Down in the River to Prayby
angela_packardComment by jmsetzler: Greetings from the Critique Club...
Hi Angela :)
The idea behind this photo and your execution of it are both excellent. The photo seems to have received a rather poor audience in the challenge though. Trying to evaluate why that happened is difficult. I think there may be several reasons that I will discuss. There are two that come to mind for me immediately.
To begin with, the 'river' is not viewed by most as a holy place, even though it IS in the context you chose. Your photo is challenging more traditional thought on 'holy places'. When you do that on this website, you are going to get mixed reviews. This is a competition site and you can't normally ask your voters to think outside of their own box when voting on your image. There is no incentive for them to give you leeway since they are, indeed, your competition :)
Secondly, the photo lacks visual impact. Visual impact is the most important element of any photo on DPChallenge. You have to grab the viewer by the eyeball when your image pops up in front of them. If you accomplish that, they are more likely to think a little deeper into your ideas.
The blue color in the dresses here seem to become the focal point of the image since the rest of the photo is rather monochromatic. You are drawing the viewer's eye to that element of the image. When I look at this photo, especially within the context of this challenge, their dresses aren't what I really need to focus on. I need to see beyond that to your theme, as described in your title. White or black dresses would accomplish that with a little more strength, or converting the image to black and white would do the same thing to some extent.
I still think it's a good photo and better luck next time :)
John Setzler
Photographer found comment helpful.
