Looking to get back in.
by graphicfunk

Comment:
Give him the Blue Ribbon. Well planned and executed.

Looking to get back in.
by graphicfunk

Comment:
Give him the Blue Ribbon. Very well done. Great planning, results show your hard work.

Message edited by author 2005-08-31 00:35:21.

The Circle Begins with the Eye of Aries
by dmmmd

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club. Thank you for submitting your photo to the Circle challenge.

A good capture of an wild animal. He even appears to be thinking as he feeds on the grass. The colors are very attractive for the image taken.

As a wild life capture it looks good. However, some viewers might have a hard time with the "circle" objective of the challenge. The circle for some members might have to be more obvious. A minimal compliance sometimes urks the voting curve.

Technically, your shot can be appreciated. It shows the subject feeding and enjoying the outdoor life. I am not sure why you chose to crop the image down. A lot of the appeal of this animal is the entire head area. The Ram is a strong and rugged looking animal. Perhaps showing the full view, would be better. I can assume that would have put less emphasis on your circle idea. Animals are always a challenge. You have captured at least one eye. A different angle might have brought both eyes in and created more appeal for you.

Great "bokeh" effect with your lens. Which I assume was not too close.

Sounds like the Glacier National Park could be a photographers dream in capturing plants, flowers and animals. But again the "circle" notion had to be more prominant.

Good luck in your next DPChallenge. Zagman

Slalom
by Zoomdak

Comment:
Great shot...would have like color tones here: 7

Grass explosion!
by LalliSig

Comment:
One for the grass...Perfect capture: 8

Class VI Whitewater
by Cutter

Comment:
fantastic action shot. I am sure the camera got wet as well: 8

Grabbing A Bite
by zagman

Comment:
Thank you all for seeing the lines from the Dragonfly's tail. Thank you for the good votes.

Colors of the Muse
by dpakoh

Comment:
Greetings fromt the DPC Critique Club.

Good capture of the flowers. The coloring and framing are very good as well. The center subject appears to balance well in the photo framing. Great title that you have chosen.

Looking at it more closely, you can see some outer softness or blurriness. This immediatley takes away some of the image"s appeal. There is some harsh light hitting the top of the flower. This is creating some lost of details on the flower. Some how is makes it harder for the viewer to relate this photo on a artistic level.

It would have been better if more of the foreground were in focus. You can not tell where the depth of the yellow flower is in relationship to the lower leaves. A sharper depth of field could have brought out more of the surrounding area's in the photo.

Sometimes as hard as it is, using a tripod works wonders on flowers. Also the use of diffusers and reflectors give the image a better light source. When using those, set the timer for about 10 second shutter delay. That way you can hold diffuser and reflectors. Another point is that you have to experiment with different light angles. Your shot is almost a 'macro" shot. Close enough to see some details, yet keeping the subject in its own larger perspective.

This current image overall appears a bit wash out. Too much glare and softness. The yellow petals do not have too much definition, and does not create enough viewer interest.

I have seen some of your portfolio images and see that you have some super photos. Great lighting and color dominate your profile. I can see that you have taken control of your Canon 20D. At this point I was going to suggest that you check custom camera settings, but it looks like from previous images that you have that under control.

Better luck on your next DPChallenge. Zagman.

Candlelit Window
by cpickett

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club. Thank you for entering the Lighting DPChallenge.

Good try on the Candlelit Window. I guess you were trying to capture the minimal light coming from a candle on to the stain glass window. I can't tell the size of the window. It could be small in size and I can see where a candle light could brighten up the image.

The light is moslty falling on the bottom of the window. Leaving the top of the frame a bit dark. Since the light is heavy on the bottom, this makes that area blurry and devoid of details.

You have great colors here. Gold, blue, black. The middle of the middle also lacks sharpness. This takes away from the beauty of the stain glass design.

Its always risky when shooting in dim light areas. Looking at your camera settings, you might have used a higher ISO. I see that your aperture was 1.8, so you must have a relative good "prime" lens. I am not sure how much time you had to shoot this challenge, but a little more experimentation with the light source could have brought more appeal to your subject.

The most important issues in photography is light, and choice of subject. After that you have to concentrate on the actual final image. Was it sharp, blurry. Does it have appeal.

The cropping is not a bad idea. It appears that sometimes presenting a narrow cropping is not always popular. When done right cropping helps to focus on the primary subject. The other factor here, how did you optimize your image. Always try and reduce your image to as close to the 150K limit size as possible. In other words you can see a super photo on your screen, but when it is uploaded again at a lower resolution it tends to become a "lossy" file. It loses it pixels and appears blurry. Check again in your DPChallenge screen before the challenge deadline ends, in case you have to make some editing changes.

Good luck in your next DPChallenge. Zagman.

What we do for DP!
by joyinlight

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club.

Pretty good capture for the silhouettes II challenge. Looks like someone who is about to jump from a bridge, or fence, on to something.
Great silhouette shaped. It also looks like a action shot because the subject is on his toes. Very interesting how you got the idea for this photo setup. I am thinking that you may have shot this facing the afternoon sunlight.

Very unique and innovative way to shoot your subject. I suppose what leaves the viewer, is what is he doing? You don't see anything of the background, other than the pale blue sky.

So its interesting to a certain point, and then you start wondering where is this leading. Well its leading into a good silhouette shot. I am sure that you will get a mixed voter reaction here.

Technically there is not much you can do differently, Its more of a choice of subject and elements. Visually its a balance between light and dark. I like the way you filled the frame. It is evenly balanced, so that there is enought space on the top of the frame. This gives the image an open ended feel. You can almost feel the subject losing his balance, and wondering where is he going to fall on.

I notice the shutter speed camera setting appears vey high. Maybe you were expecting a jump shot, just guessing.

Overall a good idea. Good capture for silhouettes challenge.

Good luck in your next DPChallenge. Zagman.