Iris
by labuds

Comment:
Centered - you bet! The micrometer gang will go crazy. Very nice presentation with a lot of mystery.

The Dawn Of Time
by wkoffel

Comment:
Exceptionally wonderful "mandala-like" image. The back of the watch - with the vertical lines changing color midway is superb. (How many folks asked you why you didn't show the front?)

There absolutely no doubt about its "centeredness" - micrometer gang will go nuts. Wonderful selection of colors, textures.

Basically a "perfect" image that should be way up in the standings. Thanks for sharing it.

Blue
by PDavis

Comment:
Very effecive use of the b/w - blue. Could use a little more in focus - but still a very strong entry.

Right through the center...
by Yomi

Comment:
OHMYGOSH! Superb colors, textures. Shutter speed PERFECT for the water. I HOPE no one uses a micrometer to claim it's not "dead center" - what a crazy thread about that in progress.

Did you try a polarizer on this by chance? If the light angle was right - you may be able to tone down some of the reflections on the rock. (It's fine as is - and don't REMOVE the reflection, just remove part of the glare.)

Overall - it's got everything going for it - standby for a ribbon headed your way.

Oh, hello!
by Jean

Comment:
Excellent indeed! It's near perfect and is getting high marks from me. The hint of feet at the edge of th shell is a GREAT touch. Here's a way to turn a strong 9 into a 10: 1) There is a merger with the back ege of the shell and the frog's left eye. It would read a bit better if the eye stuck up a bit more. 2) Your filesize is just about 50 k - and there's quite a bit of mottling in the shell. Save it with less compression, closer to the 150 k limit and you'll have a stronger entry.

Congratulations on a superb entry.

What a rusty roof
by andlb

Comment:
Hello Andrej and *Greetings from the Critique Club *

You are fortunate and received many valuable comments already. Most say that it is a great image (I agree). The strengths are: 1) Excellent use of a bird in the rust challenge - it adds a nice variety. 2) Exposure is good. 3) It evokes emotion in many viewers - which is great!

So - how can we take an already great shot and move it higher in the challenge?

There are a few things to watch for next time: a) The very white area behind the bird detracts a bit because it's the area in the image with the most contrast, b) If you watch carefully - you can often catch a glint in a bird's eye ("catchlight") which makes the bird more alive and adds a lot of impact. This will happen when the bird just turns its head a tiny bit, just watch carefully and c) It's usually better to allow more space in front of the subjects head than behind it. In this case - position the tail close to the left side so the bird's head would have more room in front of it.

Finally - some DPC scorers don't like borders much - just make sure it's really want you want and doesn't compete with your picture.

So - GREAT JOB - keep shooting and best of luck to you.

-Tom-

Links
by peecee

Comment:
Hi Paul and *Greetings from the Critique Club *

YOu are fortunate to have received quite a few comments during the challenge.

As you know - most of the comments mention they'd like more in focus - but you - the artist, said "you got what you were looking for." So that's easy - the artist wins in every case!

Even with ypur shallow DoF - you may consider cropping out a bit of the left side, thereby placing the in-focus link right in front.

I can envison that link in the bottom left corner and then the chain running is a diagonal line towards the top right.

In any event - keep shooting and sharing - you do nice work.

-Tom-

Butler County Landmark
by jpochard

Comment:
Hi Judy and *Greetings from the Critique Club *

As you will note, I left a fairly long comment on your image during the challenge. I stand by my earlier comments and am very surprised your image didn't finish higher.

There was a comment about the image being tilted - which is not the case. If you look at the left and right sides of the image - the building is victim of the effect called "keystoning" which is caused by shooting up with a wide angle lens. Keystoning can be corrected by a) Using a shift perspective lens (expensive and probably not available on the 717), b) Shooting level with the building (have a heliocopter?) or c) Post processing.

Once again - a very strong and vibrant submission - congratulations.

Water On Fire
by bruski

Comment:
Hi Nick and *Greetings from the Critique Club *

Although I already commented on your image during the challenge - it's nice to see what others have said and see if we can come up with a consensus.

First - it's a great image - coming in 29th in a very competitive challenge. The major things that pushed it up there are: a) Superb Colors, b) Superb textures, and c) Perfect exposure.

On the downside, a few commenters, including me, had some difficulty with the composition. I don't know if you've had any "art theory" classes, but they have actually "measured" viewers eyes to see where the eyes "go" inside an image - and the path to get there.

In America, and other countries where they read from left to right, the studies show that images which have a "lead-in line" starting at the bottom left or so - then take the viewer into the image - rate higher more consistently than those that don't. Of course that's not a hard rule saying there should "always" be one. (The study I am familiar with did not comment on countries that read right to left.)

So - since you do have a lead in there - note that it takes you diagonally up and to the left - and out of the frame. That's why I commented earlier that if you included the bottom of the lens shape, it would do better.

I know I've used a lot of words to say very little, but when the image is as close to "PERFECT" as yours, sometimes it's nice to know the theory behind what commenters are saying.

In any event - keep up the good work - and I definitely predict you'll be on the ribbon list(s) very soon. I loved your entries in Still Life and Proportion.

Father & Child
by Rooster

Comment:
Hi Rooster and * Greetings from the Critique Club *

Yours is a very lovely and intriguing entry indeed. I can see it nicely framed and hanging in the reception area of a high class office.

It's a shame that the rules said that "if you can tell what it is, it's not an abstract." I believe some of the voters deducted points because they thought they knew what it was. In this case, even if you KNOW - it's still an abstract - that's what lava lights do - create abstract shapes!

I usually like to give some ponters on how to make an image better - but I honestly don't know what you could do to improve this image. Everything seems to work very well - as is - including the title.

The dark background, exposure, composition, lighting, and post processing were all done to perfection.