Vendor water break...!
by lobrin

Comment by ray_mefarso:
beautiful. lovely contrast, really suits the sepia tone.

Dull Moment
by lobrin

Comment by giantmike:
It's funny how the shirt really blends into the skin. It's hard to see a shirt there.
Love the look in the eyes for this photo.

Dull Moment
by lobrin

Comment by Kelli:
Back to comment... This is a national geographic moment. It's hysterically, absurdly funny, yet quite striking. Congrats on a great moment. I don't doubt this will get a ribbon. 10

April (Summer Rain)
by lobrin

Comment by FrankRobinson:
Hi Louie, we meet again!

There are a few things about this shot which don't really appeal to me but I think that the voters will have also hammered this because of the lack of tie in to the challenge - the rain isn't really a feature of this shot and (if your model would have been prepared to get a bit damp!) it could have been.

Technical: It's nice and sharp, but unfortunately so is the background - I would have been tempted to drop the aperture to no more than f2.8 to try and blur things a little. The lighting is also really harsh and keeps dragging my eye to the white area, which shouldn't really be the focus.

PP: I'm not sure what, if anything, you did but my only real comment here would be that her skin looks almost unnaturally smooth, which detracts from the natural feel I think you should be shooting for with this title.

Artistic: Again, completely subjective. The background is a killer here - it's harsh, boring and the perspective is unbalanced - by which I mean that the street level yellow lines are up round her waist. It just doesn't work for me. The other issue is her expression - she looks so angry! April/ spring / showers really calls for a natural, happy look I would have thought.

If doing this again, I would look to change the perspective (maybe shoot up, to catch the look of the falling rain? and get your model to relax, jump, dance, something less moody.

Happy hunting,

Frank.

My friendly neighbor
by lobrin

Comment by FrankRobinson:
Hi Louie, welcome to the Critique Zone!

What a curious shot! I suspect that with 20/20 hindsight, you can see the major problems here: the voters don't spend long enough looking at each shot to appreciate the less obvious entries and secondly, he's not a silhouette - and the voters here are very strict on sticking to the challenge... sorry about that.

Technical: A tough one to call, you were clearly going for the blur, and you nailed that. Nothing crazy about the settings so nothing to comment on there. The lighting is your biggie - he needed to be completely backlit.

Artistic: This is a fairly arty kind of shot, which rarely do that well here at DPC - but as long as you liked it, then it is a winner. My only comment would be that the most eye-catching thing is that big tungsten strip down the middle - if that were slightly off to one side or the other I think that it might be more pleasing.

Overall, you got hammered because the voters don't like to be challenged in their thinking. It is clear from your portfolio that you are quite capable of knocking out a voter pleasing shot if you want, so perhaps it is time to explore this arty side a little more?! I do wonder if this would have done better in a 'dream' related challenge?

Happy hunting,

Frank.

Just a matter of TIME
by lobrin

Comment by 2mccs:
Great idea and beautiful processing on the leaves.

Just a matter of TIME
by lobrin

Comment by Revecca:
Excellent portrayal of your subject.

April (Summer Rain)
by lobrin

Comment by mbrutus2009:
Very pretty model you got here. The specs in the background are a bit distracting though.

Just a matter of TIME
by lobrin

Comment by cutout:
i would have cooled down the colours a bit but 10

Just a matter of TIME
by lobrin

Comment by docpjv:
Love the idea but somehow the composition just does not grab me. 6