lollipop
by miss parker

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club :)

Hi Miss Parker :)

I see some occasional signs like this in my own community. They are usually wrapped up like this when they are new and not actually in use yet. The city road crew usually does this to alert the drivers that there is a new sign coming and to make people aware of it before it actually comes into use.

I like your choice of a shallow depth of field on this photo in order to help isloate your subject against the background. I only see one comment in your comments that suggests more depth of field, and I heartily diasgree with that.

To improve the overall impact of this photo, I believe that showing a little more of the sign post would have been a good idea. Your "lollipop" concept may be slightly weakened by not having more of the 'stick' visible :)

The 717 is a great camera... Keep up the good work!

John Setzler

Village Next Left
by kevinswope

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club :)

Hi Joshua...

I'm not really sure why this image didn't score better than it did. Technically, I don't see much wrong with it. I think there may be a couple areas where some improvement could be helpful though.

1 - This image could be slightly sharper to bring out some of the details in the scene. One pass with the photoshop sharpen filter could do the trick nicely on this one.

2 - The lighting is a little harsh. The detail in the trees coupled with the light/dark in the image could be making this image a little on the 'busy' side for the viewer. This particular scene could possibly be better photographed at a different time of day or when the sky is overcast. This would help remove some of the sharp lighting contrast and possily help your viewer focus more attention on the indian structures in your image :)

I really like the way the 'pathway' leads the viewer into this scene. When I shoot scenes like this, I always try to get low to the ground with the camera also. It makes that 'path' a much more dominant part of the image...

Keep up the good work :)

John Setzler

Drew's Stop Sign Revisited
by autool

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club :)

Hi autool :)

Congrats on a great finish with this photo... I think you have a very strong composition here. You are right about the railcar in this shot. I believe that it definitely adds perspective to the entire composition. It would be a little boring without it IMO. I also think the extreme left composition of the stop sign works very well here also..

"Waiting" for the right shot is always fun :) Especially with a sunset... the color and composition of it is constantly changing and you knever know what you will end up with. I have often shot 30-40 frames of the same composition in a sunset in order to have a good selection to choose from when I'm finished.

I don't know if there is much room for improvement on this image. The only thing I would have possibly tried with this setting would have been to underexpose a few shots. (I think you reversed your aperture and shutter in the settings here) I would have tried the same composition at 1/20, 1/40, and 1/80 with the flash also. Each stop down would have darkened the sky (and the foreground) a bit more, but it could have punched up the color in the stopsign with the flash as well... I think the only complaint I have with this shot is that there is not enough contrast between the color of the stopsign and the sky to really make it stand out as much.

The bullet holes in the stop sigh are great! I actually looked for some signs with these holes in them but I did not find any around here... There used to be plenty of them but I suppose my community has gotten away from the 'fun with firearms' lately :)

Keep up the great work :)

John Setzler

Duck Crossing
by Wheeler1992

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club :)

Hi Wheeler :)

This photo has a strong 'cute' element to it. Your message comes across very well and the challenge is met :)

Photographically, the photo may be a bit weak. There are three specific elements here that I believe could use some improvement.

1 - The exposure is not as strong as it could be. It appears that you are shooting into the sun. This being the case, you have a little washout in the color on your sign and at the top of the building behind it. You did not post your camera settings so I can't make any suggestions on a different exposure route for you.

2 - Compositionally, your camera is tilted which causes the sign to be tilted in this photo. I'm not sure if that was intentional or not, but it doesn't really add anything to the photo.

3 - Your sign is dead centered in the frame. The surrounding buildingd don't really strengthen your photo, so maybe a tigter crop just including the 'duck' and the sign would improve the overall impact of this shot ....

Keep up the good efforts :)

John Setzler

Distorted Squares
by MaYz

Comment:
phenomenal abstract work.. the black and white works beautifully here... = 10 - setzler

Square competition gone to my head.
by SharQ

Comment:
This is a great photo... one of my favorites this week for sure... the composition is really intriguing. I don't particularly care for the title though... I would love to see a strong title to go along with this strong photo :) = 10 - setzler

Slow Down For Wildfowl
by vestanpance

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club :)

Hi Tim :)

I think you have a compositionally excellent photo here. There is nothing at all that I think could improve the angle. Obviously, as you mentioned in your comment, some fowl would have been nice! I'm sure it would have been very impractical to wait around for that to happen as well. Maybe catching an automobile in the frame would have created some more impact as well :)

The color in the foreground seems a tad flat but the exposure of the clouds is excellent. It's not easy to catch that detail and you have done well with it :) I believe that a slightly larger aperture.. maybe F5.6, and a slightly slower shutter speed... maybe 1/250 or 1/125 could have improved the overall color saturation in this image.

The concept of a 'leading line' is playing a small role in this image as well.. the yellow road line is leading the viewer's eye right to your sign... that is a nice touch!

Keep up the good work :)

John Setzler

Magdalen Bridge, Oxford, UK
by chrismbhouse

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club :)

I think this is a nice scene for a photograph. The bridge definitely adds a very nice element to the photo. I think architecture integrates nicely with certain landscapes :)

There are a couple places where this photo could use come improvement overall. 1 - The top of the bridge would be nicer if it was lined up parallel with the top of the frame. It is slightly sloping to one side. The 'horizon line' in any landscape should be horizontal in the frame unless you have chosen an extreme angle for effect. 2 - The colors are a bit 'flat'. I think that a little saturation adjustment in software would fix this right up for sure!

This photo could also possibly use a little extra sharpness maybe... I bet that if you used software to increase the color saturation just a little and increase the overall sharpness, you would have a much more powerful photo :)

Keep up the great work :) This is an excellent first submission. I look forward to seeing more of your work in the future :)

John Setzler

Pains Hill Cobham
by redfig

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club :)

Hi Redfig...

Is this water frozen? It has that appearance and I can't really tell. I particularly like the tree in the upper left corner of the frame. The dark shapes that it provides make it stand out nicely in this image. I also appreciate the 'foreground' in this image. I have seen several landscape photos recently that make me think I'm standing in the water as I view it... I think this foreground in your shot gives the viewer a nice solid entry path into your landscape.

The pinkish color toning seems a bit strange. I think that it possibly removes some contrast from the overall image. I also believe the photo is a bit 'soft' and could possibly use a quick pass of the sharpen filter to make the details stand out a little more...

Keep up the good work :)

John Setzler

Trying to butter me up?
by catpixel

Comment:
This photograph has a 'strange' quality to it but the color doesn't work well for me... I'm not sure if this is intentional or not... - setzler