tubular matrix
by undieyatch

Comment:
Congrats Andre! Wonderful shot!

I'm afraid not...
by chsmith

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club
by strangeghost

COMPOSITION
Great use of negative space and placement of your subject. The shadows are soft and pleasing. Since the strands of "frayed knot" are key to your concept, I think your choice of backgrounds is less than ideal. The tones are so similar that some of the strands of fiber are barely visible against the BG. My choice for this image would have been either flat black or a vivid color to make the rope/knot really stand out and grab attention. As presented, it's a subtle image, not a hard hitting one. For a challenge like visual puns, I think you want to hit your viewer upside the head.

TECHNIQUE
Technical details look great. The knot is a very textured object and you've done a good job in capturing the texture. As mentioned above, the overall image is not very contrasty. I wonder what would have happened if you had tried to bump the contrast a little? Focus and depth are great.

OVERALL IMPACT
This is a technically excellent shot that failed to wow voters. Would any of my suggestions above have made a critical difference? I'm not sure. Your final score of 5.56 is above average, so you managed to please a majority of voters, but failed to stop them in their tracks. ... People obviously got your point - which is half the battle. A little more visual impact and you might have cracked six.

Absolute Still
by Skip

Comment:
An absolutely perfect photo for this challenge, many, many congrats. You've also achieved an honor, one of the highest rated photos on this site, ever. Quite an accomplishment!!

Hot!!!!
by alienhelix

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club
by strangeghost

COMPOSITION
Great compositions start with great concepts. Kudos to you for thinking of this idea and then pursuing it to execution. I think having the fork and melt as centered weakens the presentation. Even better (though probably gnarly hard to do) would have been to have the fork contacting the peppers and seemingly melting on contact, with liquid metal dripping down over the pepper and pooling on the plate. Having worked with solder, I know how difficult it is to handle. Rounded pools might have worked better than the pointed ones you got. I think of using mercury instead (but probably difficult to acquire and definitely dangerous to work with). Anyway, High points here on concept and execution!

TECHNIQUE
Illumination is OK, but I wonder if you tried different lighting schemes to create more contrast or interest? Fork and pool of metal nice and sharp. It might have been nice to have one of the peppers in sharp focus too, with the extreme sharpness of the pepper speaking to the "hotness" that you were going for in concept. There's a bit too much melted metal to be accounted for by a single fork tyne, but that's really quibbling.

OVERALL IMPACT
Definitely a photo that makes me stop and look. Even before I began to think what I was going to say about this shot, I found myself nodding and smiling at the concept and execution. It might have been stronger, but as it, an excellent shot and one you should be proud to have created. Your final score of 5.8 is above the average and shows that voters appreciated your efforts too.

IMG_2426W.jpg
by SDW

Comment:
Wonderfully gentle leading lines, great comp. My favorite part is the soft reflection of the bridge in the water.

Bright Lineup
by SDW

Comment:
Incredible job of composing this shot. The incredible celestial gathering would have been plenty, but this is a killer evening scene that speaks of serenity and peaceful reverie. Bravo.

Magnets From Places I've Gone To
by catn

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club
by strangeghost

COMPOSITION
The composition is rather ordinary, seems to be facing the refrigerator surface square on. A more oblique angle, or even having somebody hold something up in front to focus the attention (another memento from a trip?) might have helped to add interest. As shot, there are too many similar items competing for attention and no reason for the viewer to remain interested. Another way to accomplish this is to arrange the magnets in an interesting pattern, perhaps leaving some unused "negative" space that adds an element of visual curiosity.

TECHNIQUE
Two things immediately come to mind with this shot: lighting and focus. The light appears to be normal room lights from above, which has created large diffuse shadows that give the image an overall muddy feel. This might not have been bad if it had not been combined with a very soft focus. Given your shutter speed of 1/10 second, it looks like you attempted to hand-hold this shot, which is a huge no-no at those speeds. There's no way you can hold your camera still enough to obtain a sharp shot at anything less than 1/60th or so. Use a tripod or brace yourself against a firm surface and shoot very carefully.

OVERALL IMPACT
Not a very eye-catching photo, and one that is likely to annoy voters due to the technical shortcomings. An ordinary composition like this can work, but to do so it much be technically perfect.



Commenters were very fixated on the focus elements, as I suspected they would. Your final score of 3.7 was surely a disappointment to you, but you probably understand the reason for it now. Keep shooting and work on those technical details! I see from your portfolio that you've done some outstanding work. I look forward to seeing more of you!

From Here To Infinity 2
by Neil

Comment:
Conceptually wonderful and technically perfect. Great job Neil. I love stopping by your portfolio every now and then to see what's new.

Sea of Clouds
by tonyv

Comment:
Beautiful skyscape. I'd love to see the colors stretched a bit more, more saturated greens of the foliage and blues in the sky.

White Protea
by tonyv

Comment:
A wonderfully delicate looking shot. I love the interplay of colors, from the flat black backing, to the deep greens, and then yellows and whites of the flower. Quite a gorgeous shot!