Unlit lamps
by Wellylena

Comment by Nowhere_Man:
This just needs something compelling. A tighter crop, some color or toning? I dunno. Maybe positioning the light right behind the lamps would have done it.

Up Hill & Down Dale
by Wellylena

Comment by PaulE:
Greetings from the Critique Club.

Hi Helena,

Welcome to DPC! Congratulations on your first challenge submission - that's a big first step.

This is a difficult one to critique as there is nothing technically wrong, and I don't have much to go on in terms of your comments. The main issue here is one of composition. I recommend you take the time to read this tutorial on composition -> here

Based on this shot there are thwo aspects that I believe you should begin to consider. The first is colour: these greys tend to make an image look flat, and don't engage the voter. On DPC the voters usually like a nice bit of pop in the shots. The second is leadign lines: in this shot the pattern in the material leads the viewers eye right off the image, so there is no real focal point.

It is my hope that these insights are helpful and constructive. Please feel free to PM me if you have any questions regarding this critique. And please remember to mark it "Helpful" if you found it so. Good luck with future challenges.

Cheers
Paul

Unlit lamps
by Wellylena

Comment by tosk:
The lamps are striking, but the background seems a little random. The trees at the right hand detract and the light pulls the eye from the center of the composition.

Unlit lamps
by Wellylena

Comment by InDots:
Good idea to start with, but i would mask out the trees and would work on the extreme highlight, emphasize on the rays and not on the hotspot.

Unlit lamps
by Wellylena

Comment by J-Me:
I see the lamp centered horizontally, but after placing my hands around the shot on my screen to cover, I'm wondering if perhaps, it would have been more powerful to have cropped a bit more off of the sides and top which would have centered the lamp completely and gotten rid of the tree tops...which are a little distracting from the main focus????

Unlit lamps
by Wellylena

Comment by colorcarnival:
This would have been really pretty but the blob of sun and the tree tops on the right are a big distraction.

Unlit lamps
by Wellylena

Comment by gjumi:
4 the lamps are too far to be appreciated, the tree is not helping the photo, the overblown sun behind the clouds takes all the attention.

Unlit lamps
by Wellylena

Comment by kepot:
lower exposure a little bit, light a little glary. u can also zoom in a little more towards the lamp to avoid a lot of unwanted space

Unlit lamps
by Wellylena

Comment by deblur:
overexposed sky doesn't really do it for me - if you'd placed it exactly behind the lamps that'd have been a different matter.

Up Hill & Down Dale
by Wellylena

Comment by ricmerry:
Interesting.