Sullen
by RiderGal

Comment by crabappl3:
Excellent lighting and composition. This is a very strong photo! The dof is used well to help create your mood.

Squared Away
by RiderGal

Comment by inspzil:
Critique Club by Inspzil

Composition - Firstly it does meet the challenge. In fact, it has about 4 squares including panes of glass too. This is a pretty good picture. Its not anything flashy or anything blowing me away, but is technically solid. Without the branches in the way, it would be just plain dull. With branches, it adds to the feeling of abandon by looking overgrown. If it were me, I would've tried to take this from a different perspective. I'm finding in this challenge I'm looking for things leading me to the squares as much as the squares themselves. There were so many tight crops on square objects that were much less appealing than your pic. The little bit of tarpaper around the windows is a good touch. However I don't like the picket down on the lower right side of the pic as it disrupts the continuity of the square's frame (the house). It's not an award winning composition, but it is solid.

Photography - Great DOF (at F11 of course it is). Exposure is just right and its well focused.

Processing - I would've considered greyscaling this image. You aren't going to lose a lot of color and it may have added some points for overall mood of the picture. Maybe even something radical like negative would've given this a little more eerie feeling. Nothing HAD to be done to this image though. Looks like you took care of that with good sound photography.

Overall - This is a sound picture in a challenge that I felt overall was pretty weak. The tree could be distracting. I can see it either way. I personally like it there. It is well taken, but I think it needs a little kick to give it the WOW it lacks. Good luck with where's waldo and perspectives. I look forward to seeing more quality pics from ya! - Bob

Abandoned
by RiderGal

Comment by sher:
awwww! poor, poor abandoned door. :(

Squared Away
by RiderGal

Comment by Bullwinkle:
A good rural flavoured shot with all of the necessary elements tucked beautifully in a tight frame. The gentle grey tones broken up by the foreground bush are great. Character that you can sink your teeth into in this image. The pitch black has a real visual punch. Some folks may banter for a touch of more elbow room around the window. A minor personal quibble. A good solid image.

Abandoned
by RiderGal

Comment by lisae:
Beautiful textures and good composition. The lighting is a bit flat though, with harsh shadows. Did you use the flash? The shallow DOF is an interesting effect, adding depth, but I'm not sure that it works well.

Abandoned
by RiderGal

Comment by PTLParsons:
Great find. Wonderful photo. Would love to ramble through and find the history. Great job. Good photo.

Squared Away
by RiderGal

Comment by briphoto:
Squared away? What is the meaning of the title in relation to the photo?

Abandoned
by RiderGal

Comment by kandyj:
Great idea, photo a bit busy for my taste and the stuff on the edges (esp the left edge) is distracting and am not wild about the lighting. The inside of that room might have offered a good shot, too.

Advance to the nearest railroad...
by RiderGal

Comment by BAMartin:
Critique Club Critique

(1) COMPOSITION (CONTENT) I find the layout of this photograph to be interesting but not very strong. You have used the rule of thirds in several ways to the advantage of the photograph. (i.e. the horizon is along the lower line of thirds, two spearate sign poles are along the side lines). The repetition of the "railroad" and "railroad" in the signs is quite humorous.

I like your use of leading lines here, the way all of the power lines seem to be pointing to the railroad crossing sign. It is almost unforgivable to have power lines in a photograph, but you have used them here in a wise way. If you can not get rid of them, then at least use them appropriately.

(2) BACKGROUND The background here is rather cluttered. Unfortunately, I do not see any way around that. Did you try shooting from a lower angle to eliminate some of the distractions?

(3) CAMERA WORK ,TECHNICAL Exposure is very well done. Your exposure keeps the whites very crisp without losing any of the detail. Your blacks are deep and rich.

(4) DIGITAL PROCESSING ,TECHNICAL Your post processing is very good. Cropping this vertically makes for a more interesting photo than if it had been horizontal.

(5)MEETING THE CHALLENGE This photo does a very good job of meeting the challenge. Unfortunately the scene does little to invite the viewer to stay with it longer than a few seconds. It does not say "Wow".

(6) MY OPINION ON THE PHOTO The subject here is rather bland. There are few interesting details and it looks like just another railroad crossing.

Squared Away
by RiderGal

Comment by PTLParsons:
I love the old building shots. The branch in front of the window adds character. Thank you for doing it in color. If I had a complaint it would be that I would like the red brick to show just a little more to frame the window a little better. But that's not really a complaint, just a personal thought. It's a beautiful well done photo.