The Factory
by silverfeather

Comment:
Hi Cailin - welcome to the Critique Zone!

This has all the makings of an absolutely cracking shot but somewhere along the way it loses just a little of the impact, which is - I suspect - what hit the vote a little.

Technical: It would be interesting to know what camera / lens you used and what the settings were (you state the E-10 and the Nikkor lens, but that doesn't add up, and that lens can't shoot at f2.8) - so I'm afraid my advice will be a bit generic. Your 70-300 may be the best lens to use for this, but I would have been tempted to try the 24-70 too, just getting a bit closer. For a subject like this, you really need to keep the speed up (1/500 is good!) but getting this close the aperture needs to be at least about f8 to get the depth of field that you need - so controlling the ISO (not leaving it on auto) is important. The camera's autofocus will often not choose the best point of focus when doing serious close ups like this, so I would probably go with manual focus or shoot several on autofocus to try and get a keeper if the subject is moving. Really, both the whole bee and the near side of the flower need to be in focus. The other risk is of getting within the lens's minimum focus distance (probably 1.3m or more for the 70-300) and losing the shot that way.

PP: There is a lot to be dragged out of this shot in post-processing (PP). I would always aim to sharpen a bit, and a little more contrast (try using curves rather than brightness/contrast) and saturation would have lifted the shot too.

Artistically: This is completely subjective, but... for what it's worth, this is where this shot really scores. The composition is very strong - both with the placement of the subject flower and bee, but also with the background flowers (which a greater DoF would leave blurred but more obvious, helping the structure) and the (chance?) use of complimentary colours (purple / green) which is very pleasing.

The bad news is that this shot needs some help technically, the (very) good news from where I'm sitting is that you have a great eye for composition and structure - and it's much easier to learn the technicals than develop an artistic eye. So, I expect to see some great things from you shortly! Above all, practice makes perfect.

Happy hunting,

Frank.

Solitary
by lavi83

Comment:
Hi Lavinia - welcome to the Critique Zone!

I confess that I am a bit mystified by this shot. When I first saw it, I thought of a few things to say but then I looked at your portfolio. The gap between this shot and the quality in your portfolio is so large that I am forced to wonder if you were shooting for the brown here? I will critique assuming that you were not.

Technically: That is a very capable camera/lens combo - but definitely not at its best at f3.5. The tree either needs more or less light - either definitely a silhouette or lit enough to see the detail - perhaps using 'spot' metering would help get the levels right? I would then boost the ISO to about 400 and close the aperture a little (maybe f5.6?)

PP: This needs a little work, I suggest. There isn't much interesting or important colour so I would be tempted to convert to black and white like this. To really bring out the textures and contrasts, some work on levels or curves and some sharpening is also really a requirement.

Artistic: It definitely looks like you have gone for the rule of thirds here. It's not enough and this is where I am surprised because your portfolio shows some really excellent use of structure and composition, while this is a little lacking. Perhaps a different perspective on the tree would have helped? From the ground up maybe? In any event the very bright area bottom left is a distraction.

I hope that some of this is useful - it is all just my opinion of course but I am very confident that you are capable of far better photographs than this!

Happy hunting,

Frank.

Atlantic Coast
by pall

Comment:
Hi Pall, welcome to the Critique Zone!

It's an interesting shot - not entirely to my taste but that is quite subjective. I would have expected a shot life this to do better on DPC, so here are a few suggestions (nothing more!) as to why it didn't.

Technical: The aperture seems a little open for a shot where you really want front to back sharpness. Given that you want a long shutter, would tightening it a little not have helped? I also agree with the comment that the shutter is not quite long enough - the water is blurred and interesting but not really silky.

Artistic: This really is completely subjective! I'm not sure that this works for the challenge. It's quite busy with very different structure in different areas, bright sky, dark rocks, bright rocks, blurred water. It's like a mash of different styles in one shot. Also, the rule of thirds is almost applied, but not quite so that it looks like an oversight rather than intentional rule-breaking.

I would have been tempted to make this b/w to remove at least some of the clutter (the colour) and 'minimise' it a bit, other than that I think that it would have done better in an FS, but even there it is not up to your usual quality as displayed in your portfolio.

Happy hunting,

Frank.

wind powered cows
by disassociation

Comment:
Hi Leigh, welcome to the Critique Zone!

This is an interesting shot but I have to be honest and say straight up that it doesn't grab me as it is. The subject has potential but that is not enough on its own. What don't I go for?

Technical: It's ok - not as sharp as I would have liked but not dramatically out. The settings seem a little odd though. By the time you get to f18 on that lens, I would expect to have some diffraction creeping in (affecting sharpness) - you only need about f7.1 to achieve the DoF you need here. ISO 800 also seems high for such a nice day - which will also hit the sharpness.

PP: Two things that I would pick up on are the b/w conversion and sharpening. For the latter, I always sharpen post down-sizing. The re-size often detracts from the image that way. For the conversion, this looks like a straight de-sat, which leaves the image rather flat. Have you tried using other methods? Channel mixer is my favourite, really allows you to get some contrast in there. There are some more ideas here

Artistically: This is completely subjective of course but... the perspective here is exactly the same as average joe would see walking past. I find myself more grabbed by shots showing an unusual perspective, perhaps from the ground, past a massive cow to a wind turbine or some such. Secondly, the subject cows are completely central, with the secondary windmills to the right. My eye almost feels dragged from right to left, which is not natural in the western world - we like to view from left to right. I don't know how you fix this.

As I sai, it's an interesting idea, but having scouted through your portfolio, it is definitely less than you are capable of (loved your minimalist landscape outtake!)

Happy hunting,

Frank.

letter box
by tigerluong

Comment:
Hi Frank, Welcome to the Critique Zone!

This is an interesting and appealing little shot - I like the quirky letter box and it scores well on having both geometry and textures which are critical to a successful monochrome shot. There are a couple of things, though, which stop this from reaching its full potential.

Technically: This is a really sharp shot - not surprising with that cracking lens. However, one of the things that brings this photo down a little is the background. I would have been tempted to open the aperture right up to f2.8 and blur out the house behind entirely - it doesn't add anything.

PP: As I said, fantastically sharp, but some of the detail is lost in the highlights. A little shadow/highlight, or for more control a little 'burn' in photoshop would have brought those back.

Artistically: The strengths of this shot are the shape of the letter box and the texture of the hedge - everything else is a distraction. Could you have composed this to avoid the background a bit more? A very narrow DoF and some more selective burning (including the wall, back left) would have helped I think.

This is a great subject for a black and white shot and it is so nearly a really great shot. I look forward to seeing more of the world from your point of view!

Happy hunting,

Frank.

Youv'e Got Mail...
by thrumyiis

Comment:
Hi Janine - Welcome to the Critique Zone!

What a cracking shot - really polished and aesthetically pleasing. Why did it only score 5.7 rather than the 6+ that it was definitely capable of? Partly because DPC voters tend to demand a more 'typical' shot, but there are a couple of things that with 20/20 hindsight hold it back a little.

Technically: Nothing really to say here - it pretty much hits the mark. The DoF for this needs to cover the whole shot and you have, although f5.6 seems a little wide, chancing that it might not have.

PP: Your dodge and burn experiment worked well, I'd say. It's added some really nice contrast to the shot which is obviously critical for a black and white. Normally I'm not a fan of selective desat, but you have used it carefully and it definitely adds in this shot, giving you a real focal point. It could have stood to be a little sharper - in cases like this I will always sharpen after re-sizing down as you will lost the edge in the process.

Artistically: This is all completely subjective, but I think this is where you lost a couple of tenths. Firstly, the angles here draw the eye from right to left (near to far), which is against the natural grain of scanning left to right - immediately the brain is seeing something 'uncomfortable' at the subconscious level. Secondly, the shot is not quite lined up - there was the opportunity to use the bricks to break the shot into thirds and put the lines horizontally across the shot - the slight tilt, I think, hurts the shot a bit.

All of this is just my opinion of course, but hopefully there is something useful here for you? It's a well taken shot and I look forward to seeing more of your stuff.

Happy hunting,

Frank.

Train to Brie
by JopsyDaisy

Comment:
Hi and welcome to the Critique Zone!

I think that this, like so many in the challenge, is a shot that you have to look at more than once to really let it sink in. There is a lot to see here and it is presented very nicely - the haze (dirty train window?) definitely adds atmosphere.

Technically: It does seem a little tiny bit soft - possibly due to the dirt, possibly the fairly large aperture. In this case I can't see that as a real negative since it adds to the 'antique' feel.

Artistically: As I mentioned, this does have a great atmospheric feel to it - not least because those lines by Walthamstow probably haven't changed in fifty years! But... there are two things I would (with the benefit of time and hindsight) pick up on: There isn't a lot of contrast here - the desat route to achieve black and white is not a great one so minimal editing is very limiting, suggesting changing the in-camera settings; Secondly HCB's 'Brie' is notable for it's use of thirds (tree, horizon etc), while this capture is very centred - a little more railway would have made this a little more appealing I suspect.

All in all, a nice, atmospheric shot for the challenge - well done!

Happy hunting,

Frank.

ruin
by posthumous

Comment:
We meet again, Meester Bond... er... Posthumous! Welcome back to the Critique Zone.

Interesting shot - not a classic of your style I would say, but you are one of the few I have seen who has managed to inject some real contrast and richness into the b/w - Kudos for that.

Technically: Not a lot to say, its obviously very sound, so only opinion remains. I did think initially that you could have gone for a narrower DoF, but then it occurs to me that you wanted to show the 'ruins', so that wouldn't help.

Artistically: Classic bit of framing and rule of thirds, nice light and dark etc. If I had one criticism, it would be that I would like to see a little more of the runined model - maybe just far enough across the windowsill to see both elbows and enjoy the triangular geometry you would achieve, but that it just personal taste.

Nice shot, good story but (for me) not really up there with your best work. Get back out there dammit!

Happy hunting,

Frank.

Gangland
by nGallahan

Comment:
Hi Nathan, Welcome to the Critique Zone!

Congratulations on the image - there are not many in this challenge who have managed to get such a rich b/w and really pump the contrasts like this - it is really gripping.

Technically: There is really nothing to say here, even with 20/20 hindsight I cannot find something that I would change.

Artistically: More of a grey area (no pun intended!). The balance is great, the positioning of your (unintentional?) model looks spot on to me, but the slightly tilted looking perspective just seems a little forced. Can't quite put my finger on it. The top of the image is also a little cramped - I like the stairs there to frame it, but perhaps pulling back a little so that more of them appears? Or shooting from the bottom so that they go right to the bottom left? This wall could be a rich seam of shots to mine!

Happy hunting,

Frank.

Taming of the Poles
by MissChievous511

Comment:
Hi Kari,

Welcome to the Critique Zone! It's an interesting shot and well worth taking. Somewhat limited by the restrictions of minimal editing but that's the nature of the challenge!

Technically: Not a great deal to say, except that I would have been tempted to go for a more limited DoF, right down at f3.5 probably, to make the subjects more the focus of the shot. If you have one, a red filter can help to make black and white shots 'pop' more during minimal editing challenges - this one is a little flat.

Artistically: There are a few things that you could have done differently: The horizon is very central in the shot, which is rarely aesthetically pleasing - up or down would have been better; the Horizon is also almost matched to the top of the posts, which minimises their effect; I would have been tempted to move around a little to spread out the posts, really get the value out of them; the left post and your model are both quite close to the edge, which gives the shot a slightly cramped feel.

These are just some thoughts, but I hope that there is something there of use to you!

Happy hunting.

Frank.