Memorable bowl
by dcb300

Comment by Artifacts:
Positives:
Patterns and browns on the bowl are the strength of the composition.

Technicals:
This is gonna be harsh. I\'m sorry. It is the hardest full critique I\'ve ever written at DPC.

Technically speaking this is a poor quality image. The framing with the bowl being cut off on the left side is wrong. It has excessive color noise. The lighting leaves distracting shadows and overexposed spots on the bowl. The content and composition are not well conceived for a viewer unfamiliar with its sentimental value to you personally. Looks like there is a single and harsh lighting source that produces distracting reflections in the bowl, your main subject. Sharpness is a bit soft. Perspective is snapshot like.

The Challenge:
Meets the challenge, there is no issue with that. A score of 4.1 means the group felt it was below average. I will be honest and up front. I probably would have rated it lower than the group which is unusual for me to do.

It is likely voters thought your image was just a snapshot.

Technical quality and \"wow\" factor are important criteria for DPC voters to give an image a higher score. They are used to seeing very high quality images. I\'m worse. I tend to be harsher in my assessments of images with poorer technical and esthetic quality than the group.

Suggestions:
Obviously, there are some things that could be done to impove this image. Taking it angled with a different perspective is the first thing. Do something to produce a more diffuse lighting using indirect lighting through a windw and avoid using lamps and indoor lighting.

Noise reduction is needed. There is a free version of a program called NeatImage that could help you correct that, but requires you to download and learn to use it.

There are things you could do with post processing as well, but that depends on a lot of things like the type of software you use and basic knowledge and stuff like that. I will be willing to discuss these privately with you if you would like.

You can do better if you want
I reviewed your camera, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50. It is not used much at DPC but not because it is not a good camera. It has a lot of capability and you can capture high quality DPC worthy images with it if you work at it. You could beat out the best images so far submitted using it and be #1 if you want to try.

If you want to take \'better\' pictures you need a mentor. There are a lot of very, very good photographers at this site and they are surprisingly approachable and helpful if you only ask.

1,2,3
by dcb300

Comment by LalliSig:
Sorry but this image just isn´t sharp enough and has too much noise in it for my taste, image quality is just not up to par.

Memorable bowl
by dcb300

Comment by phylsy7:
I have custard cups like this. They were my mom's.

P1010661.jpg
by dcb300

Comment by Sting11165:
(copied from forum)

So, you are asking about the processing once you have the photo? I'll try to lean towards that.

The subject is pretty cool -- a hairy spider, out in the open, on a pretty uniform background. It looks a bit out of focus (or maybe your shutter speed was too low to hold your camera in your hands). Also, the image is pretty flat (all similar shades) but that is common for unedited images.

Other than the focus/blurred subject (which you'll have a lot of difficulty getting super sharp, although some people know tricks), you can help the image a lot. First, playing with curves / contrast /histogram adjustment or whatever it is called in your software would help you figure out how to make the spider stand out more. You seem to have a lot of grays and blacks but no super-white whites.

Next, consider desaturating it (removing the color). For one thing, the bluish spots on the rock are rather distracting, and there isn't much color in the image. If you desaturate it, increase contrast (maybe even increase it a lot to make the scene more dramatic, it might help a lot).

Compositionally, I like the crop quite a bit how it is. I think it'd be too boring with the spider smack in the center and nothing looks bad in the image.

So, if you are a beginner, this is a great picture. Top priority should be learning to process images (Photoshop elements, Paint Shop Pro XI, and others all have free 30-day trials -- download them and start playing with them!).

Aside from that, where did you find such a huge hairy spider? I'd love to photograph a spider like that!

Memorable bowl
by dcb300

Comment by alexjack:
Why have the spoon handle in the shot if it's about the bowel?

5

Jack

Memorable bowl
by dcb300

Comment by fireserpent:
Somehow, I think, in an advanced editing challenge, you could have done some post processing to make this Memorable bowl more memorable.

1,2,3
by dcb300

Comment by Spizzer:
The subject takes up the whole frame with no particular thing at the thirds intersection.

1,2,3
by dcb300

Comment by Shadowi6:
OOF and not RO3rds

Memorable bowl
by dcb300

Comment by Simms:
OK, I dont want to be too negative, but this is a still life, not a moving subject, yet still you managed to cut off the left side of the bowl a fraction, and the spoon/fork in the bowl. The lighting is very flat as well.. next time, try getting an interesting angle on the shot. a face on shot of a bowl is never going to impress anyone.. are you 100% happy with this shot? no, didnt think so. keep trying though.

1,2,3
by dcb300

Comment by Kliopatra:
u didn't apply the rule of thirds, all the numbers r equally catching the eye