Successful mission
by hjolli

Comment:
:: Hello from the Critique Club ::
............................................................

Your subject is certainly fitting for the theme and I do admire lifeboat crews greatly. AS journalism this is a nice shot.

Clubjuggle has succinctly mentioned some of the key points below, so I won't reiterate, but my other points are as follows:

> Selective colour or full colour? I can't actually see any selective colour but perhaps you refer to colour enhancement of the reds? In this instance, due to poor, flat light, I would have made the non red areas fully monochrome. This would have made your photo a little more special and less of a 'snapshot' in appearance.

> The dark areas appear to be pushed too far, so gentler treatment of tones would help make it easier on the eye.

The only other thing I would say is that the scene lacks action of any kind, which would have helped given the challenge theme, so catching the boat as it pulled in to shore could have been good.

I wish you well on future challenges.

All the best
Jon

Witness to the Passing of Honor – Infantry Blue
by photographist

Comment:
:: Hello from the Critique Club ::
............................................................

You've chosen a popular subject for many here and your aim with this has been largely successful. The soldiers do look bonded by mutual respect and you have captured the moment well, the key to the specialness being the impressionable boy looking on.

For me the spot blue is not particularly useful here since, as someone who is unaware of its particular relevance, it appears gratuitous and not crucial to the success or impact of the photo. I think it may be too subtle as well.

Technically, the composition is quite busy and, since this was advanced editing, I would have cloned out the close foreground blur on the left which 'closes in' on the subject too much.

Also, the contrast seems a bit light with some whites appearing a little blown. Some attention via levels, curves or the gradient map (black/white) in 'overlay' blending mode may have improved this. The main effect of deepening the contrast would be to add gravitas to the image making it more appropriate to the subject matter.

All the best
Jon

Loch Arklet2
by geewhy

Comment:
400 favorites now! Da-da!!

Black on Blue
by Kylie

Comment:
Excellent shot Kylie - everything's just right!

Little model
by Dmaskeze

Comment:
:: Hello from the Critique Club ::
............................................................

You've chosen a cute subject here, but one which is notorious for low votes here at DPC. That said, if an image is incredibly well shot with the 'x' factor to wow an audience it doesn't really matter what the subject is.

It's fair to say that this doesn't posess that vital ingredient to wow your viewers which is mainly due to the plainly presented subject in a 'no-frills' kind of way. The use of mono in your shot appears to be a salvage operation more than a creative decision (perhaps the colour was poor?). When deciding to go for mono the subject ought to be in some way appropriate to the technique, for example:
> moody lighting for drama
> sentimentality or nostalgia
> gritty realism
> photojournalism - where the colour is too frivolous or distracting.

In your shot the mono tones have not been pushed in any way, which is a shame because I believe you could have got more from this. However, the focus is soft and the lighting is flat, so you could have made your job easier by improving these. After which, a touch of sharpening could have worked wonders too.

Your composition though is very good - you've filled the frame and left the viewer focusing on the right elements, with your lovely subject looking peaceful, relaxed and content (as only cats can do so well!!). Including more of the paw would have been good, or getting in even closer on the face - preferably the former.

The key change for me though is the light - good, strong, directional light is a golden saviour for most shots before you even start.

All the best
Jon

Bang! -- Sore Loser
by graphicfunk

Comment:
I always meant to comment on this. It's excellent - very competently shot and a superb answer to the brief. The only thing missing from it is a ribbon!

Winter Trees
by panoramix

Comment:
Great work. Like the tone and compo.

gallery
by undieyatch

Comment:
Excelent choice of subject, very skilfully shot. Smart.

A Pale View Of The Hills
by e301

Comment:
Wahay! Congrats on your.. erm... 28th place... ?

Winter stroll
by geewhy

Comment:
I think it looks like I may have missed the point with this challenge. I thought we were supposed to achieve impressionism through photography!

You should have a little gif attached to this Gordon - but then this challenge was all over the place.