Dumbarton at Sunset
by lennier

Comment by tomzinho:
i thought i'd see more attempts like this but a lot of people had terrible weather. even if they had had better weather, this still would have stood out. great job.

Dumbarton at Sunset
by lennier

Comment by sunflower:
A familiar site from my past..
Sunflower

Dumbarton at Sunset
by lennier

Comment by muckpond:
The bridge is really too dark to be the focus of the photo. Nice sunset, though.

Dumbarton at Sunset
by lennier

Comment by pitsaman:
Meets the challenge(8),quality 6) total 7, on right side should be the last arch so bridge doesn't look hanging in the air!

Dumbarton at Sunset
by lennier

Comment by pncowley:
Beautiful sunset!

Dumbarton at Sunset
by lennier

Comment by margie:
Beautiful shot. I love pictures taken at sunset. The colors are so much more vibrant. Worth a 10 for sure.

Dumbarton at Sunset
by lennier

Comment by dimitrii:
Beautiful, the sky capture is incredible (the see through clouds), the silouet of the bridge adds strength to the composition. A 9!

Dumbarton at Sunset
by lennier

Comment by STEINR:
Beautiful,

Dumbarton at Sunset
by lennier

Comment by tcherring:
Wow! What a gorgeous area you live in! I love the shot - and I think taking it at sunset worked perfectly! The sun coming through the bridge supports looks awesome. Well done!

A Bad Night
by lennier

Comment by smellyfish1002:
From the Critique Club! First of all, welcome back! I saw that you didn't have any submissions for about six months. Glad you are back and participating!

I like the use of long time exposures and I like that you were adventurous enough to try something like this.

With respect to showing despair...
I like the body language here. The hand on the left knee says 'stress' to me. The lowered head and closed eyes indicates that he is in deep thought, possibly agonizing over something, maybe some regrets?? I like the fact that the image shows two positions. The second appears a little staged, but it gets the point across. The fact that there are two images kind of tells a story. The first image is a beginning, and the second progresses to 'despair' (or at least distraught to a certain extent!).
I like that this shot is taken outside. It helps add to the despair theme, possibly indicating that this person wanted to get away and be alone.
I like the fact that there are some background details instead of an all dark background. I don't think I like the way the entry steps overlap his head(s). I like the fact that some details are there, but I would have liked to see the steps off to the left or right of his head.
Concerning the 'judiciously' applied dust and scratches filter...
The effect is applied in a manner that it borders on the effects you'd get with the watercolor or cutout filters in Photoshop. My instinct is to say I feel this was overdone a little. It would be interesting to see the original image before this effect was applied. Most challenges require technical excellence, but I think this topic of despair works well with dark, grainy images.

Overall a good image. I like the fact that you experimented and tried something unusual. Congrats for your creativity, although acting lessons may be in order to truly portray despair. ..trying to imply despair sure beats actually having despair, though! Keep plugging away and earn yourself that Canon D60!!

JD Anderson