Old post circles.
by abroken1

Comment by odetta:
Great texture and light!

Old post circles.
by abroken1

Comment by sherpet:
Strong textured shapes here.....

Old post circles.
by abroken1

Comment by squiresn:
Nice shot.

Look out for that bus!
by abroken1

Comment by sfalice:
Greetings from the Critique Club

You have an image here that meets the Challenge nicely but didn't score very well. So, I'm going to pick it apart a little and see what happens.

First, I'd suggest that this image presently is just about half 'n half car and van. I think you could crop down on the car quite a bit and make it a 1/3 - 2/3 image which is usually visually more interesting. (say from the bend of the hood on the left and down to the rear-view mirror on the van. That would give more visual impact (sorry) to the image.

On the DOF debate, I'm in the middle. Either the car should be extremely OOF or the whole thing should be good and sharp. Personally, I'd favor the 2nd approach. And while the van is in pretty good focus, it isn't tack-sharp. Sometimes, with the nice camera you have, using burst mode can give you one good image out of many.

Okay, one last thing. Depending on how good you are with Photoshop (or equivalent) you might play around with levels, contrast and curves. This would add more lights and darks to your image and give it more interest.

Finally (I know, I know, I said I was done) I see what is probably a police car in the background. An image with that as the center of attraction might also have been interesting to look at (and for our viewers to relate to).

All of the above are just hints on how to get the viewer (voter) to look at your image long enough to really appreciate the story you are trying to tell.

Good luck in your future challenges on DPC. I look forward to seeing more of your work.

Old post circles.
by abroken1

Comment by EaThis:
This is a wonderful photo. 9

Old post circles.
by abroken1

Comment by dr rick:
A striking image. The lighting brings out the textures. Good black and white subject. I wish it was a little sharper.

Old post circles.
by abroken1

Comment by hotpasta:
could have been sharper IMHO

Look out for that bus!
by abroken1

Comment by abroken1:
It's interesting that I got one comment suggesting deeper DOF to get the car more in focus, and one suggesting narrower DOF to get the car more out of focus :) After seeing the result, I personally would have preferred the car a little more out of focus, and I wanted to do more with it since I had actually gotten there before the fire fighters.

The bus was initially on it's side and I got a couple of shots of that too, but since I was carrying only my 135mm lens for something entirely different, I was very limited. I would have posted the tipped over bus, but I thought it was too "documentary" and not "artsy" enough :)

Oh, and amazingly enough, driver and the two kids in the day care minibus walked away, the 3-yr old passenger in the car was uninjured. The woman driving the car had some scrapes and bumps from the glass and metal coming in around her, but was otherwise fine.

Message edited by author 2006-01-05 00:49:32.

Old post circles.
by abroken1

Comment by popdeepop:
The natural pattern is nice. BW works. Why not more of the post?

Look out for that bus!
by abroken1

Comment by Pinetree28:
Story telling....