hats off!
by alexgurley

Comment by sfalice:
Greetings from the Critique Club

Hey, Alex! We meet again. I still remember your bouncing bed image that was SO much fun. You are definitely a People Photographer so keep that up. Please do. While you still could use some work on the technicals, that will come with more image-making and more processing practice.

Yes, as your competition comments indicate, white balance was a problem here and the darks were overshadowed by the harsh flash. Still the expression of your model was priceless and well worth the rest. One easy thing I can point out: it looks as if you have a sensor dust bunny in the lower right portion of the frame. It is okay to close out sensor dust in Basic.

Keep entering those quirky pictures of yours. They are refreshing and fun.

Alice

hats off!
by alexgurley

Comment by Yo_Spiff:
Great idea, and a good try, but has some problems. White balance seem off and causing a severe yellow cast. I'm not sure if the shadow on the wall was intended or not, but I find it takes my eye away from the subject. I do love the look on her face.

hats off!
by alexgurley

Comment by JokersSoul:
I love the expression on her face. The lighting is a bit weird for me.

langham lights
by alexgurley

Comment by Nuzzer:
Greetings from the Critique Club.

First impressions are that that shot is too small in size and too busy.

Technically this could be improved. Always use the 800 pixels available to you for an entry - make sure the longest side is that size otherwise your shot looks small and voters will get a negative impression right away. Given the fountain is the focal point composition is slightly off as it is centered vertically in the frame (cropping off some at the bottom would have removed some distracting flowers and solved this). Exposure is difficult in these situations and you can see the fountain seem slightly overexposed while most of the garden is underexposed.

Artistically this has little for the DPC voter to like. It comes across as a "snapshot" and DPC doesn't vote them high. Perhaps if you had made the fountain more prominent in the frame, used a tripod (maybe you did?), and used a slower shutter speed to get a "dreamy" feel to the flowing water.

In summary an ok attempt at night photography but it is a hard thing to master. Keep submitting, don't let negative comments get you down, and keep the composition simple :)

Feel free to PM me if you have any queries.
Gerry

langham lights
by alexgurley

Comment by HarveyG:
Nice night shot, I fear a bit UE. Very difficult without fill in flashes to make this work.

langham lights
by alexgurley

Comment by mattlistener:
Too far removed / too bright.

langham lights
by alexgurley

Comment by arm66:
While the fountain looks nice my eye is lost in the darkness of the foreground.

langham lights
by alexgurley

Comment by Deen:
The contrast is so high that the photo loses many details. Maybe you could light the dark part or take picture in daytime.

Soaring
by alexgurley

Comment by smardaz:
Alices critique is spot on, I can't tell you how many times I have submitted a photo and have people start pointing things out and I think "why didn't I SEE that!?"
the two biggest things i have learned here are 'attention to details' and 'lighting' those are huge

Soaring
by alexgurley

Comment by sfalice:
GREETINGS FROM THE CRITIQUE CLUB

welcome to DPC! Your second entry, and hey, you broke the 5 barrier. Not bad, Alex.

The glee, the exuberance, the sheer fun of this entry entranced our viewer/voters. You comments show this. If you two didn't collapse into a gaggle of giggles after the shoot, I would be surprised.

congratulations on getting your model in pretty good focus in mid-air. Not easy, my friend. Then, I suppose we have to discuss the surroundings. The hot spots, like the lamp & the bedding really have to be handled carefully to take this fun photo out of the snapshot category.

So, my thoughts on this would be to consider your surroundings with care, in this case perhaps remove the lamp from camera view & use dark foreground fabric.

You are telling a story in one photo.

I rather think you will be very good at it when you have a few more technicals under your belt so keep 'em coming.

I hope this little critique is helpful to you.

Alice