitest" part of the pictures looks like a very unattractive (even repulsive - especially on teeth) grey.
Lighting - I am no expert on lighting, but the picture's lighting makes this look like a dentist shot, with wet, icky teeth - pulling attention away from the milk-stache.
Stubble - little sprouts of facial hair are not attractive - either clean shaven, or a nicely trimmed mustache would work better.

Gust in the Wind
by dtremain

Comment:

Originally posted by hahn23: Good flag shot. I like the composition. The tree branches provide a cluttered, and therefore distracting, background.

I was trying to use them as a frame. Smile.