Pls don't bite
by tinhmocnam

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club.

Hi Kim,

This sure is a sweet looking kid. This is a beautiful capture, communicating deep love, trust and innocence. It is lovely to see all that in a shot.

I'd say the biggest problem the voters had with this shot is the difference between your subjects colour and the back-ground. As is clear from the comment recieved many did not feel you met the challenge. On this site you will be heavily penalised if the voters do not feel you met the challenge. This one point will account for many of the low votes you recieved. If you want to do well the best policy to to make sure that there is no scope for users to decide you haven't met the challenge.

I hope my comments help and Good Luck in future Challenges!

Cheers
Paul

Shaken, not stirred.
by StudyinLight

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club.

Hi Peter,

Welcome to DPC. Great to have you on the site.

It is a shame that you have scored poorly on your first challenge. Please don't be discouraged - this can be a great learning opportunity.

I'll start with what I do like about this shot. I like the sense of movement and life - this is conveyed through the blurred arm, and the slightly off-centre angle of the shot. The shot has vigour.

The first big thing you can take away from it is that on this site you will be heavily penalised if the voters do not feel you met the challenge. This one point will account for many of the low votes you recieved. If you want to do well the best policy to to make sure that there is no scope for users to decide you haven't met the challenge.

Second - it is a pretty good rule of thumb to get your image correctly aligned. In this instance I like the angle, but other wouldn't have. The pool table looks tilted, and all the folks look like they are standing at an angle.

Third - voters like nice, crisp, sharp images. There are few exceptions to this, but most of the time they want the subject to be in focus. This is difficult to achive when shooting in a low-lit environment; especially if your camera doesn't allow for wider apertures and higher ISOs. I notice that you shot at the fastest aperture of your lens anyway so there is not much you could do about it. The environmen you chose for your challenge submsion is exteremly challenging.

Fourth - As above, image grain or noise is generally frowned upon. There are instances where is can add character, but most of the time it is best to avoid it. Noise reduction software (such as Neat Image or Noise Ninja) exists on the market - some versions are free.

Some tips to consider:
- always meet the challenge
- shoot in good lighting conditions
- down-load some noise reduction software. You can get a free version of Neat Image off the web.
- begin learning some post-processing techniques. I suggect rotate, levels and USM (UnSharp Mask).

I hope my comments help and Good Luck in future Challenges!

Cheers
Paul

Millie: White on White
by hotpasta

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club.

Hi Enzo,

A great shot, and no doubt a nice family memory. It's the imploring eyes that make this shot work, along with the expression communicated by the face as a whole. It's been said before - adorable.

I agree that going for white-on-white was a brave move knowing 'how particular dpc voters' cab be. Fortunately it seems to have paid off for you. you sure don't seem to have been hit by the trolls.

How could it have done better? This is a tough call. The dappled light as it is does add to the picture. Nonetheless I think I would have liked to see Millie's face better lit. Perhaps if you could have got her to roate herself (I know, it's difficult enough as it is to work with animals) 45 degrees counter-clockwise to aligh with the light source and wait for a ray to flash on her face.

I hope my comments help and Good Luck in future Challenges!

Cheers
Paul

Saxual Gold
by cislander

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club.

Hi Charles,

That sure is a beautiful instrument: a wonderful place to start when aiming to create a beautiful image.

I'll start with what works for me in this shot. I like the point-of-view and the rich colour tones. The lighting is good, really bringing out the lines and flow of the sax.

I imagine the image was voted down a little because it does not absolutely 'pop' with gold. As has already been commented - it is dark and red. Personally I like the opulent hue and glow this gives to the shot, but others are different. Anyway, you have not been cut-down by the DNMC trolls - merely just marked down a bit.

I'm guessing the sax is at rest in it's case. It is a little too easy to see that the shot was rotated to veritcal. I think it would have worked better if you has set the sax in a stand with a slightly less dark background. This would have removed the distracting reflections in the inside of the bell.

I hope my comments help and Good Luck in future Challenges!

Cheers
Paul

Dragon's Hoard
by lwiley212

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club.

Hi Linda,

Your shot sure satisfies the challenge - that is a whole lot of gold there. Too much so, in fact, as no part of the composition stands out as the subject and it is difficult for the eye to pick the different objects where they overlap.

An environment such as this where you control every aspect of the composition is a painstaking art, especially when working with highly reflective objects such as these. In future consider cleaning and shining each object - the dust on the dragon takes away from the potential warmth and hue. Try to keep the compositions simple - the simpler it is the less that can go wrong.

I\'m not really sure what you did with the lighting. It\'s great to hear that you learnt a lot working on it. Keep at it - this is an area where you will never run out of things to learn and practice. The blowouts on the globe and lamp stand are a bit too harsh - perhaps if you diffused the light this would have been better. OPr maybe you were aiming for that effect.

I hope my comments help and Good Luck in future Challenges!

Cheers
Paul

...The Golden Eggs
by sfalice

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club.

Hi Alice.

This shot does have a lovely warm glow to it. You have compiling a lovely composition with some excellent well-thought out touches (such as the feathers). The eggs seem a little too soft, and do not really stand-out from the nest - I think they need more yellow in their gold to give them some pop. I'm not really sure how you went about lighting this so all I'll say on the subject is that the slight highlights on the eggs are perfect and the shadows are appropriatly soft.

I notice you used an 8 second shutter speed with a small aperture. I think a wider aperture (say around F10) with a faster shutter would have produced a crisper image.

To grow your vote: The core subject (the eggs) should stand-out better to really capture your audiences eye. This would mean sharper with mroe contrast between them and the background.

I hope my comments help and Good Luck in future Challenges!

Cheers
Paul

Sailing on Wings of Gold
by saracat

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club.

You certainly meet the challenge with the striking gold sail in the centre. The shot is technically sound, with nothing fundamentally wrong. There is a richness to this image that I enjoy. Others may feel that the foreground and background are too dark - I imagine this is a result of editing to get the sail just so. Unfortunately all the action in the image is in a band across the centre, and both foreground and background are pretty much dead space. The foreground in particular does not add to the image.

How to grow the vote: The composition should place more emphasis on the yachts (especially that gold sail) to really focus your audiences eye on the subject. I would have liked to have seen the yachts in the foreground (balanced accordign to the rule of thirds) with a bright blue sky in the background.

I hope my comments help and Good Luck in future Challenges!

Cheers
Paul

Message edited by author 2006-08-03 21:06:43.

The Dock
by maestro

Comment:
I would love to see the original.

Ripening Red Raspberries
by debapaka

Comment:
I do like this shot - doing the old classic complementary colours thing. I believe I would have liked it more rotated counter-clockwise 90 degrees (or so). This I think would have been better balanced, and led the eye through the progress of unripe in the foreground and ripe in the background.

Paper Patterns
by timfythetoo

Comment:
I simply love the balance here. There isn't much that can be improved upon. Perhaps I would prefer it if the background colour was lighter (although perhaps not).