Topspin
by dpeden182

Comment by jnenvir:
Great capture

Winston Salem
by dpeden182

Comment by clickodak:
Beautiful B/W composition I give 8

The Only Horn You'll Hear in a Band
by dpeden182

Comment by ciaeagle:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

The Challenge: Without specific guidance beyond the challenge title there still only seemed to be a few routes that were logical... As much as I like animals, I love that you went the musical instrument route. Your pic is definitely in tune with this challenge.

Color, Comp and Processing: The black and white processing adds drama and is reminiscent of a jazz scene. I agree with the comments regarding great dof and composition. The components pull together nicely and it's fun to try and make out the shapes reflected in the bell. The wide crop to include the second person is important as a partial person or instrument would be awkward. While I think the picture could have worked without the second player I like the depth having her there adds. There's a nice balance of darks and lights (exposure) and whatever changes you made for the details/clarity ... They seem to work (even if the player's left hand is a bit obscured in the shadows). I do wish I could see a bit more of the instrument though ... Maybe just a touch more angle would have helped.

Overall: while I disagree with the title ... Spent many years listening to my sister play sax in the band ... I can't argue with the results. Well played.

The Only Horn You'll Hear in a Band
by dpeden182

Comment by grahamgator:
I really like the dof here; it really makes the image. Nicely done.

The Only Horn You'll Hear in a Band
by dpeden182

Comment by jayzundel:
I would have liked this better if the person on the left was not there.

The Only Horn You'll Hear in a Band
by dpeden182

Comment by clickodak:
Excellent composition I give 8

Flying High
by dpeden182

Comment by sidpixel:
Hello from the Critique club

An appealing image that meets the challenge well.

Yes, very contre-jour! I like the dynamic feel to it, you can sense the wind blowing. I don't know if you did but you can often take many images because the shape is constantly changing just to get the right shape, I think you've got it here, well done. I can see why you've done the desat but, to be honest, I can't say I like it, as opposed to total desat I think a subtle desat of the flags to make them less dominant would have worked better together and the colours in the flag itself are starting to look unnatural. There are some blown highlights particularly on the middle flag that detract.

Thank you for your entry Daniel, you're doing ok.

Flying High
by dpeden182

Comment by WonderDude:
I like the selective coloring.

Italy-Switzerland-1-3
by dpeden182

Comment by Lydia:
I gave this a 7 during voting... and am... bummed to see it this far down in the finish.

It's a lovely image.

Cycling in the Dark
by dpeden182

Comment by sidpixel:
Hello from the Critique club

An interesting image that meets the challenge well

As a fellow cyclist I find your image interesting and appealing, it works well in mono. In terms of the composition it could be improved, tilting the camera down to exclude some of the top in preference for the lower half would have helped and although I like the curve of the pavement, to keep it means including the very distracting person in the background. She stands out quite dominantly but has a very unorthodox pose that is not in feeling with the rest of the image. Your timing could have been better a fraction later to hide the motor-cyclist behind her.

I would always advocate shooting in colour and doing your mono conversion on the laptop for total control of the end result which is more often better than anything the in-camera processing is capable of.

It’s great to see you taking up this wonderful pastime at such a young age, keep at it Peter and good luck with your future entires.