Two worlds - One bus stop
by timfythetoo

Comment:
~trading post~

This is a wonderful candid, but not entirely sure if its photojournalism-worthy imho - makes a social comment, but can't really see it accompanying a news item.

The format works well, drawing out the space between the two characters. The slightly awkward horizontal positioning of the two people (ie not symmetrical, not on thirds) also adds to the feeling of unconnectedness. The vertical positioning of the bench is perfect in completing the composition, and putting the f/g in context.

I think it could have been improved by using a larger aperture, so a more restricted dof would make the b/g slightly less distracting - I was going to suggest a slight desat of the b/g, but I tried it and was not convinced.

Light and shadow
by Melethia

Comment:
~trading post~

Shame about the date, I also preferred the original, with much more soft, sensitive light. Nevertheless, this is a beautiful study and well-deserving of the score

Composition is strong, following the rule of thirds. Although I think I personally preferred the slightly wider view of the other version - seems to make it slightly less cluttered.
The lighting is what makes this shot - it shows off the texture of the wall and post.
I like the juxtaposition of the sharp lines and curves; especially with the additional element of the interplay of the shadows.

I'm not convinced by the toning, although I think thats partly just me - I always prefer a cooler tone on duotones. But I liked the treatment of the other version better

Doc on the prowl
by Rikki

Comment:
lmao

Parade vendors appeal to all ages
by Melethia

Comment:
~trading post~

This does look a very newspaper-ey photo in its context (local news with candids..) but as a photo could be improved a number of ways.

The composition seems to me to be very cramped, theres no room to breathe. The light is flat where you need it on the faces, because of the shadow of the umbrella.

Baby's head seems a touch soft - if this were sharper the dof would work better, cause the two would stand out together.
Composition is pretty centred as well as the crampedness, making it pretty undynamic

Also, at the end of the day it is rather a snapshot - that doesnt mean it doesnt suit photojournalism (well, some areas of photojournalism), but DOES mean it doesn't suit DPC voting. Its not a front-page-really-cool-shot but would suit local news brilliantly.

I think the score was reasonably fair, given that I reckon even the best photo taken in this 'style' would be hard to break a 5.5

PS as i went thru your profile to get here, couldn't help but notice your comments given:received ratio. Well done, its an amazing contribution :)

felt like adding smiley

Message edited by author 2006-05-08 14:27:53.

Naturallly Complemented
by ericwoo

Comment:
~trading post~

Very vibrant, stands out among all the other plant entries.
The different shapes really complement each other.

I wonder if you could have cropped out the bottom two red triangle leaves/petals, so that there was more emphasis on the repetitiveness of the shapes. This could be combined with a slight tilt, so the reds lie at a diagonal, or extending the field of view so they lay on a third.

I didn't really notice it until reading photogs comments, but I think you're right that it's over NIed. I dont really mind the windows - sure, t'would have been a cleaner composition without, but they don't really distract me personally.

Definite pop factor when you first see it, but obviously you've already identified ways to improve little bits n pieces.

Profiles of Purple
by Kelli

Comment:
First, to get it out the way, although I didn't vote, I'm one of the people who thinks there is definitely too little yellow, and what yellow there is seems rather arbitrary rather than an integral part of the composition - I wouldn't have voted it high in this challenge.

Other than that, I think the main thing that hurts the photo is the lighting - its very hard to make out any detail in the flowers, especially those facing us, and the purple is very flat. I'd suggest trying to light from the front a little, at an angle, just experimenting to see what enhances the tones & shapes in the flowers.

The diagonal composition works well, but it does seem veeeery busy - I guess thats partly a characteristic of those particular flowers, but I'm sure it could have been made a little less busy by arranging them differently or even breaking of some of them flowers. Simple compositions nearly always work best.

Hope that helps

Hot and Cool Complementary Peppers
by chalice

Comment:
To be honest, to me this seems a bit cluttered and as though not much thought went into pulling off the idea. I'm sure you could have found a more dynamic setup/composition, maybe with less peppers and more thought into the shapes they formed together, both from the peppers themsleves and the negative space between them. This would have enabled it to become more of a composition of form in the context of the complementary peppers, rather than just a 'snapshot' (sorry!) of a quick concept.

Lighting is very sensitive though, which works well. I'd like to see the b/g slightly lighter.

Try some more, according to everyone's advice and see what ya get

...rorrim ,rorriM
by timfythetoo

Comment:
~trading post~

Clever idea executed well.
I'd like to see more contrast, and not such a dark b/g - seems very blown-out in the original. This suggests lighting was not perfect.
I think it could have been improved had the dof been greater, so that the face (real face, not the printout) wasn't OOF.

All in all, I think the b/g could have been chosen better, but the idea was great, and title cool, and it scored well

Event Horizon
by Louis

Comment:
~trading post~

Now what I want you to do is explain exactly how it represents an event horizon :P Nah, title's cool but when you think about it I'm not sure it could be argued to represent such a thing.

Anyway, I like this one. The dof works well but I feel its a tiny bit too narrow, giving a very quick transition from focus to OOF.
The diagonal works well, and the rich tones are good. In fact, I was surprised at the lack of sharpness on the original - you've obviously
managed to bring it out well with curves/USM.
Plain white border suits fine

Its a very nice macro, and technically spot on, but i guess it doesnt have much wow, and the inversion doesn't really add to it - had you played with hue/sat to give the original the same colour, I'm guessing you'd be hard-pressed to tell a major difference, they would just look like a reflection of each other (as shadows would be t'other way round)

Message edited by author 2006-05-07 10:43:49.

spooky
by DanSig

Comment:
~trading post~

This the kind of shot I expected to see in the challenge, and didn't think anyone would be able to pull it off well - you've proven me wrong. I say that because a negative image just of a person is pretty familiar, and could so easily look like a kid messing around with crazy effects in PS; it takes a lot to give it real depth and make the inversion add to the image. You've achieved this with the atmosphere created by the posture and the really spooky eyes. The expression is perfect for this. I'm wondering whether it would have been good to have a slightly darker/lighter b/g, so its not the same tone as his skin, but obviously both the shirt and hair need to stand out, so this may not have been possible.

I've never really had much experience with portraits, but would it have been possible to eliminate the catchlights? - they look great on the positive, but without them the negative eyes could have looked even more spooky.

The shadows (that have turned into highlights) are kinda distracting, and could have been reduced by more careful lighting - using reflectors to fill in or something)

Seems like not everyone liked it, I guess cause its hard to make a negative of a person look good. Personally I think the stare and expression really makes it, and it works well as a negative. Having said that I think the score was fair - didnt have the ingenuity or simplicity of composition needed to compete with some of the top scorers.