Planetary Birth
by jaxter

Comment:
Beautiful colors. Curious to know what it really is... :-) Really nice color study.

An Eye for an Eye
by Tikicharm

Comment:
This is a REALLY close up view - very neat to see the intricacies of the eye. I do think that it may suffer from being somewhat out of focus (although this may have been a conscious artistic choice). But it's a very cool shot. The highlights are a little blown out, but I love the web of textures and colors.

rusted chain
by umbranimbus

Comment:
*Greetings from Critique Club*

First of all, let me say that I think this meets the Obsolete Challenge well.

There is a very old, decayed mood to the piece that I think works well. The colors and lighting are great. The DOF is pretty good, except for the fact that all of the chain isn't in focus (and I think that detracts from the image overall). The shadows are good and the textures shown (flaking paing, rust, pitted metal, etc.) support the image and theme well.

I also think you composed the shot quite well. It's not "centered", yet it is nicely balanced. Ya know, I also noticed that the rust on the chain seems to be gone or covered up at just about the same locales as the graffitti. Is that graffitti paint on the upper links that came from the graffitti artist's spray can? That adds some depth to the shot too.

Overall, I think that it's a good image and a nice capture that met the challenge well. I would imagine that you got dinged from voters more than anything else for the fact that the entire rusty chain was not in focus and the title "rusted chain" brought even more attention to that fact. One other possibility would be that they didn't know "what" they were looking at (ship hull, old tub, piece of machinery, etc.), and that a looser crop might have given more of a hint to the object's obsolescense.

Just my 2 cents...

Jimmy

Knight
by esdarby

Comment:
I agree with many other commenters feedback regarding the background details - they are distracting - and the brown shadow on the knight seems like a shadow caused by another light source with something in the way. I think the DOF should extend lower as well. I like the gold tones at the base of the piece. The lighting/highlights on the lower portions of the knight also seem to be blown out. I like the angle of the shot and the feel of depth it gives, but the other technical aspects detract from the overall image. I also have to agree that the competition in the Macro V Challenge was exceptional tough, and since many voters score on a scale, your shot was probably penalized more than it might have been in another challenge.

Hope this helps. Just my 2 cents...

Jimmy

Rush
by Skip

Comment:
VERY cool shot! Love the colors and movement. You managed to get pretty good DOF too. They look like they're having soo much fun! Nice work.

"Make Way for Ducklings"
by Dr.Confuser

Comment:
Great composition. They are so cute! Good DOF, but I think the glare on the water is a bit distracting (IMHO). I think that if the lighting/highlights were toned down, the colors on the ducklings and the water, as well as the DOF, would really stand out more. Still a nice shot. 6

Don't get too far... kid
by Apee

Comment:
Beautiful colors and the water is so clear! IMHO, I do think you have some blown highlights ont he ducks (but it also looks like it was a difficult lighting situation - midday sun). Nice DOF, but some of it is lost in the glare. Still a very pretty shot. 6

Philips
by bogulo

Comment:
*Greetings from Critique Club*
(Grüße von der Critiqueverein)

First of all, I've read all the comments below and tried to get more info from your profile and portfolio (thus the translated greetings - I hope it's pretty close to correct, my German is a little rusty). :-) As this is your first challenge entry, I can understand that you don't have a lot of other work posted yet.

I think based on the comments below that many of the voters didn't 1) see that it was in fact a flathead screw, 2) think that the phillips head screwdriver was obsolete (since that is what was referenced in the title), or 3) believe that flathead or phillips head technology was obsolete. As someone who has personally done a lot of handyman work myself, I completely got the connection. Flathead screws are very much on the way out (if not completely obsolete) because phillips head screws are so much easier to work with (better grip, strip less, etc.). There's nothing more frustrating than going to remove a screw with a phillips head screwdriver and finding that the screw is a flathead.

Anyway, long story short - I think this met the challenge well.

Composition
Good. I like the placement of the subjects and the crop. I think they were effective. However, I do believe that a different color background might have served your purposes better, because of the silver/white on white.

Lighting
A bit harsh (IMHO). Because of the white background, you lost a lot of DOF (that I think is really there, just hidden by blown highlights). I think you could reduce some of the glare via processing.

DOF
Good in foreground, but I don't think that enough of the screwdriver was in focus to convey the depth you were going for. I still like the faded DOF, I just think that a little more on the screwdriver would have served you better.

All this being said, I don't think that technically this shot is bad at all. It was the "idea", "title", and "presentation" that the voters seemed to take points off for (people's eyes are drawn to the screwdriver first, follow the line down to the screw, and then the white against white prevents them from noticing that it is a flathead screw). Whether they were correct or not (and obviously many of them were not based on their comments), the fact that "they" thought so, means that you didn't effectively get your point across.

I'm looking forward to seeing your next challenge entry and to seeing some shots in your portfolio, as I can tell you have a very good eye for composition and detail. In time, you'll learn what people here respond to and what they don't. And don't feel bad, my first entry finished much lower than this! :-)

Just my 2 cents...

Tschuess für jetzt,

Jimmy

Bang! -- Sore Loser
by graphicfunk

Comment:
WOW! This is beautiful! Fantastically composed and executed. Very ingenious. I can't believe how good the DOF is. I'm very impressed...

I also have to agree with KDO's praise. You are a gem on this site. Thank you for sharing your art, expertise, and wisdom so generously.

Old Man at the Mill
by LadeeM

Comment:
Nice composition. The lighting is a little harsh IMHO. I think this would work really well as B/W or sepia tone shot. May wanna give it a try...