Night sightings reflected...
by puppy52

Comment:
I didn't submit or vote on the Night Life challenge, but I really like this image. It is so unusual; it makes me want to explore it more and more. I love the contrasts between blur and sharp, light and dark, hard lines and fuzzy tree. Very unique and nice! I'm not sure why it didn't score higher, but if you keep putting out good shots like this that seem to create their own style, I beg of you to ignore the scores and just keep doing great work!

My way home
by puppy52

Comment:
I was just browsing around and came upon this gem again. I agree with Stephan. This is a really classy photo! Give us more!

Daisy Chain
by sagestudio

Comment:
Nice contrasts! The bricks enhance the feeling of roundness from the flower chain.

American Pride Flyin' High
by purpletroll

Comment:
Hi Rhonda!

Greetings from the Critique Club!

In this image, I see that the central subject is a flag currently being blown by a slight breeze. It is evident that the flag has seen rougher days, as it is wrapped around its pole not a few times! This may be the speed at which you allude here, but I'm not sure.

As a photo, I think that the composition, with the flag in the upper third, is good. It gives it a sense of support from the lower regions of the photo, and makes it interesting to look at from that angle, and it adds some grandeur to the flag.

The cloudy background is good for the flag, and sets it off nicely, though I am distracted a bit by the tops of the trees and the telephone lines at the bottom. Though these elements can serve to put the flag into a natural environment, that also means that the gradeur of the flag is being traded for realism, which does not match your title.

There were many comments about this image not meeting the speed challenge, and I have to admit that I'm a bit confused as well. There IS speed in the image, manifest in the soft breeze, though it is not very fast, and admitedly, the challenge was not FAST, but SPEED. The subject here seems to be the flag itself though, and not the speed at which the flag is flapping or flying.

If you want higher scores here on DPC (and that is not always everyone's goal here--and it may not be yours), I would urge you to think in generalizations that appeal to many folks and avoid too many subtleties. This does not mean that you will turn out better photos, it just means that they will probably score better here on DPC. Does that make sense?

In sum, this is a pretty good photo that most voters felt did not meet the challenge. Retain your obvious skills at composition and drama, and experiment with being a bit more obvious with the challenge theme.

Good luck in future submissions!

David

C the velocity of light
by Kali

Comment:
HI Kali,

Greetings from the Critique Club!

I concur with all of the positive statements below!

In this dynamic and colorful image, I see streaks of colored light, implying the sense of movement and speed--so I feel it meets the challenge very well! The image works by itself, but the title adds an extra dimension to it and really punches the speed theme.

I really enjoy how there is variation in the streaks. At the top, they are fainter and sparser while they seem to go crazy at the bottom. There are also other forms of variation, making this an engaging and interesting image. This varioation also speaks to me of nature and amplifies your title.

In short, this photo does indeed imply speed, and I laud your attempts at showing speed, almost as a thing of itself, requiring no object to be modifed or to stand as a reference--speed itself is the subject here, not a speeding car or plane or anything else. Of course, your object seems to be light, if we had to name one, and since light is so pervasive, we tend ignore it as an object.

I'm sure some voters would have liked to have seen a specific object going fast, rather than light itself. But I do not feel that that was your intent at all, so congratulations on a photo that is true to itself!

To improve the shot, it might have been nice to have more of a sense of focus--so rather than show blurry lines, sharp lines might have been a more appropriate choice. Other than that, I love it as an abstract that is both engaging and appropriate to the challenge.

Yes, we are all curious as to your method for getting this shot!

Good luck in your future submissions! I look forward to seeing more of your good work!

David

Almost Gone
by JPR

Comment:
Hey Jason, I keep coming back to this image. I just love it more and more every time I look at it. You can expect that when I get money, I'll buy the print! Super work!

Three White Apples
by jodiecoston

Comment:
I just found this of yours, Jodie. Nifty stuff! I like the vertical alignment, which goes against *common sense*, but works better.

. . . About me?
by dsidwell

Comment:

Originally posted by StevePax: So close, David! You got edged out by your wife. I guess she's sleeping on the couch tonight!

No way! We're celebrating!

Icy chills down your spine
by magnus

Comment:
Yikes! Now THAT looks cold!

Hot Hot Hot
by rickhd13

Comment:
I'd like to see this darker and see deep, dark smoke and saturated fire, but that's probably just a personal preference on my part. Really super shot and very communicative. 9