Squint
by helgihelgi

Comment by train:
Nice view and good composition

Squint
by helgihelgi

Comment by HRoxas:
Very nice close-up and good use of color and shallow dof. Very effective photo and fits the challenge well.

Squint
by helgihelgi

Comment by dtouch1:
nice concept

Squint
by helgihelgi

Comment by aggiedanelover:
Very cool! Great creativity!

Squint
by helgihelgi

Comment by brownt:
Good idea, like the lighting here. I think I can see (no pun intended) what the glasses were meant to do, but the top half seems in focus without the glasses. 7

Squint
by helgihelgi

Comment by drgsoell:
Lots of competition on this theme. Interesting abundance of yellow in this shot. The small size of the books works well with your theme.

Squint
by helgihelgi

Comment by dirtkahuna:
Nice twist on the theme, and nice composition. Unfortunately, I've seen this same sort of composition in many previous challenges. Still worth an 8.

weathered.jpg
by helgihelgi

Comment by KarenB:
terrific textures and colors. good composition. needs a bit better focus/clarity.

"sounds of silence"
by helgihelgi

Comment by sylandrix:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

COMPOSITION... Lighting, placement of objects, DOF, photo's interest are all very good... I'm glad you went with black and white - it seems suited to the mood of the picture and I'm sure the color version is not as powerful. Some could debate if this really does fit the challenge theme. In an abstract way it does, but if this image is presented to a regular dpcer, and you ask them what challenge do they think it belongs to, I don't think 'sound' would be their first answer... so I would conclude its a little weak on fitting the challenge theme. Not that I mind the more abstract entries..they add interest to a little variety to the otherwise literal entries...

TECHNIQUE... It is possible that technique is what killed your score...your image is very low on contrast and the top portion of your image has very intense light... Adjusting contrast, or playing with curves and levels could help the situation, but if you really want to make an effective image, I would suggest trying dodging and burning (not good for the competition, but for your own use)... I would [very carefully] dodge the pattern on the tombstone with a fine brush until it was bright enough so its stone texture would still be visible. Would also dodge the bird with a larger brush so its feathers looked whiter. Then I would burn in the sky with a large brush to make it less overpowering... You could continue dodging and burning other elements at your discretion but I mentioned the important elements....

"sounds of silence"
by helgihelgi

Comment by wewillexplore:
Low contrast - try boosting the contrast or not shooting into such light. A sad, emotion-grabbing picture. Good b/w.