The Cellist
by Alecia

Comment:
Wow! No flash, no sizzle, no action, no color. Yet all the things it doesn't have make it better. It's just an intimate but silent conversation between two human beings. I love it.

Layin' Back Da Blues
by ace flyman

Comment:
It's a beautiful image and a clever shot. The hat, glasses, and jacket all work well. So does the lighting. I wonder whether the dark brooding sensibility characteristic of effective blues might not be more accurately expressed if the wall were just a little less starkly bright or the shadow a little less contrasty. The blues trumpeter is being upstaged by his shadow - an apt concept (see also Steely Dan's Deacon Blues "This is the day of the expanding man..." ) but not sure it gives the best visual result. Just thinking out loud. Hope this helps.

Trot.jpg
by dragonlady

Comment:
Of the three horse photos posted (at this moment) this is easily the strongest. The contrast is strong, the focus is sharp, and the motion of the horse energizes the photo.

I tend to crop more tightly than most here at DPC; but you might try cropping the right 15% off the photo and a smidge off the top so that the horse's eyes fall on the 'rule of thirds' grid, and see whether you like it better.

Nighthawk
by Matthew

Comment:
It's a lovely shot; strong lines, nice rhythm in the bar stools and bottles, interesting lighting. I also like the contrast between the motion of the bartender and the stasis of the customer. Isn't it interesting how, when one compares one side of the bar to the other, everything is different?

If I were to nitpick, I'd say that I find the violet tinged light to look strange with the golden yellow tinged light, and that there are places where the details are lost in the glare of the lights, especially in the area left of the bartender. For a first entry at DPC, from a first time photographer with a new camera I think it's excellent.

Water Mosaic
by Kylie

Comment:
I really love this photo - the rich colors, the varied textures, and the strong contrasts. I'm afraid that diagonal line is driving me crazy, though.

Wider Road to Come
by dahved

Comment:
The colors are all wierded out. Was this solarized? This photo does a remarkable job by being both cluttered with things that do nothing for the photo - things which give us no hint about what we are to look for or see - and in being totally without a subject. It is a sort of deconstruction (if you will) of landscape photography. With just a bit more uglification, I think the score would start going back up.

Untitled
by Ricky Cleave

Comment:
No, no first the frame, then the picture.... Sorry, don't buy it.

Untouched by Human's Hand
by Courben

Comment:
Not if you believe in global warming, holes in the ozone layer, and commercial air travel.

In The Beginning Of The END!
by doctabrez

Comment:
Scoring on this photo is likely to reflect two DPC faux pas 1) the date stamp in the corner. 2) clutter surrounding the subject. These will both be valid criticisms. My temptation would be to crop it severly so that the man almost fills the frame. But this would cut out the chart pasted to the wall, the mysterious orange box, and the magnifying glass.

The photo has a number of great strengths, some of which are preciously rare to DPC photos. The light is absolutely beautiful. And so is the subject. Perhaps one percent of the photos in competitions are about elderly people on whose faces are written the stories of their lives. The colors of the cloth blanket and garb are wonderful. And the wall itself is interesting: it tells us many stories of the other patients who inhabited bed 676.

Full of Amino Goodness
by exbionic

Comment:
An extra point for hard work and planning - or for effective use of e-bay!