Dirty Dog
by OmanOtter

Comment:
From the critique club.
Hi,
The main ingredient of this image is the spontaneity of the dog which is visible with the exposure. I know this is a tough shot to control but still it is important to know what might have made it better.
From the compositional point of view, it is a litlle too cluttered. There are a lot of things that draw your attention and without them having any obvious statements to make. for example the door, the clutter in front of the door, the pipes, the red loop like thing. If you crop tight with the dog and the dirt splash, the image will come to life as it is full of drama. I think since the challenge is over it would be a good thing to do the cropping and also add a little contrast so that the drama is evident in the light itself. If possible dodge or burn the background to get rid of the pipes (background pattern is very helpful in promoting a subject as long as they dont distract the main subject) as it would be difficult to get rid of them by cropping.
I would be happy to look at any further modifications.
My criticism is based on my meagre knowledge of composition and photography I would be happy to have any feedback regarding the improvement of the critique.
With regards
Kausik

Blood and gore
by Bolti

Comment:
From the critique club.
Hi,
This is a fantastic image with a nice composition. The best part of it is how the eyes flow first to the face, then to the hands and then lastly to the knives. There are no harsh shadows which make it look perfect and the diagonals of the hair in the face is nicely balanced with the arm going in the opposite direction.
My only comment if it has to be will be about the shiny hand, if it is intentional then I am for it but what if it is a little rough with the dirt texture visible (since you already have a side lighting). I think this would go very well with the rough look on the face.
Technically nothing to be said as I would love to have photographed something like this for my folio.
My criticism is based on my meagre knowledge of composition and photography I would be happy to have any feedback regarding the improvement of the critique.
With regards
Kausik

Emerged from the dirt
by Ragga2000

Comment:
From the critique club.
Hi,
I like the image and the concept. Selective focusing is excellent and I cant think of something that can improve it.
If I look at the composition I think I have somethings to say. This is square framing and it goes perfectly well with the concept. To me improvement may have been possible by some assymetry in the image. The eyes bisect the frame horizontally and the nose verticaly. Except of the expression in the two eyes there is little assymetry present which provides the viewer with half the information than the canvas can hold. The face cannot be made assymtric (unless of course you beat him up) but the positioning can make the negative space and the shadows assymetric creating an interesting image. I would bet that this might score a ribbon with a little assymetry. I can also think of the same image having only one side covered with dirt, maybe the caption would change but impact might increase.

My criticism is based on my meagre knowledge of composition and photography I would be happy to have any feedback regarding the improvement of the critique.
With regards
Kausik

Winter sea
by Rino63

Comment:
From the critique club.
Hi,
I like the composition as it looks straight from a tutorial on composition. The boat and the chairs are placed at nearly the golden intersections. The horizon divides the pic in thirds. The boat cathces the initial attention and leads the eye all the way down to the sea and the waves then direct to vision towards the scattered chairs. This is extremely well organized and cropped (in camera).
I think the ratings for this pic would have been higher in other challenges. I believe that the strong composition creates a drama and arrangement that is not relatable to the challenge as such. Here the drama is directed towards the wild sea and the sky, with very little attention of the viewer being directed towards dirt. I do not know however how in this case you can direct the attention towards the dirt lying around unless you remove the dramatic see and the sky or least put them as a minor third in the picture.
Technically I have nothing to comment on as it appears to have a nice DOF with all the features being sharp.
Nice my criticism is based on my meagre knowledge of composition and photography I would be happy to have any feedback regarding the improvement of the critique.
With regards
Kausik

Hands of a Gravedigger
by Ubersteiny

Comment:
From the Critique club.
Hi,
I like the composition of this image. The diagonal lines made by the fingers are nicely balanced by the antidiagonal made by the two nails which happen to be the center of interest. The focus on the dirty fingers are clear and the dirt does justice to the challenge title. The overall image is nice but as a critique I would like to add somethings just to make it perfect maybe. There is a little harsh shadow cast on the ring finger which might be removed by a reflector or by repositioning the finger. This would add to the information of the image. This would also cause both the nails to be prominent to the same degree maybe creating a tension in the pic which has to be modulated then so that one of them is brighter or has more contrast than the other. After I have seen these two fingers my eyes travel to the palm which goes nicely out of focus to indicate depth and then to the index finger. Here I do not see any dirt, which might be interesting (if it was in focus, then it would be a theme) but it would also be important to have specks on them to make the pic harmonious.
Just a note on the concept, how about positioning the hand so that it is holding something (this pose looks and feels a bit tedious) and is at rest. This would most probably indicate the profession as well as the tired nature of the hands after the work. There is nothing in the technical side that I can think of.
This is a critique which is based on my meagre knowledge of composition and photography and would like to have feedback if you have ways to improve this cririque.
With regards
Kausik

Fire In The Sky
by sallyjo1

Comment:
I would like the pic if anything in this was in focus. The background is out of focus and there is nothing interesting in the foreground. The onlz saving feature in this pic is the color of the cloud, which I like. This picture cab become alive just by using a ND grad filter or better since it was allowed in this competition, use of layers with different exposures to pick out some details in the foreground. I think getting something in focus is the first thing the image should do.

A View To A Kill
by Sheryll

Comment:
From Critique club,
Hi,
This picture has a nice use of props. The colors are also quite harmonious to each other. As with all portrait figures it has to be remebered that it is difficult to appreciate a picture that has something growing out of someones head or is cutting the head. It would be important to find a different angle to view the same scene where the car is positioned so that it does not interfere with the figure. It has to interact with it.
The lighting is also a little on the flat side(fronth lighting?). It would be good to have some strong sidelighting to emphasise volume of the figure and the car. I do not know at this stage whether increasing depth of field would help, it has to be tried out to see whether it works better.
Compositionally, the figure stands at the very edge which is a little discomfort looking at. There is also a lot of space left which has to be taken care of, it is always interesting if the negative space also has an intersting shape.
I beleive that this is an original attempt which is obviously re-takeable. This could actually form a nice ground to study the same figure from different perspectives and with different compositions and lighting.
I would be happy to be of any further assistance in this regard.
With regards
Kausik

the dominance of the shape projecting onto the blue, as seen from above
by silverfoxx

Comment:
From Critique club,
Hi,
The most important part of this work is the concept itself. Which is presented in a very original way. As correctly pointed out by a critique, this resembles magritte in terms of juxtaposition of two different objects in an odd position (here there is also a contrast in color) to create a specific illusion. The positioning of colors, rich blue of the ball with a near neutral color of the body creates an uinteresting picture.
I am a student of composition, so i try to avoid extreme symmetry in any picture, here the human form has extreme symmetry, till at least the hand starts, which makes one half less interesting. This is not so with the ball as it has been lit differentially from two directions. If this differential assymetry is part of the message of the picture then I would rather not comment on it. I think this image captures attention but it has even more potential if the negative spaces on either sides are a little different.
Technically nothing according to me can be improved this is as close to perfect as it can get.
Regards
Kausik

Allure
by librodo

Comment:
From Critique Club,
Hi,
This is a fantastic picture with a combination of multitude of features. Firstly, the thick dark eyebrows and the high contrast eyes captures the focus and draws the eye in other parts of the face which then reveals a hidden smile. Secondly, the circular pathway of lighted cloth around the face also helps focus the attention on face and keeps from going off. Thirdly, this image works inspite of the eyes being at middle as there is an assymetry created by the veil. Side lighting has also helped the cause (most probably along with a reflector on the other side). Colors are obviously interesting as the near neutral skin color strongly constrasts the rich golden and blue hues. Some people have criticised the reflection in eyes but in my opinion this is fine as it somehow is harmonious with the assymetric reflections from the pendant. The focus on the pendant and the chain I beleive is the only point of concern which other people have pointed out.
Compositionally and technically this would have been one of the best portraits I have seen only if the pendant would have been in focus.
Cheers,
Kausik

New Bridge, Old Bridge
by GeneralE

Comment:
Critique from Critique club,
Hi,
This is a picture with nice colors and lines. According to the essence of composition this has at least two of the valuable elements, line and pattern. Now I was told sometime back that I do not know what I want to show in my pictures, and I completely agree to that. I beleive the same is true for this picture, there are a lot of things going on, like there are buildings in the background that catch attention. When I consider that this is taken from a moving train I think this is a nice take, but it would be nice to try out from somewhere close where both the bridges cover a larger part of the picture. You would also be able to frame the image at your will. In this picture the diagonal lines and curves are nicely used to draw attention, but it will be more interesting if there are less of distracting objects around. I would imagine, that standing close to one of the pillars will emphasise on the size of the object that is there and also the one that is being constructed. It seems from this pic that there is a connection between the old and the new bridge (mother child) where the old one provides some sort of support, this part is interesting in itself but forms only a small part of the image and is visible only on closer inspection. It is essential in photography to make things simpler so that only the most essential and interesting is shown with the maximum emphasis, so it is indeed important to understand which part of the scene moved you and why you want to share it.
I beleive this is a point and shoot camera and the aperture and speed were automatically adjusted and normally these type of cameras do have a large DOF. So i would not comment on it.
I beleive aside from the colors which is right now the central theme of the picture there are pictures in it which are worth noticing which appeal closer to the caption.
I would be happy to be of any further assistance.
With regards
Kausik