Solitude
by Citadel

Comment by PHOTOKID:
Nice tones of blue in this shot, nothing to give it a wow though.

Solitude
by Citadel

Comment by gtjewell:
Ironically, the subject matter is fluff, like the clouds. Technically a good shot, but nothing behind the photo.

Hot Dog Stand
by Citadel

Comment by JJWoolls:
The background is just a little too busy for my taste...

Hot Dog Stand
by Citadel

Comment by TooCool:
It is a hot dog stand. They are found all over the world. They all pretty much look like this one. If something cool was going on this could be a good shot but it's a little too mundane to score well in this challenge I'm afraid. You need something to set it apart from the hundreds of millions of these that are everywhere!
TC

Hot Dog Stand
by Citadel

Comment by jonfrommk:
Nice lunchtime hustle and bustle shot. Good candid without there necessarily being any huge wow factor to it

Hot Dog Stand
by Citadel

Comment by BrianR:
A tighter crop would have still told the moment...

Hot Dog Stand
by Citadel

Comment by Judi:
I would've probably tried to get a little bit closer to tell more of the story.

Hot Dog Stand
by Citadel

Comment by gtjewell:
very ordinary

Mackay's Ice Cream - Since 1948
by Citadel

Comment by dr rick:
Greetings from the Critique Club

I like the overall mood of this photo. The brown color of the props gives a nostalgic feel and contrasts nicely with the pastel colors of the ice cream. I like the composition (even if many DPC voters will find it too "busy"). The elements are obviously related, and each helps tell part of the story. The cone is well placed to have a lot of dynamic diagonal lines which all lead to the ice cream. The carton both adds context and helps direct the eye to the subject. The preponderance of nearly horizontal and vertical lines combines with the landscape format to give a feeling of stability, which is crucial since you're celebrating an establishment that's been around a long time. But there are plenty of diagonal lines to add excitement and interest.

The lighting here doesn't work very well; it's kind of jumbled and confusing. Although there are some clear shadows, there are also lots of faint jumbled ones that aren't flattering to the photo. And I'm guessing there is a combination of flash and fluorescent lighting, mostly because getting the ice cream colors correct has given the white bowl a bluish cast. You can try to fix it with the sponge tool in this particular case, but in general that's very difficult; it's best to avoid mixed lighting.

This photo is over-exposed, which has burned out important highlight detail in the subject. Other commenters have mentioned the lack of focus on even the front scoops. The focus is great; it's the over-exposure that's responsible for the lack of detail. Tools like curves or shadows/highlights can fix the tonal range, but there's no way to get back that detail.

I agree with several of the other comments that depth of field should have been larger here to get the last scoop in focus. But as I mentioned, I do like everything but the ice cream slightly out of focus as you have done here.

Ornithology
by Citadel

Comment by Marjo:
They are fascinating to watch and study. Cute capture and nicely composed. I would agree that the color cast is off a little; I'm seeing a yellow cast. Also, time to buy more cards. :)