Dawn Breaks on a New Lifeby
Baron152Comment by Artyste: Hello, and greetings from the Critique Club. What follows is my best attempt to Critique this photo from a DPC voter's point of view. I'll do my best, but please excuse any comments that may be unintentionally rude or insulting.
Initial Thoughts
Outdoors doesn't equal studio, sorry (more on this later)
Composition/Content
Compositionally, it's ok. Not entirely inspiring, but not awful either. The models themselves, however, look uncomfortable and unnatural. Even on DPC, voters will notice this and score accordingly.
Background
Your background suggests that this was shot outside. Whether or not it *was*.. the fact remains that it entirely looks like it was. This challenge called for photos that were made in the studio, and voters are looking for this. If you shoot in a studio, but use a background that looks more like a natural environment than a "faked" backdrop, you're going to get hit.. hard. And you were. This isn't about "opening minds", it's about meeting the expectations of the masses. That's the photographer's job, not the voters'
Camera Work/Technical
Some nice work, and good lighting. The problem is, you've done such a good job making it *look* like it was outdoors, that.. well, it looks like it was outdoors. Ironically, your good work here is what ultimately caused some poorer scores.
Digital Processing
From what you've listed, I see no problems. Some nice work, no spot editing marks that I can see.
Fits the Challenge
Despite your call for voters to be more open-minded, ultimately it falls on the photographer to appeal to the voters and make sure they are connected with the challenge. You failed here in that this photo looks too much like it was taken outdoors. As such, you don't meet the challenge to a voter's viewpoint, and that's pretty much the key.
My Opinion of the Photo
It's a nicely shot, if rather uninspired, photo of "the happy couple". I wish for more emotion and natural feel from the couple, and more emphasis on making it look more studio and less natural outdoors was needed.
Photographer found comment helpful.