Noise on the line: Mother and Daughter compare childhood cell phonesby
jonfrommkComment by Artifacts: Positives:
Composition works well and a fun interpretation of the challenge topic. Very cleverly done. The BW interpretation and perspective are likable.
Technicals:
Focus, exposure and lighting generally good. There are two technical defects that held back this image in scoring. One, the background - it adds nothing to the composition and the harsh shadows are noticable and distracting. Two, the wire between the two phones is out of focus and acts as a viewer distraction.
The challenge:
Though it is a creative interpretation of the topic some viewers might have thought the image a cliche. Outside this particular challenge it would have been considered very original.
There is image noise in this frame and it can be interpreted as necessary by some to support the challenge theme, but it is unlikely many DPCers would make that connection. Though it does not hurt the image it does help it much either. Smooth, noiseless images perform better than noisy ones MOST of the time at DPC.
Suggestions:
The BG is the biggest technical defect in this image and caused by a common DPC mistake - You positioned your models to close to the wall. Your background has lighting shadows that, in this case but not all cases, distracts from the image. You can remove the BG shadows in post processing and make the BG solid white. But, unless you want to highlight shadows in an image then ALWAYS position your models a few feet from BG walls and you can either soften or eliminate the shadows.
In a reshoot you'd correct the out of focus wire by waiting until it is not moving before taking the picture and/or taking it at a faster shutter speed.
I might add, though you can apparently submit challenge entries without the ISO, f/stop and shutter speed information I recommend you include it. Makes a differnce when suggesting things you might have done differently with the image to address certain types of issues.
Photographer found comment helpful.