after the drought
by Heavy

Comment by snackwells:
This photograph scores well on technical merit. Focus, exposure, color, sharpness, and detail are good.

The birds add some appeal to a rather unremarkable scene but they in themselves do not make a primary focal point. This photograph does not have an obvious connection to the challenge theme unfortunately and therefore will likely lose some points.

I 've got the point SIR!
by Heavy

Comment by KDO:
Great job of letting this image fill the frame. Centering it smack dab in the middle works well in this instance, even though it violates the first rule of compostion. The stark red and white really do shout out the message.

I 've got the point SIR!
by Heavy

Comment by samanwar:
Uhh, not again

I 've got the point SIR!
by Heavy

Comment by vince31874:
Very Amusing. I like this shot. Just goes to show you how much of a point they are trying to make. And lets not forget... people will still try to smuggle stuff after reading this. LOL.
I give this a 7.

I 've got the point SIR!
by Heavy

Comment by Rastas:
Says it all, but be careful taking photos around correctional centres in Queensland. I was hauled inside and questioned for taking an external shot (for an inservice training document) from a distance a few years ago. Seems the Corrections Officers got a bit agitated as it was a short time after the escape of a notorious prisoner.

I 've got the point SIR!
by Heavy

Comment by Skip:
you've got my attention, too! good take on the challenge. the shot may come across as boring, but all the same, it definitely represents authority. good luck!

after the drought
by Heavy

Comment by notonline:
Beautiful shot and an interesting take on this challenge. I'm not fond of the title tho. <7>

I 've got the point SIR!
by Heavy

Comment by vontom:
Good detail on the sign, but it lacks context. More environment to ground the sign would be helpful.

after the drought
by Heavy

Comment by deapee:
This is a great shot and the water moving definately makes the image fit the challenge. Your greens really stand out to me and look crisp. My eye sort of wanders around the photo a little bit trying to find something to stop at but it sort of never really does. Maybe because the focus seems a bit soft throughout the image. Great concept -- good work!

November - Start of the Storm Season
by Heavy

Comment by e301:
Your Critique Club moment is at hand ...

I want to write about your horizontal composition here. There are a bunch of other things about your image that are worthy of comment: that those clouds don't really carry much sense of threat to those of us who don't know the sea - given the advanced editing parameters they could happily have been darkened, or had added contrast, to really increase the impact of them - and certainly to fit them into the graphic style that dpc seems to love so. Also, the array of boats in tha marina don't seem to make much of a point - its just an array of boats. I have no idea, but wouldn't there be some sense of preparation for an approaching storm? The only thing that ties in to your title is those dark clouds, and really they're not imposing themselves enough on the overall image to generate much threat.

And that brings me to the horizontal composition thing; there isn a line through this image pretty much dead centre across the frame - formed mainly by that harbour wall. It's a big, blocky, immediately noticeable shape in the photograph. And also, it's a precise division in the viewer's sense of where his/her attention is being directed. And it's that directing of a viewer's attention that is the point of all those compositional 'rules'. here, your title makes it plain that it is those imposing clouds that are the main subject, the thing that you are photographing, and that the presence of the boats adds a context to the idea of a coming tempest. However, composing the shot like this divides the viewers idea of what is most important between the boats and the clouds, with the result that people don't know what they're being shown. Just a bunch of boats? They are likely to be most drawn to the boats simply because they're the brightest element in the photograph, and so it is that that will seem to be the main subject. The 'rule of thirds' applies both horizontally and vertically: if you had placed the horizon line lower in the image, even perhaps in a portrait format image, and allowed us to see more of the sky, I rather think your intent might have been more plain.

I'm not saying that following those rules is the only way to take good photographs, but that they have become percieved as 'rules' because they are a very accurate and informative way of thinking about the way a viewer's eye moves across and around an image. In almost any image you find instinctively pleasing, there will be one strong element that immediately attracts the attention, and there will also be other elements in the frame that form a contrast with that, or a re-inforcement of that, or in some way add to the impact; those will be placed relative to that main subject in such a way that the eye is drawn through a certain pattern ultimately to return to the main subject. People need to have some string recognisable thing to focus on, and then their gaze moves on: if you give them something to move on to, within your shot, then it is likely they will find it the more involving - but beware of getting too close to the edge, as it's very easy for that gaze to move on to the next image. Here, I think you've placed the visual interest of the clouds - the point at which they're more white and blue, rather than the simple dark area, too close to the top of frame to keep the viewer's eye involved in your shot.

I also think some of that explains why you didn't get so many comments. These are quite difficult issues to explain, because they're not hard and fast rules, but a question of subtle changes making large differences. Folks, I think, don't make comments there because it's a fiar bit of work to go through the explanations, and because they're not conficent of their opinions.

Comapare it, in terms of composition, with your 'raindrops on leaves' shot, with it's composition of similar shapes and the resultant sense of regularity coupled with movement through the frame of the image. Those same 'rules' about the viewer's eye apply to both images, but it should be clear that you just didn't allow that movement to happen in this shot.

I'm sorry if this is a bit unclear - it's a very tricky thing to explain, possibly because its something people do unconsciously. nevertheless, as a photographer, it is a factor you have to work with, and have to understand.

Hope you find this useful

Ed