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sigrun_thComment by Artyste: Greetings from the Critique Club. My critiques are generally geared towards trying to help you improve your score within DPC, and not on any true "artistic" merit of the photograph itself, unless it relates to DPC voters and scoring. Please keep that in mind as you read this.
Initial Thoughts
About as "out-of-the-box" as you can get for this challenge, but a pretty cool photo on its own.
Composition/Content
The composition is very good with one minor flaw. A little more rotation to get the statue more vertically aligned would have, in my opinion, really solidified this shot. I love the play of the shadows, and the gradient of the sky is a nice touch. (for my tastes, I wouldn't have gone so green.)
Background
A little cluttered and distracting, but pretty much unavoidable.
Camera Work/Technical
Nice exposure, and there doesn't seem to be any noticeable effects from having a slower shutter speed. (On a tripod?)
Digital Processing
Your list of steps shows good work with all of them, with the possible exception of the color work in the sky. It's just a little too unnatural. The muted tones with the rest of the photo work very well though, I think.
Fits the Challenge
As many have commented, this is the part where you were really hit in voting. As you said, I figured that you were going for the statue as your "still life", but the photo betrays you as it isn't the perceived focus of your shot. It's more a background element than the subject, and that is why people voted you down. However, even if it *were* the main subject, I suspect it still would have gotten lower votes because of the definition of "still life" as most voters saw it. Many were looking more for a grouping of inanimate objects arranged compositionally, and your photo contains nothing of the sort.
My Opinion of the Photo
An interesting and striking photo that, with a couple of tweaks, could be a very good photograph. However, it was simply in the wrong challenge, and because of that, your score suffered mightily.
Photographer found comment helpful.