HellYeahby
supertaanComment by e301: from the last outpost of the
Critique Club
Whilst this was a tricky challenge to meet, this approach (images of celebrations) was one of the few obvious ones; still not easy to actually get the shot, of course, and you've managed that well - but I think there are a couple of things that might have taken your score into even higher reaches.
There are two immediate and quite large distractions - the big blur of red, and the edge of the mortar board of the next person. A simple (and I think obvious) crop would remove the second - the first is trickier. As far as the crop goes, I really can't see why you've left the image whole - apart from those distractions, you've left your main subject absolutely centred in frame in a quite uncomfortable way, and cutting the left side of the image would produce a nicely balanced composition with arm and face that would be streets more effective.
Likewise, to me, it seems obvious that this should be a black and white image - it gains absolutely nothing from being in colour - all his clothes are black or white, his skin isn't any more interestingly toned than it would be in monochrome (in fact it would be loads more interesting in b/w), and the background is definitely far worse in colour: the reds and pinks would disappear, and with a little increase in contrast you'd have atop ten image, I'd say - at least.
All of which is entirely from the challenge perspective, and you may of course have your own reasons for what you did or didn't do: but it's rare to see an image where I'm so very clear about what I would personally have done to it, so I pass that on in the hope it's of some use to you.
Ed
Message edited by author 2007-01-10 18:56:15. 
