Dusk at the National Art Gallery
by rhadshaw

Comment by Mark-A:
Greetings from the Critique Club :)

Composition:

I think the composition is pretty good, I feel you were maybe attempting to frame the shot with the tree on the right but in this case I think it has worked against you in that it makes the shot look overly fussy, with so much going on in the buildings construction I think that getting in front of the tree may have made for a stronger image. However you have created some strong leading lines in to the red area of the building so in that respect maybe you achieved your goal.

Camera Work:

Nice use of a long exposure to get the shot in what must have been fairly difficult conditions.

Post-Processing:

My first thoughts were that this is way over saturated in both blues and reds and if I am honest I think in this case it very much adversely affected your score.

Sharpening looks good, infact all other elements of the post work looks to be fine just maybe a bit heavy handed on the Hue / Sat Sliders this time out.

My Opinion:

I feel your image meets the challenge nicely and is a well executed shot, as I stated above I think the post work (or one element of it) maybe held you back from a achieving a better score, you've captured some lovely lines which lead you nicely through the main elements of the shot.

Good luck in future challenges!

Mark

Dusk at the National Art Gallery
by rhadshaw

Comment by bvy:
Beautifully exposed to show off some great forms and colors.

Dusk at the National Art Gallery
by rhadshaw

Comment by KarenNfld:
I love that building, been there many times. Nice colours here.

Dusk, Supreme Court of Canada
by rhadshaw

Comment by bvy:
I like the wide angle here. Would like to have seen a bit more shadow detail in the rooftop. Nice tones all around though.

Dusk, Supreme Court of Canada
by rhadshaw

Comment by mikasi:
The partial view of the flag pole is distracting. Beautiful colors, nice crisp well-focused shot though

Dusk, Supreme Court of Canada
by rhadshaw

Comment by Ja-9:
very well done...the pole just takes away abit...but it doesn't take away from your score....

Dusk, Supreme Court of Canada
by rhadshaw

Comment by hotpasta:
lacks the wow factor for me :(

Pantheon ceiling detail, Rome
by rhadshaw

Comment by tosk:
This photo has nice symmetries and you can really see the grooved features of the ceilings, which is interesting. I find the centre white spot a little too strong for my eyes and the shadows seem a bit strong on some of the tiles, especially to the right. It's too bad the rings end before the top - that might have helped with the imbalance that exists between the whiteness and the pattern.

In general, though, it's a nice example of circular and square patterns together.

Door detail, Notre Dame Cathedral
by rhadshaw

Comment by tosk:
At a first glance, the white in the photo seems too strong to me. Perhaps the photo is lacking enough contrast in the left half? Also, I think a tighter crop might help - the blackness / shadows at the edges seem distracting. Since this is only a piece of the ornamentation, I assume, you could try cropping down and putting the door knocker along the upper line of thirds. It doesn't quite work for me when it's located straight in the middle.

I'm not sure about post-processing, but it would be nice to tone down some of the whiteness. If you've got enough pixels, maybe a really long horizontal crop along the face might bring out some interesting details in the face.

Ceiling detail, Quasimodo's chamber (aka Gift Shop), Notre Dame Cathedral
by rhadshaw

Comment by tosk:
This photo is nice and sharp and has pleasing detail in the arches. The colours seem natural and warm and the windows don't distract from the centre, in my opinion. I'm assuming that if the windows weren't blown out, the arches would be too dark (unless you use HDR).

I wish it were fully symmetrical (I know that's not an option), but it would take this photo up a notch. I also find myself wondering if there were some way to do a square crop of the photo. The centrepiece, to me, almost seems to demand a square crop, but then it would change the nature of the picture, making it a bit abstract.

I got thinking about the crop, and I tried doing a crop to put the apex on the right (along the line of thirds). I think it makes the photo stronger. Your eye goes immediately to the apex, but then wanders to the 2 windows and back, giving you two points of visual interest. It also increases the symmetry, in an odd way.