waiting for the spring
by goc

Comment by admart01:
Hello Goran and Greetings from the Critique Club!

Congratulations on reaching one of your goals with this photo entry. I was one of the "5" votes so I thought it was a solid entry. I am partial to abandoned boats and like the aplication of two-tones here.

You have two excellent critiques given after the contest so I'm not sure I can add anything. The green tones work well (enhancing the nautical feel). I do agree on the debris and the pole (in general the clutter that surrounds the major elements). The dilemma I face in these types of settings is that the potential is great (upside down boat, desolate against the barren ground) but no matter how you move around/frame the shot you've always got the other stuff in the frame. Being a basic editting challenge, there's no way to get rid of it.

A really tight crop might be worth playing around with here. If you draw the top and left border just where the pole intersects the boat (cutting the pole out entirely) and draw the bottom about 1/3 third higher -- does that eliminate some of the distracting elements and keep the essence of your image?

If you have any questions or comments, please pm me.

Lookng forward to more of your challenge entries.

Regards,
Theresa

the classic GOOD vs. EVIL
by goc

Comment by ArnarH:
Sorry but have to say this; BAD picture!
Off focus
Ugly shadow
Bad lighting (to bright on the left, to dark/gray on the right)
Terrible background
bad setup
Don't meen to offend you but hope it will get you thinking before next entering.

the classic GOOD vs. EVIL
by goc

Comment by lienskliw:
Nice idea, the background has a nice contrast changing from light to dark. Not sure about having the robot thing out of focus, maybe just a personal preference. Good luck in the challenge. Neil

waiting for the spring
by goc

Comment by DrAchoo:
The biggest problem is the business of the debris laying on the snow and boat. It's a nice idea and composition, but the clutter subtracts from the picture overall. at 5.25, you have taken care of the big things, focus, lighting, composition, it's now the smaller things that need to be fixed. That being said, if you could magically make all the debris go away, you'd probably rise to the 5.5-5.7 area. There may not be enough to captivate the audience here, although that's a tough call.

[1983] CDs go on sale - [1988] CDs now outsell vinyl records
by goc

Comment by e301:
from the back room of the Critique Club

Are you saying that that's only backlight? I'm amazed, if so. Your numbers are a bit strange - is this really at ISO 1600? At 1/8th second you're lucky to get such sharpness - and if you were using a tripod or any steadying device, then why shoot at that sensitivity? Especially whne you haven't made a feature of the noise that that produces in the image. I'm slightly confused by that, I must say.

There isn't really all that much to this shot. I suppose it might, at a push, be said to have a certain brash shiny quality that one might associate with the 80's - but then, as with all these 'period' challenges, the inevitable winners are simply retro fashion shots. So, more power to you for the imagination (though I would also put CD's into a 90's box much more readily than 80's).

e

waiting for the spring
by goc

Comment by Rikki:
I hope you see my comment as constructive and helpful in your pursuit to improve your photos ;)

My first impression of this image is that it a very nicely rendered duotone which is spot on with the challenge requirements. In as much as I am not quite fond with photos with a green tint to them, this works somehow.

I think what hurts this image is the missed vertical of the pole behind the boat and the blown highlights at the upper left hand corner. In addition to that, the "dirty" snow doesn't add much to the over all feel of this photo. I would try to do this as a sepia and I bet the results would be quite different.

Keep on practicing but most improtantly have fun! This is a great image!

Cheers,

Rikki

watching him growing up ...
by goc

Comment by hankdatank:
Awww this is cute

watching him growing up ...
by goc

Comment by Germaine:
I love the little boy's profile, but I think all of the white at the bottom distracts. The drawiing of the car is cute, for purposes of this picture, I would have cropped a lot of it out.

the classic GOOD vs. EVIL
by goc

Comment by theSaj:
haha ha

Our fearless hero bravely confronts the evil terror known as Barbie TM

the classic GOOD vs. EVIL
by goc

Comment by talmy:
EVIL is out of focus and lighting is uneven. (If anything GOOD should have stronger lighting than EVIL).