Freedom isn't Free
by Phocal

Comment:
From The Critique Club - !

You have done a great job of preserving detail in the whole image but as a result it feels fairly washed out. Reading the comments made during voting I agree it needs much more contrast, partially taste for me (I love high contrast images) but I think it would have really helped with the visual impact to bring in some more black and let the cloud tips just reach white making the whole thing really pop.

The composition is very nice, perhaps a tad tight on the left. I feel the tree is pointing in that direction and is a little jammed against the edge, but even with the same crop but just moving the whole crop left would make it feel less cramped. The tree does work very well with the square crop however.

I think with more contrast and a little more room on the left of the tree this image could have placed much higher in the challenge!

Good job :)
tehben

Nature at work
by JohannesFrank

Comment:
From The Critique Club - !

Nice image, your placement of 83% is very good, congratulations!

I only have a couple of issues (being picky here) one is the horizontal line of the road or base of the mountain is slanted down on the right. I would suggest straightening it.
The other one is you have a great crop of the mountain, but the ash cloud is leading the eye right off the right side of the image wheres if it had been on the left or further towards the center it would lead you across the image instead of off of it. This very well may have been intentional or you didn't have another choice, but it is something to think about.

Great job on the highlights they may be clipping but the transition is very smooth and they look really good.

I am also noticing a very slight amount of noise in the sky, I don't know if this is due to PP or compression... Its more grain than pixilation so it may just be the result of sharpening and the vast amounts of volcanic ash in the air ;)

Cheers,
tehben

Starless night
by tinkie2010

Comment:
From the Critique Club - !

I think you have a very nice image going here. Good contrast, dark without being to dark, nice crop.
However I don't really like the border... personal taste.

Regardless of my taste on borders, one suggestion you might try would be to use a smaller white line as the thick ones grabs a lot of attention.

I think probably the factor behind the fairly low score (36%) is the lack of WOW factor, its a good image but not that exiting.

Cheers,
tehben

Message edited by author 2010-05-06 20:18:38.

Extreme Biking on the street (literally)
by motiv

Comment:
Cool shot, but i'm guessing you will get a DQ because of the text...

Countryside Zen
by artvet

Comment:
Way awesome! 10.5

Model A
by tehben

Comment:

Originally posted by amateurboi: Greetings from the Critique Club First Impression: An old car well taken, been given a sepia effect to give a classic touch. Indeed Out of Ordinary. Composition and Lighting: I like the slight tilt of the image, makes it more dynamic and draws the eye in (though DPC doesn't generally like tilted images). Technical: The first thing that strikes my technical eye is the grainy texture. I think grain can be used to effectively boost the mood of an image, but I think it hinders this image. Although you have used a larger aperture of F/3.2, you were unable to get the desired result in DOF. Conceptual: I would call it Out of Ordinary, but the real challenge is to present to the wide geographical audience how out of ordinary it is. Overall: Good photo with a classic touch to it.

Thanks!
I was surprised by mrbig65s comment. It is not that common to see one of these driving around in the US.
The grain was purposeful, though I may have overdone it a bit :)
It was taken on a Canon G10 which has a small built in zoom lens so I wasn't expecting a very shallow DOF.

Ascension
by spiritualspatula

Comment:
Hahaha very coool!

Watching the Contra Dance
by tehben

Comment:

Originally posted by Spooky11: Too posed as a result of which lost it spontaneous goes.

Actually it was a candid shot.

Unordinary Wedding Portrait
by Eagle40Fox2

Comment:
Great expressions... lol
Good frame and colors... well done.

Tree of Souls
by tanguera

Comment:
Beautiful. Love the B&W and the tree!