RGB
by Spork99

Comment:
Brilliantly creative -- beyond the normal for these challenges.

David

morning II
by tcmartin

Comment:
I hope this does well -0- it certainly should!

hidden.jpg
by grigrigirl

Comment:
Welcome back! It's good to see you taking an active role in DPC again. I hope this is a sign you have taken the helm of life once again. Once again, welcome back -- this new year has a several of the greats returning to DPC, I am so glad you are one of them.

But, about this image. It's fantastic. This and 'Grandpa' are not images that I immediately recognized as yours, but if they are a new direction for you -- I like it.

The curiousity of youth, wondering what the big people are doing when he's not around -- I wonder how long it took him to become bored at what they consider fun. :D

David

Ruby in Red
by kiwinick

Comment:
Nick, I love her expression -- and am glad you are showing Ruby off with a larger image this time. ;)

In this image she seems a bit too red, but I can't tell if it's from bounced lighting off the read cloth or from over-saturation of the red channel. This blends her into the background a bit (although not heavily) which causes her to not be offset as much as she could have been. It's not a big issue, so I hope the voters don't penalize for it.

David

Mutt_head
by ladpupmoe

Comment:
Usually I agree with the general final placement of the images I critique -- but this one should have finished in the top half at least.

The latticework creates an interesting repeating pattern for the portrait to break up -- but what makes this photo special is the backlit portrait has been cast into a near silhouette that really accentuates that the head is the main subject and everything else is only there to accent the head.

To this end, I come to my only regret for this photo (aside from the final placement); the partial desat. IMO, the single splash of color serves only to pull my eyes from the head.

While I like the silhouette, portraits are made or broken on their treatment of the eyes. I fear you lost votes due to not being able to decern the eyes. As Judy mentioned below, even if it was just a glint of light in the eyes, the photo would have been much better received. Of course, that is just my take on it -- could be wrong.

David
Critique Club

gurlwithapen
by arsenal

Comment:
Man, I am getting all the tough ones tonight! :D

First, congrats on a high placing for an unconventional photo -- not many could have pulled it off. The composition and sensitivity the image projects carried it past what many I fear saw as a set-back -- the darkness of it.

I will freely admit that I was put off by the darkness at first, but as I've sit here looking it over as I prepare to write this critique I began noticing things I hadn't before. While I was first put off by the complete loss of detail in the front and around the girl in general -- I began to realize that this darkness caused my eye to move toward the book in her hand. Specifically, it emphasizes that she has a pen and is using it. The darkness occludes everything else, leaving me with only that it is a picture of a girl with a pen -- just what you intended I'm sure.

It is a well executed image, stopping the view long enough to get the point across and then releasing -- it is this grabbing of the voters that feel moved them past the darkness and into a higher score.

A wonderful showing, and rewarded you with a new personal best -- congrats again.

David
Critique Club

puzzled
by nlghttrain

Comment:
Congrats on a new personal best -- which I see you have already surpassed. :D

The lighting on the ceiling provides an uneven background that works very well with this image. With it the puzzle pieces do indeed seem to be floating at different depths.

The main drawback I see is the lack of anything that can be considered the center of attention. The random placement of the pieces may have won you points with the abstract lovers, but at the cost of a subject for the rest of us.

David
Critique Club

"Jay Bird" the Blue Jay
by Drake

Comment:
First, congrats on your top 20 finish with this wonderfully composed candid.

This is truly a wonderful capture, from the sweeping lines of the branches to the pose of the bird. The fore-branch cutting the bird provides a sense of motion, while the back-branch provides a much needed feeling of depth.

As for negatives -- aside from the nitpicking of an OOF tail feather and the general softness of the image (personal preferrence applies, of course), the only real negative is the under-exposure of the little guys face. I find it a real shame he wasn't facing the other direction to take better advantage of available light -- but failing that, judicious adjustment of the tonal values would have brought the face back into parity with the bird's tail end.

Congrats again on a great capture.

David
Critique Club

vulturebabe...dressed to kill
by sajin

Comment:
Congrata on capturing such a regal pose -- it is certainly worthy of the top-10 finish it received. I do indeed feel a chill while looking at it -- but that may be from the ice-cream I'm eating. ;) But, is certainly helped by those blood-red eyes and a beak that leads my eyes down to the sharp tip of the beak. As was said, that is one model you don't want to get mad at you.

From the pose, to the expression, to the wonderful exposure that brought out the tonality perfectly -- this is a portrait any young lady should be proud of.

There are just a few nit-picks that normally I would not mention, but since this is a critique perhaps they will help see why this shot didn't finish with a ribbon.

The first is the shallow DOF; her back feathers fade out of focus, even though the angle of view makes them look to be about the same distance from the viewer. This is a bit disconcerting and minorly distracting -- pulling my attention away from the face.

The second is the 'hair'. While I disagree that it is so bright it lost all detail, as the detail is there to notice, it is pushing the edge of brightness sufficiently to be undecernalbe on some monitors.

The third is the background. This was the first thing I noticed about the shot after the eyes. While the subject is crisply detailed and quite clean of noise, the background appears to have a great deal. This in itself would not be so bad, but the banding, particularly near the face stands out in stark comparison to the detail in the face.

Of the three, only the last I would consider major -- but since it wasn't mentioned by the voters, I'll label it minor and chalk it up to just me. :D In any event, as I said they are minor and hardly worth mentioning.

Truly an outstanding portrait of the lovely young lady. :0

David
Critique Club

oneword
by GinaRothfels

Comment:
One word it is, and one we see all too often. ;)

The sky is lovely. Unfortunately, it grabs most of my attention, so little is left for the one word. Cropping the sky out would certainly bring the focus back to your subject, but would lose the asset of the sky.

A better approach I feel would be to lighten the forground. I have to agree with the commenters that it is a bit too dark because of the backlighting creating a near silhouette of the foreground. The haloing mentioned is the natural side effect of the backlighting.

As far as choice of perspective, the road creates a leading line, accented by the white line, but it does little for the image. A car parked on the word, or just before it would have implied action better. But the one thing that keeps nagging in the back of my mind is that I wish you had gotten higher -- but that may not have been possible.

David
Critique Club