Don't Be Anonymous
by smellyfish1002

Comment by Paul:
Greetings from the Critique Club:

This is a fine, fine image. The blend of sharpness and structure combined with the dynamically blurry elements makes for a most compelling juxtaposition. I'm particularly fond of the guy bottom right and how he draws the eye's attention to the wall and how the wall sends the eye into the far distance to dance across the mezzanine before hurtling back along the line of the information boards.

Your 4/10 exposure time is perfect - I'm surprised; I'd have thought it would need a little longer to get this effect; those folks must be walking with a purpose; perhaps it's 8:03 and they have a ticket for the train departing from track 103.

I'm pleased this did well. A very nicely crafted image.

80 Years After Ansel Adams...
by smellyfish1002

Comment by salmiakki:
Greetings from the Critique Club

Well, I found it interesting that I got this image to critique via the critique club. It is going to be quite difficult to give a very objective critique since this was one of my two 10s in the challenge!

There is obviously something about this image that did not appeal to other voters in the same way it did to me because it only scored 5.9 and that I find to be somewhat perplexing. I wonder if it is the composition? Personally I think the composition is excellent. Or perhaps it's because of the lighting? It is quite unusual, but I find it works well, although I suppose there are quite a lot of shadows in the statue due to the flash.

I have a feeling this would also work well in black & white, although the colours are stunning in this version.

Sorry I can't be more help, but as I mentioned, I liked this one!

Becoming The Tiger Within
by smellyfish1002

Comment by Sting11165:
First impression: 6.

The subject is obvious, it fits candid, and the title fits well. The blur on the painter is ok since the boy (assuming it is a boy) is the subject. The color and texture on the boy's face is really great. Very sharp. And his closed eyes set a mood for the image.

There are a few things that hurt the image though. First, the background is a bit bright and distracting, especially right under his nose. I'm not sure what you could do about this, other than trying a different angle when you shoot. Speaking of angles, the profile is a bit extreme, I'd like to see more of an angle at his face (possibly over the painter's shoulder). I took a similar image of my daughter a few months ago, and my favorite shot was when she was looking at herself in the mirror (I was able to get both her reflection and her face).

Yeah, I'll stick with 6. A nice, close, personal image, but pretty static.

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This comment courtesy the Viral Comment Experiment (VCE). The VCE is an experiment to see if a large number of quality comments can be generated in a fashion similar to chain letters. The first time you receive a VCE comment, randomly choose five (5) images from this challenge (or another challenge) and leave quality, useful comments/critiques like this one. Make sure to mention good things as well as bad things. Then, see how many you receive in return over the next few weeks. Make sure you copy this VCE notice at the end of each comment. [Obligatory chain letter threat] If you do not make five quality comments within 24 hours, your hard drive will crash and your camera's shutter will fail at an inopportune moment.

Concrete Work
by smellyfish1002

Comment by PapaBob:
Awesome, you can see the power in those hands. The detail and lighting is exceptional.

Garden of the Gods
by smellyfish1002

Comment by ericwoo:
Hey there from the Critique Club

Camera Work/Technical: Excellent focus, bringing out tremendous texture in the scree and rocks. I respectfully disagree with the comments on too much noise. I don't see the noise, rather great texture captured in terrific detail.

Lighting: The lighting is a little harsh, but, oddly enough, I'd like to see this one with even deeper shadows and a hair more contrast in the rocks. I do find issue with the sky here. It is a bit overpowering for this particular capture. I think composing it out of the frame would have looked better to me, but I am not sure it would have pulled better votes from DPCland.

Composition/Content: The composition feels a little tight, but I do like the placement of the large stones in your frame. It gives the eye areas to almost bounce around, both to and from. While the border debate is sure to rage for years to come, I think adding a simple white border with a little black stroke would really relax the feeling of this image. Even still, you created a very nice flow with this one.

My Opinion: While a technically fine image, I think you missed the DPC voters with the WOW factor. I am sure that the scale of the stones are grand, even breath-taking, but that is missed by looking at 640px capture of what is there. As-is, I think 5.5 is a little low, but this is a pretty tough crowd.

Eric

Message edited by author 2006-12-30 00:57:33.

Grunge
by smellyfish1002

Comment by Bear_Music:
Oh, this is seriously good! Texture is a dominant element but the image has meaning utterly apart from that. Very nicely done!

Grunge
by smellyfish1002

Comment by Makka:
If you glance at this photo it almost looks like Bono from U2! Excellent!

Grunge
by smellyfish1002

Comment by eyebyfaith:
Excellent tonal qualities. Looks like you made good use of zone system mechanics applied to digital values.

Grunge
by smellyfish1002

Comment by dahkota:
Like the close crop, the DOF and the POV. The tones are masterfully done and the lighting is excellent. 9 - good luck in the challenge!

Grunge
by smellyfish1002

Comment by lshles:
I really like every thing about this shot. Excellent.