Focus on the Fly
by WonderDude

Comment by shadowdoc31:
Shoo fly!

"Wear" The Zombies Roam
by WonderDude

Comment by sidpixel:
*Hello from Sid and the critique club*

An uninspiring image that partially meets the challenge.

Your interpretation of the challenge is presumably intended to reflect the ravages of weather wear and tear on the structure but I see this more as dereliction and decay rather than wear and tear which I would more readily associate with continued use as opposed to the abandonment of this scene. The lighting is very harsh with some extreme contrasts and blown out highlights, I think a stop of -EC would have worked well here to rescue those highlights, the shadows have enough latitude to enable it. I think your composition could have excluded the pole to the benefit of the overall result.

Thank you for your submission, Sid

"Wear" The Zombies Roam
by WonderDude

Comment by shadowdoc31:
Yeah, I could definitely see this place in an episode of the "Walking Dead".

The Fisher's Priceless Family Portrait
by WonderDude

Comment by shadowdoc31:
I think better lighting & increased contrast would have helped these guys!
Also, not sure about the background here, particularly on the right
Dirt or wear (tan shirt in the middle) is distracting.

Danny's hand
by WonderDude

Comment by WonderDude:
Yeah thanks for the critique Sid. I really wasn't very happy with this picture to be honest. But I was just running out of time, and I made a commitment to myself to enter at least something for one of these open challenges per week.

Also, thanks for the ideas for possibly improving this piece. I'll have to give them a try.

Danny's hand
by WonderDude

Comment by sidpixel:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An appealing short of shot that meets the challenge well.

It always has an appeal to see a young child̢۪s hands especially against the adults as you have here. The child̢۪s hand feels the softer of the two, I am, of course talking about focus, I feel that it should be the other way around, ideally with a shallower DOF if possible that isolates the child̢۪s hand from the adults. The pale patches of the adult hand are not adding appeal to the shot they are in fact quite distracting from the child's hand.

With the distracting colours of the clothing I think this is one that may have worked better in mono, it could be worth having a look? Also a crop to exclude most of the lower half up to a point near the fingers of the child's hand would probably improve it too.

Thank you for your submission, I'm sorry you didn't get any comments during the challenge, I hope this makes up for it, Sid

How low can you go?
by WonderDude

Comment by sidpixel:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An interesting image that meets the challenge.

I like your quirky style, certainly different and more appealing than the bog standard standing in front of the limo type shot that is normally created. Actually your title makes me think of another version, with just your feet sticking out from under! I've just read your comments, not possible! Perhaps imitating a strenuous effort to try and lift it up from the ground?

Its certainly an interesting looking motor but I find the peoples reflections in the headlamp a bit distracting. I think altering the composition so that there was only this motor and no people could have improved it. The image is well exposed, the uniform lighting has given you a nice even range of tones throughout.

Thanks for your submission, Sid

How low can you go?
by WonderDude

Comment by tnun:
ah, a mad person.

How low can you go?
by WonderDude

Comment by Kroburg:
Some kind of lawn mower? Great car.

Dress shoes of the South
by WonderDude

Comment by sidpixel:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An unusual image that struggles to meet the challenge.

Its a nice idea and I like the ground level viewpoint, its always effective to get a different perspective but those shoes are far too clean to fulfil the challenge brief. They may be dirty to you but they're near pristine to me, yes, you're right my standards are low! In actual fact what I initially thought may be marks on closer inspection appear to be part of the shoe's pattern.

The other problem here is the focus, it is too far forward, its just the shoes we should be interested in here but there is too much dirt in focus. I'm beginning to wonder if that was your intention but I have to go by the title which implies that the shoes are the most important element. The DOF is too shallow, we only have the tip of one shoe in focus, so given the title we ought to have say, f2.8 and a focus point on or near the tip of the shoe for a more effective result.

Thank you fro your submission, Sid