Orchid Petals
by dbambrick

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

Beautiful flowers! The black background really makes them stand out, and brings out the great color. I like the arrangement, and the composition works well; the back of the flower and bud near the bottom add a nice touch.

As others have pointed out, the single light isn't very effective here. It doesn't really show off the three-dimensional form of these flowers. It shows a bit in the bottom orchid; you can see how the column and lip come forware and the sepals curve gently backwards. But the top two look flat.

The problem with flower photos in general is that they tend to get boring after awhile. It's easy to make them beautiful; the challenge is to make them unique and interesting. I'm not very good at it myself, but have found that little things can make a big difference. Here, for example, I think that just turning the middle flower slightly to the left would make it stand out more (although I may be wrong!).

Water Under the Bridge
by cyclist678

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

This photo nicely conveys the length and majesty of this bridge. The light has a great quality and nice color. The symmetric composition and horizontal format provide stability that is a good match for the subject. Lots of diagonal lines converging on the vanishing point make the photo dynamic. I really love the triangular negative shape of the water, and the choppiness gives the water a really interesting texture.

The major problem with this photo is the overall lack of sharpness. And there are three reasons for this. First is the wide aperture; going down just 1 stop would have helped, even at the risk of more color noise with a higher ISO (you wouldn't want a slower shutter speed here). Second, the whole process of converting a scene to pixels reduces sharpness, and you nearly always need to use some sharpening tool to add it back. (Unsharp Mask is the most common tool for this.) Third and most important, when using JPEG, always use the highest quality you can. Compression artifacts are the main source of fuzziness in this photo. They are most easily visible around the signs and car on the right side (magnify the image to see them more clearly), but they are prevalent in the water as well. If you use JPEG in your camera (instead of RAW), always choose the highest quality. And when you save photos for DPChallenge, choose the highest quality that keeps the size under the 150K limit (this photo is only 90K).

In an ideal world, the sky would have been more interesting here. Not a lot you can do about that, though. A polarizer might have helped, although it might also have made the water too dark.

Pathway on the Water Village
by Zul

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

This is certainly an interesting place to make a photo. There is a nice rhythm in the rooftops and the fence, and a great cloud. Lots of nice lines (converging on a Vanishing Point, which is important for this challenge). And the vertical format complements the scene.

But two things make it a bit boring: the harsh mid-day light and the centered composition. Taking photos close to sunrise or sunset gives both more appealing color and interesting shadows. And keep the rule of thirds in mind; put the focal point a third of the way up or down (and/or left or right) for a more interesting composition. No "rule" in photography is hard and fast; there are always times to ignore them. But they are working against you here.

The composition of this photo could be improved by cropping. Unlike iamwoman, I would keep the sky and crop some of the bottom; the sky is interesting, the pathway is not. While I'm at it, I'd also crop off some of the right; the fence is a bit overwhelming there in the foreground, and it throws off the balance.

It would also help a lot to darken the sky to make the cloud more dramatic. This can be done without spot editing by using Shadows/Highlights to darken the highlights or, for finer control, using Curves to increase the highlight contrast. Using a polarizer while shooting probably would have worked even better.

Overall, not a bad photo. But not a very interesting one either. Keep making pictures; getting your vision across in a photo takes lots of practice.

Slipstream
by Grandad

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

The slipstream is indeed fascinating. The swirls and texture make a nice abstract design. The direction and quality of light aren't optimal to really show it off, but it's still very dynamic and exciting.

Unfortunately, despite the title, the slipstream isn't the real subject here; it's only a minor part of this photo. The powerful diagonal lines of the slipstream and banks lead the eye away from the slipstream and to, well I guess the focal point is the dark and fuzzy group of trees in the background. Which is a so-so example of a vanishing point, but really isn't that exciting. The horizontal format and overall peaceful, idyllic feeling of the photo also tends to downplay the excitement of the slipstream.

Two alternative shots would have made a more exciting photo. One is to ignore the slipstream, zoom in a bit, and point the camera up enough to make the sky take the upper 2/3 of the frame. That would emphasize the vanishing point aspect (so be better for the challenge) and make a more serene photo. The clouds are plenty interesting here, and a polarizer would darken the sky and bring them out. The other is to really emphasize the slipstream by turning the camera sideways and getting it as low (close to the water) as you safely can. Keep the vanishing point to provide context (and meet the challenge), but make it secondary to the dramatic slipstream. Including part of the boat or whatever is causing the slipstream might also add interest (it's hard to say without being there).

And some words of advice for future photos: When using JPEG, always use the highest quality available; some of the fuzziness around the trees and elsewhere in this photo looks like JPEG compression artifacts. And avoid oversharpening; I think that's what caused the light "halos" around the dark parts of the horizon.

Around The Bend
by EssAreDubya

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

This is a refreshingly different take on the challenge: the Vanishing Point is out of the frame! That may have cost you some points from people who thought it didn't meet the challenge, but I personally like it.

The staircase has a lot of character and makes an interesting subject. The panoramic format suits it well, although the DPChallenge limits keep it from being large enough to really appreciate it. (That may have cost some points too, although it was a good choice for this photo.) It's hard to say without being there, but a lower point of view (a "child's eye" view) might have been more dramatic.

The non-directional light here isn't very interesting, but probably not something you can control (although you might try different times of day or different weather conditions). But you can make up for it a bit in Photoshop by increasing the midtone contrast. Actually, I think the midtone brightness is a bit high too. Both of these can be adjusted using Curves. Try setting a point at about 190,190 to keep the highlights intact, and another point around 65,38 to increase midtone contrast and decrease brightness, and see what you think. (Move both points up and down to meet your tastes.)

One nit: it looks like there is some trash on the 4th step. Although you can't clone it out with basic editing rules, it could have easily been removed before taking the photo. But it's only a mild distraction, not really a big deal.

Overall, a nice photo. I love the different lines and textures, and the whole idea "what's behind the bend" it captures.

Im on a road to nowhere
by Ralphco

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

From the title and your comments, your intent here was to emphasize the road. And this photo does nicely capture its texture, color, shape, and length. But the sky really steals the show here. It's bigger, brighter, more dramatic, more colorful, and just a lot more interesting. The road just can't compete!

To increase the focus on the road, the camera needs to be pointed down so that there is just a bit of sky at the top of the photo. Shooting close to the ground is great, as is the vertical format. Tilt could also be effective here, but it needs to be exaggerated so viewers know it's intentional. The slight tilt here looks like carelessness. A smaller aperture would have increased the depth of field and provided extra sharpness that would have really helped here. And converting to black and white could be considered, although that does change the personality quite a bit.

But the sky here is so wonderful that I think it would have been a better main subject, leaving the road as a secondary element. Taking it from road level would still be great; the road texture would add interest without detracting from the sky. But point up so the road only take about a third of the photo. And I'd want to see a straight horizon and a horizontal format to make the most of the sky. It would certainly a much different photo than what you intended here!

My Brown Eyed Girl
by megano

Comment:
This photo caught my eye while I was checking your profile as part of the critique on your other photo. She is so cute! What a great expression. The unique 3-dimensional form of her cheeks is perfectly captured here, and really brings out her character. Nice "fill the frame" composition. I really like it!

Practice Makes Perfect
by megano

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

The action here is great! It catches the proverbial "decisive moment", freezing the action as only a camera can. The simple composition allows people to project their own imagination on it, making the experience personal to every viewer. The memories and emotions it triggers would be very different for a soccer player, a soccer fan, and a ballet dancer!

As others have pointed out, the main problem here is the extreme dynamic range caused by shooting toward the sun. Cameras may freeze action well, but they can't capture both very bright and very dark areas at the same time. And the shadows are so dark here that they obscure the 3-dimensional form. Shooting with the sun behind you would help (although I have no idea what the background would be like in this case).

You can try bringing out some shadow detail here using the Shadows/Highlights tool, although the extremes are so, well, extreme that the result would probably be somewhat unrealistic.

The composition of this photo is weak. The ball is a natural anchor here. It's what the player is looking at, and the focal point of any soccer game. But it's crowded by the left edge. There needs to be a bit more space to the left so the view isn't cut off when the eye is focusing on it.

One more suggestion: Always use the highest quality you can when using the jpeg format. For DPChallenge, you are allowed up to 150K, and you are only using about a third of that here. The "fuzziness" around his head, left hand, and elsewhere is caused by low quality jpeg compression artifacts. They really aren't that noticable here, but do keep this in mind; this can easily ruin otherwise great photos, and it's easily avoided.

Congratulations on a personal high score! This really is a good photo. Voters here tend to over-emphasize technical quality. Keep shooting; practice makes perfect in photography as well as soccer!

Little League ~ Mom's View
by okiesisi

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

I really like this photo. The colors and contrast really grab my attention, the blurred fence makes a nice frame for the player, and the abundance of diagonal lines makes for a very dynamic composition. Somehow I really don't care that it's crooked! Maybe because it's slanted enough that it seems intentional. And it's a unique, interesting perpective (Melethia isn't the only one that got it!).

OK, So it's a snapshot. I like it, and it isn't even my kid. (And I don't even like baseball!) It may not be a ribbon contender, but I'm glad you entered it. (And even more glad I drew it from the pool, since I didn't vote on this challenge and would have otherwise missed it!)

It's hard to be critical of a photo I like so well. I guess there are some distracting elements, like the corner of the roof on the right, but you can't control those in candid shots. And I wish it was just a bit sharper, although that's more a personal preference. Imperfections and all, there's nothing I'd really suggest changing here.

I hope he got a hit!

Applausi (During the presentation of the Micha van Hoecke biography)
by Rino63

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

I think this photo has a story to tell. Obviously the end of a performance. And lots of unanswered questions, like who are these people and why are they barefoot? But no real way to find answers from the photo, and I'm afraid the only message I really get from it is that I missed the interesting part.

The taller podium takes the center of interest with its brightness and placement. The actors, being darker and near the edge, are secondary elements here. If that was intended, I don't get the point. A wider angle with more space to their right would have helped the composition (assuming you did want the actors to be the focal point here). Basic editing rules restrict other possibilities, unfortunately.

The very low lighting has produced a low quality image. Not much you could do about that; you made the best of a poor situation.