Golden Glow
by sherpet

Comment:
Hello from the Critique Club:

I think the comments you received during the challenge sum up your entry pretty well, �Wow�, �Perfect for this challenge�, �Beautiful�. The colors are well saturated and the whole image is very dramatic looking. Having 20/20 hindsight commenting after the challenge, your image could just as easily have been in the top ten as any of the others. Thus, with no technical flaws and by meeting the challenge no questions asked, your score merely reflects the tastes of the voters and in particular, the small number that happened to vote on your image. You have a stunning entry here that anyone at DPC would be proud to have in their portfolio.

Tim

fluid puzzle
by IreneM

Comment:
Hello from the Critique Club:

I think the comments you received during the challenge sum up the strong points about your entry pretty well. The colors are well saturated and the pattern is very dramatic looking. Having 20/20 hindsight commenting after the challenge, your image could just as easily have been in the top ten as any of the others. When I compare your image to the one that placed 8th, I see nothing in your image indicating yours should be scored lower. I have a feeling that you are the victim of the random order the voters receive the images to vote on, as some people that love abstracts may not have gotten to your image during voting. You have a very creative entry here that anyone at DPC would be proud to have in their portfolio.

Tim

The sky
by marvin

Comment:
Hello from the Critique Club:

I think the comments you received during the challenge sum up the strong points and weak points about your entry pretty well. The colors are well saturated and the clouds are very dramatic looking. But like two of the comments you received, I am also of the opinion that your score would have been higher if the clouds were in better focus. You have a good eye for composition and I look forward to seeing more of your images in future challenges.

Tim

looking through
by goc

Comment:
Hello from the Critique Club:

I think the comments you received during the challenge sum up the strong points and weak points about your entry pretty well. The green background compliments the twigs very nicely and colors are well saturated. I also like the horizontal composition you choose very much. But like two of the comments you received, I am also of the opinion that your score would have been higher if all of the twigs were in focus. This could have been achieved by closing up your aperture 3 or 4 stops. You have a good eye for composition and I look forward to seeing more of your images in future challenges.

Tim

Message edited by author 2006-09-10 15:44:40.

shhhhhhh..
by holdingtime

Comment:
Hello from the Critique Club:

I think the comments you received during the challenge sum up the strong points about your entry pretty well, dynamic lines, sharp, vivid color. Looking at the top ten scores from this challenge, six were close-ups/macros (Abstracts) and the other four were landscapes. Your image falls somewhere in between these two categories. Your image fits the challenge well but the subject you chose was a little busy, with lines going everywhere, shady and sunny areas, and what ever that is in the bottom left corner. The only suggestion I might have to improve your score would be to zoom in on one the elemental groups in your image to simplify the composition. My choice would have been the tightly grouped bunch of reeds in the upper right corner, the ones that have the strong sun light. I think this image is done about a well technically as you could have done and I look forward to seeing more of your work in future challenges.

Tim

Trees
by option

Comment:
Hello from the Critique Club:

First, I love the composition and the subject you choose for this challenge. Your score suffered a bit because the image looks flat. The colors and contrast both need a little more work than what you achieved with levels. From reading your comments on this image, I realize you are not a great fan of advance editing in your post processing work. However, this picture has so much potential and could be improved tremendously with just the basic editing tools of Contrast, Curves, and Saturation. I would be happy to PP this image for you and post it to this critique if you would like.

Tim

Andrew,

Per your PM I gave your image a quick go over. My editing steps (Paint Shop Pro X) were as follows:

1) Curves adjustment per the following thumbnail

2) Levels adjustment: Input 0 ... 1.05 ... 237 Output 0 ... 226
3)Saturation + 20
4)Contrast +5
5)Resize
6)USM Radius 1 - Strength 100 - Clipping 5



Hope this helps - let me know if you have any questions.

Tim

Message edited by author 2006-09-13 19:45:18.

Foggy Sunday
by riley

Comment:
Hello from the Critique Club.

For a DPC member that has entered as many challenges as you have, I'm sure you are not totally surprised by the score you received on this entry. From my perspective, there are two primary attributes of this image that worked against you score wise. First, as you can tell from the comments you received, this was not the best subject to choose for an Image without Subject challenge. The interaction between the water and the shoreline and the large rocks in the center of the image are both stronger focal points than the voters were looking for. Second, although the image was shot on a foggy overcast day, the fog is not strong enough to add a mood to the image but instead, gives the image a flat dull appearance. You probably would have been better off PP a bit more pop to the colors in this image.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions regarding this critique.

Tim

Subjectlessness
by hotpasta

Comment:
Hello from the Critique Club.

To start with, I very much agree with your definition of Subjectlessness. If anyone can find a primary focal point to this image they need to step back to see the forest from the trees. To bad you waited for the last day of the challenge to shot this image. I imagine that the masts would have even been more striking if the sky was primarily blue. I like the color of your border, as it ties in well with the lines of the dark tied up sails; however, it is a bit wide when compared to the features of the image. You scored pretty well with this image considering the sky you had to work with. Nice job and I really like the work you did here.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions regarding this critique.

Tim

Kalina
by elemess

Comment:
You did a nice job of placing the girl according to the rule of thirds; however, in doing so you created a bunch of negative space behind her that fails to add to the image and even distracts from the main subject. I think you could have cropped out that doll/object in the background and still met the challenge intent with the girl's eyes fulfilling the rule of thirds requirement.

Eternal Guard
by mickisdaddy

Comment:
You did a nice job of placing the statue according to the challenge description; however, the subject choosen has little appeal emotionally or visually. Plus, I'm not sure if converting this to sepia really works for this image, as it tends to make the statue blend into the background in spite of the good contrast on the statue itself.