Sunset Silhouette
by Sammie

Comment:
Beautiful. Wish I could see more of the sunset though, or something that'd add a little more interest to the composition. But all in all, a good one.

Flat Iron Moon
by eqsite

Comment:
This is a good subject, and the centered composition works. I'm not very fond of the technical aspects though, the colors aren't what they're supposed to be (and not overdone enough if it was intentional ;)

Mount Olympus
by dsidwell

Comment:
This one caught my eye while browsing the thumbnails. My hat is off - magnificent!

A bee-line to the grave.
by koltrane75

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

You're a brave man to post this, as it is a pretty controversial shot. However, I love the many sides of photography I get to see here at DPC, so thanks for doing it.

When it comes to meeting the challenge, "Lines" is a very wide topic, so it's difficult to say anything else than that you have done.
Black and white is probably the best thing for this shot, but there's nothing that screams "Wow!" about the technical or compositional parts of this image. It's done well, but nothing extraordinary - I think you know that, though.
The composition is a little tight in my opinion. The image is also a little busy and disturbing, because of all the small white spots and a lot of reflections. I don't know what you have thought though, getting it messy might have been your pure intention, and thus it's done right. Composition isn't a rule-based art anyhow. But anyhow, maybe the use of some negative space and a slightly less cropped image would help to give the eye a natural point of rest. What I'm attempting to say is that I don't think it's a fantastic photograph in itself, mainly because of the composition and somewhat because the post processing is a little dullish - some more contrast and highlights could help.

But was an exciting image your intention? I don't think it was. You wanted to tell a story, and you've experienced drug abuse yourself in the past. You're telling me to stay away from the damn things, because it doesn't do you well at all. It's a mess, and in the end it leads you to the grave.

By telling the viewer this, you've done a good image. The title and image work well together. But, as you know, I doubt that a DPC entry is the right medium to push this message.

With that, I wish you happy easter and thanks for keeping controversiality and photography together. If you have any comments on my critique, feel free to PM me.

Life Lines
by marbo

Comment:
Happy easter, and greetings from the Critique Club!

First, congratulations on an 86% percentile and top 50 positioned image. Well deserved in a wide challenge with many contenders.

You have chosen an almost-square crop for this image. I think it works very well for a centered/all-covering composition like this. The lines work against each other, and the fact that it's not entirely diagonal adds a little disturbance against the chosen cropping, and that makes the image more exciting.
You've captured a sharp and clear, well-contrasted image of a difficult subject. You need to get up close to get it, and it needs a well-placed light. You've done all these things well. The only thing I want to pick on is that I think the frame is nicely placed, but it is twice as large as I'd like it to be. However, I really like the colors, the glow, contrast that tells me that you've done great both in capturing the image and post-processing it.

It meets the challenge, of course, and a good interpretation of it given your title. Depicting the flow of time and life with a flower might be a cliche, but a good one that you've used well.

Technically, it's a good shot. You seem to have had a lot of light to do this, and you've captured good detail. I had a look at your portfolio, which is pretty impressive and variated - you seem to know what you're doing, so a technical critque won't be nescessary.

It's hard to critique an image that contains this little, but you have done well in creating a simple, yet impressive shot. The glow and the really close macro is what gets you ahead of the other flower shots in this challenge.

If you have any questions or comments about this critique, please PM me.

Silhouetted Leaf
by Heavy

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

A few things that come to mind about this image has already been commented - the image is a little busy, since there's no natural point of rest to my eye on this one. I think that you could create a better silhouetted leaf with a simple lighting setup, and get a better result, since the sunlight is a bit intrusive (esp. at the right end).

Composition is a subjective thing, and my opinion is that it could be changed so there's a vanishing point or a clearer subject - another perspective could help this image, I think. However, I can only state my feelings about it, and your intention is by far the most important.

You have, however, captured good color and detail here. There are many shades of green color, and a good dynamic range. You state in your portfolio that you want to know your camera better - well, I think you know it pretty well. It's a sharp image with enough depth to cover the entire image (which is appropriate for the composition you chose), it's sharp and clear, and well exposed except that I think you could've chosen another way of lighting. So technically, this is a well done thing. You also seem to know post-processing, as it is not evident in the image what you have done (a good thing, I think).

It meets the challenge, of course, but still, this is a rather wide subject.

Keep on working, good luck at top 10!

If you have any comments about my critique, please PM me.

Just Between Us
by jmoore

Comment:
Hey, and greetings from the Critique Club.

When it comes to fitting the challenge, this image does very well indeed. Technically, you have managed to get the film look you wanted, and that works. As you can see, people comment harshly on noise and softness, but when it was your intention and you went on with that and made it work, I can't say anything on that :)

Composition: The image shows these two people well, and there's no doubt on that they are the main subject. However, I feel that the image is a little tight, and the composition itself doesn't give me a natural point to rest my eye. This doesn't matter so much here because the people are by far the biggest objects in the photograph.
To me, these two are sharing the view of the sea and relaxation after having a bath together. Thus, my thoughts were a 3:2 (instead of 2:3) image that showed some more landscape, although not in focus, it might have solved some of the "heaviness" of your result (totally my subjective personal view :). I'm also a little bothered by the skin patch showing - except after looking at it for a while, it's almost heart shaped.

The in-camera work you've done is of course well. You know what you're doing, focus hits the spot, depth is fine and improves showing the people and not the landscape. Seeing in your portfolio that you're a photographer by profession, it won't be nescessary to say anything on the camera technicals - and I don't have anything to say either!

Your post processing is good. You have chosen a sepia toning for this image, and I think it works well, it makes some more emotion as it feels chilly, and they're warming each other. The noise you have applied throws away some sharpness as you wanted, and it doesn't look too artificial as it can often do when you post-apply it to the image.

As you can tell from what I'm writing, you manage to get emotions channeled from both these people and yourself all the way up to the post-processed photograph. I admire that greatly. As graphicfunk also mentioned, it has a lot of feelings and probably wakes memories, happiness and loneliness - what really makes this shot is that it leaves the viewer to his own mind, you just leave the work to them. Everyone has memories of their best friends through life. In the end, it makes me feel really happy, well done! :)

If you have any comments about this critique, feel free to PM me.

Message edited by author 2005-03-23 15:10:06.

Being Woman
by Computergi

Comment:
Great stock image! This fits in many places, and would sell well. After all, people sell the most.

California Coast
by nrulkov

Comment:
Superb! Great contrast, the composition is beautiful, and the sky has helped you a lot here. Maybe a little more depth, the foreground looks a tiny bit soft. But that hangglider really adds up as well.

Vintage Silver Phone
by Rook3000

Comment:
Your bokeh is really exquisite and the subject is OK, but I'd include the whole thing. This wouldn't sell just because it's not a whole phone, rather an 80% one.