China Doll
by smurfguy

Comment:
If this photo can't even get a 6, then screw doing any more child portraits on this website in challenges. Seriously.

I'm officially retired. lol.

Hey kid...
by Kine

Comment:
I don't get it.

This is simple.

It tells a story, with an element of humor.

It is fairly unremarkable in WOW factor.

It has almost no extraneous post-processing to speak of.

It is unassuming.

It is, quite frankly, the opposite of everything that DPC has come to stand for.

And yet here it is with a Blue Ribbon.

Can it be that DPC voters actually got it RIGHT for a change?

Inconceivable!

Adam
by michaelmonn

Comment:

Originally posted by Mephisto: I disagree with k10d. Band photos don't necessarily have to be funky or cool or capturing them going all bananas. I think this shows more who they are, and I love how you managed to go for the straight forward lighting and the muted backgrounds. It's a very good series imo. I'd like to see more of your portrait work...:)

If you're going to disagree with what I said, then please do so, instead of disagreeing with some phantom interpretation of what I said that has nothing whatsoever to do with the actual content of my comment.

Something to consider in the future.

wonder.jpg
by findyourreason

Comment:
Hello, your shot has been chosen for my Daily 5! This is where I choose 5 shots per day (or close enough) from the Recently Uploaded list that do not yet have comments, and comment on them.

A simple, yet wonderful little slice of time. The stopping of childhood, to capture a moment of stillness in the constant flow of time, and entropy of growth. For she'll never be, from this moment on, the person, the child, she was at the moment before.

harvest004.jpg
by findyourreason

Comment:
Hello, your shot has been chosen for my Daily 5! This is where I choose 5 shots per day (or close enough) from the Recently Uploaded list that do not yet have comments, and comment on them.

There's something about a portait that, when shot so that part of the face is in shadow, can really stand it out just that much more. It gives it a sense of mystery and unknown, and especially when the half we can see seems to be uplifting, it still says, "What about the part we can't see? What hides there in the dark, in the recesses, hidden and withheld. What do we not know about this person, that perhaps they don't want us to know?"

It reminds me that in all of us, is a certain duplicity. Light and Dark. Good and Evil. Mask and Unmask.

H2O
by beelz

Comment:

Originally posted by jjstager2: I marvel at the four geniuses who scored this a "1"

Had I voted this challenge, I would have given it a 1. For me, this kind of photograph exemplifies all that I find wrong with the voting populace of DPC. It is nothing more than a water drop on a needle point against a piece of paper with letters written on it. It has no real composition, it has no real substance, it has no real feeling. Yet it, and shots like it, repeatedly make ribbon lists. Why? because the voters are brain-dead sheep on a mass scale.

So yes, I would have given it a 1 myself, and I wonder why more didn't, actually.

Adam
by michaelmonn

Comment:
Hello, your shot has been chosen for my Daily 5! This is where I choose 5 shots per day (or close enough) from the Recently Uploaded list that do not yet have comments, and comment on them.

Like all the shots of this type, in this series, I like the clean feel, but I can't help but wonder at the lack of personality I'm getting from these. They may just be a little TOO static. TOO clean. The band members all seem to be exuding a bit of "what am I supposed to do here?", with blank looks, uninspired and stiff poses, and what seems to be a bit of a lack of direction. As a viewer, I'd like to be able to get a bit more about what and who each of these people 'are', in a way. More expression, more body language, and just a little... more.

If that makes any sense.

Nov 25 - Nuts
by hajeka

Comment:
Hello, your shot has been chosen for my Daily 5! This is where I choose 5 shots per day (or close enough) from the Recently Uploaded list that do not yet have comments, and comment on them.

Ah, the walnut and the nut-cracker. For me, it's a powerful catalyst to memories of childhood. Of Christmas Tree decorating day, which was such a strong family tradition that the smells, sights, sounds, and feelings of every single one still stay with me to this day. The spread of nuts and chips and chocolates and drinks, the hanging of ornaments that were both bought new, every year, mixed with those that had been made by us children throughout our school years, growing older and more beat up with every passing season, but still maintaining an important place of honor on the tree.

So, while I ramble, thank you for unwittingly allowing me to feel a part of my history and past tradition, and for the smile on my lips, and the memory in my heart.

Hypnotiq
by LVicari

Comment:
Hello, your shot has been chosen for my Daily 5! This is where I choose 5 shots per day (or close enough) from the Recently Uploaded list that do not yet have comments, and comment on them.

Wow, what an awesome change from the ordinary. Dark, gritty, moody, and a refreshing change from the everyday. I absolutely adore the occasional showcase of a slightly darker side of humanity, and the 'celebration', if you will, of that which we are not always so comfortable seeing.

Your title is especially enigmatic, as it is not a word that is generally associated with dark beauty. You seem to be saying that one is to be entranced by this stare, this look of not-so-thinly veiled angst, and that even despite what should be a repulse, instead, and amazingly, we are indeed drawn in, and hypnotized.

IMG_8589ann.jpg
by Ivory

Comment:
Hello, your shot has been chosen for my Daily 5! This is where I choose 5 shots per day (or close enough) from the Recently Uploaded list that do not yet have comments, and comment on them.

The majestic Blue Jay, a strong and sometimes angry bird, that makes for such a statement in a photo. The colors fly from this, the bokeh is a very nice complement, and I feel like this bird is aware of us, and strutting his stuff for the shot.

However, while I like this photo a lot, I cannot call it Stellar, for that is not the right type of Jay :D