ethno
by andlb

Comment by myqyl:
~ Critique Club Comment ~

Note ~ If any of this is unclear due to language or cultural differences, please feel free to email me and I'll try to explain more clearly.

Composition : I'm a big fan of strong lines and there are plenty of them here. Shoes are well placed off center and offsetting the lines of the floor.

Exposure / Lighting : The lighting has a flat feeling (that you may have intended) and might have benefited from more direct light. Most successful Black and White shots have a wide range of tones from pure white to pure black and most in between. Most of this is within a very narrow band. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it didn't work for me.

Focus : Very nicely done. You can almost feel the texture of the floor and the shoes.

Challenge / Wow : Several commenters feel you didn't meet the challenge, and while I disagree with them (I take a loose interpretation of most challenges) you need to realize this is a common problem for images here. Many voters here need the challenge clearly as the main focus of the image. If you are shooting for good scores and possible ribbons, keep this in mind. If you are shooting to make great images that you can be proud of, then keep doing what you are doing :)

My opinion : While I really enjoyed the composition, the lighting left me a little flat. Very nice effort.

sunny day
by andlb

Comment by DougPaz:
Greetings from the Critique Club };-)

Initial thoughts
Very interesting shot, meets the challenge, great color and contrast

Composition/ Content

As mentioned in most of your comments, the colors is what really makes this shot. I like the way you kept your horizon away from the center. I like the way you placed the trees right of center as well.

Background
The absence of anything in your sky works well for you here. You certainly had a minimalist approach and the sky helps helps that direction.

Camera Work - Technical
The focus on the grass is excellent. I know that the trees are slightly out of focus but the DOF seems to be fairly deep. By making them clearer, you would have lost what I believe was your original intent with the grass and the foreground.

Digital Processing - Technical
One thing that may have helped the sharpness on the trees would be a little post processing. I have found that with a digital shot it is absolutley amazing what you can do after the shot. I noticed that you only used 41kb of the 150kb file size allowed in the rules. This should have really sharpened the shot if you used the full allotment. I was surprised that you didn't upgrade the saturation here. You did a great job for out of the camera. A little bit afterwards would have only improved it.

Fits The Challenge
Definitely fits the challenge well.

My Opinion On The Photo
I think that it meets the challenge well but can see why some folks would vote it lower. I was actually surprised that you got a top 50 shot as I didn't think the voters would recognize this shot for what it is. It could have been improved a little to finish even higher than it did. Good job, and keep up the good work.


I would be happy to talk further about this shot if you would like to contact me.
DougPaz

sunny day
by andlb

Comment by HBunch:
This shot just jumps out of the thumbnails!! Wow, what color. Focus and clarity are great. Look at every single blade of grass. I'd love to be in an area that still had grass!! Everything's snow here. I think those 2 trees are excelent. They are placed well within the photo, and this is as simple as it gets. simple, yet very captivating. Way to get the sky so empty, not even a plane flying by. how did this look as a vertical crop? Great negative space. Lighting conditions are perfect! Great shot. Good luck in the challenge.

sunny day
by andlb

Comment by aussie:
The one thing that captured my eye on this photo was the blue n' greens. I love how the line between the colours just sweeps over the whole image. The trees add interest as well. Excellent capture. GL.

sunny day
by andlb

Comment by tigescoug:
Maybe Lloyds TSB bank here in England would be interested in buying this one!
:) Nice work