sunflower cropped 379.jpg
by kari1

Comment:
I love studio flower shots. I think I would prefer a little bit different lighting on this shot to bring out the yellows a little more. There seems to be a pretty bright spot on the stem just below the flower, and my eye keeps being distracted by it. The center of the flower is pretty dark. I think if the light were coming from above, it would add more interest in the middle of the flower and brighten up all the petals nicely. I think the composition is good and the focus looks fine too.

cleveland butterfly
by ArpeggioAngel

Comment:
I really like your butterfly/dragonfly collection here :) The low light levels at our local butterfly pavilion (and no tripods rule) make it tough.

I think the composition of this shot is great, and the even lighting works very well. The border of the image is nice, and helps contain the eye within the photo. The colors are great and the focus is nice and sharp on the subject. The soft blury background is good to set off the subject. I actually can't think of any constructive criticisms. Good job.

Soft Tulip
by Ben

Comment:
I like the lighting of this shot. It has such a soft feel. I wonder if a different composition could have strengthened this shot. The out of focus petals in the upper right are slightly distracting to me, so maybe zooming in to crop them out would bring more focus to the primary subject. The focus looks fine. It is not extra sharp, but I think that a soft focus works well for a soft subject.

Dance!
by tapeworm_jimmy

Comment:
I like this as an abstract shot. I think the tone range is good and the composition works. I think the lighting is interesting and makes great shadows. I wish I couldn't see the texture of the cloth, but it is not a big deal. The focus looks good too.

Suspended
by ShutterPug

Comment:
Wow, I'm actually surprised at the score this received. There appears to be a slight diffusion applied to the image, and I think that adds interest. I love the strong bright colors and I think the composition is perfect. The blue sky makes such a nice contrast to the bright yellow of the subject. I think the lighting is nice to bring out both the strong colors. Focus looks perfect too. I guess this shot just shows how here at DPC even a technically excellent photo can draw just an average score. I'd expect this shot to score a 6+ without breaking a sweat.

Grill.jpg
by cryan

Comment:
Great use of complementary colors in this shot. I think the composition works pretty well. The lighting is pretty good, though maybe a light/reflector on the right could get rid of some of the shadows so the yellow is even stronger. Focus looks good even though the bottom of the grill is a little blurry.

Purple Shell
by cryan

Comment:
I think the concept and colors of this shot are excellent. I do think that using much deeper DOF would have strengthened the message of "texture" for this challenge, and it would have added significant interest in the shot. I think the lighting emphasizes texture well, and the position of the shell within the frame is great. There is a good deal of grain in the shot which I think degrades it just a little.

Natural Failure; Frozen May
by Krisby

Comment:
Hey Kristbjörg,

I understand being frustrated by low scores and not enough comments to help you improve, so I'll try to help here. My first impression is that the image is very busy for they eye. There is so much to look at and my eye doesn't find a single obvious point of focus. I think the overall even lighting works well for this type of shot since bright sunlight would create harsh shadows and make the image very contrasty. I'm not absolutely positive, but I'm wondering if the white balance may be off just a little bit in this shot. I see the water is quite blue, and my guess is that white balance was adjusted for a sunny day, and it was maybe cloudy during this shot, so the camera compensated with too much blue (to offset the yellow cast of a sunny day).

I think that having the stream run along the diagonal is a good position for it. I notice the shutter speed is not fast enough to stop the water, but not long enough to softly blur the stream either. I think that stopping the water with a fast shutter speed would just add to the busy feel of the shot. If you stopped down to f/22 or higher and got a shutter speed of 2 seconds or so it would look really cool.

I hope this helps :)
-Daniel

DPC-ish don't you think? :)
by Krisby

Comment:
I think the colors in this shot are so strong. I love your title too :) hehehe, it does appear it was popular in the voting. I like the even lighting without harsh shadows. My only suggestion would be to increase the DOF so that the closest petals to the camera were also in sharp focus. Great job :)

Lone Bluebell
by Ben

Comment:
This feels a lot like a shot that I would have taken. I love the soft but colorful background. I think the composition is great. Maybe the stem and flowers could be a little sharper, but it is still ok. Was it cloudy? It looks like the lighting is very even and soft, which is great for flower shots.