Untitled
by Spizzer

Comment:

Originally posted by Spizzer: I never understood why this did so poorly, and the two comments I got were not descriptive enough to even tell if they were for or against it.

Positives:
This is really an inspired idea. Looks like you want to make one of those pictures that doesn't look like anything at all until you find the lion hidden within the noise. Has a high contrast, high key look

Technicals:
Choice of black and white is good. The very high contrast processing and look is done good and is remarkably well balanced across the image. Makes it look like a renaissance artist's sketch. Sharpness is hard to evaluate because of the type of image it is.

You chose to add noise for effect as opposed to grain and that may have affected how voters reacted to the image.

The Challenge:
Image Grain was a tough challenge with a lot of discussion about what and what does not meet the challenge and there were all kinds of suggestions as to how to accomplish that. Looks like you chose to add image noise as opposed to grain to meet the challenge. There is a big difference between film grain and electronic noise and that affected voting. Even though both were allowed, voters expected to see something more like film grain than electronic noise and that is not what they got with this image.

Oddly, you may have been negatively affected by how well you did this image. It looks more like an artwork than a photograph and you may have been faulted for that. Some may have thought it literal and gave it DNMC treatment.

Suggestions:
Find and experiment with a film grain filter to see what you can do with this image to make it look more like a photograph. Probably won't improve the image at all but you might want to see how it changes its look and feel. I didn't enter this challenge but I used both noise and film grain filters for effect in the image I prepared for it.

You might chose to go the other way and add much more noise and make it even more high key to enhance the 'hidden figure' effect. Hard to say if that would have worked either. :)

The lion is somewhat center focused and maybe making it off centered or take it from a diffrent angle would have made it more intersting to viewers.

Crucis
by Federico

Comment:
Positives:
Wonderfully conceived and captured black and white. Subtlely moody and gives the viewer much to think about when looking at it. It is the type of image that draws the viewer back again and again. Technical quality is excellent. The immensity of the cobblestones in the frame stuns the viewer.

Technicals:
Black and white contrast and range is just right. Your processing enhances the moodiness of the composition. Backlighting and shadows enhance the composition greatly.

The depth of field on this one is interesting. One of the few images where major subjects like the two people remaining out of focus fits the composition. Generally speaking you'd normally have the closest foreground in sharpest focus but that is not the case here. It is slightly out of focus. Don't know if that is by design. It certainly doesn't hurt the composition and adds a more curiosity to the picture.

The Challenge:
Certainly meets the challenge well and in a unique and interesting way. Commenters obviously like this image a lot and say so. The average score is low, but that is true of most DPC images. Perhaps voters glossed over this one because it lacks the flash and instant "Wow factor" DPC voters have come to expect.

I voted this challenge and gave this image a 9 and probably should have given it a 10. Its one fine image.

Suggestions:
The reason I know I should have scored this a 10 is because I can't think of anything significant to suggest to improve it.

Gem Lake
by hahn23

Comment:
Well composed but flat contrast treatment of your subject.

Daffodils
by pinbokeshatta

Comment:
Cloud detail is outstanding. Perhaps you should include more daffodills closer up and less upper sky which does not add a lot of interest to the overall composition. :(

When night is falling...
by hajeka

Comment:
Bummer... so many wonder elements in the image and your timing is perfect. The sky, color and overall technical quality of this picture is poor. Consider a BW treatment and other post processing things you might do to highlight the bird, windmill(s) and sunrise. If you want to stay with color you will have to do some serious color adjustments to add visual interest to this image. Work on sky color more than anything else. It totally lacks viewer interest as it is.

Little Red Sailboat
by deepfrog17

Comment:
Wonderful BW treatment with dramatic clouds and technically very well done. Not fond of the red sail and feel it is a distraction. Composition and framing are not as strong as it might be but it is a 'good' image. I'm working on a multi-image landscape panorama right now and your image reminds me of it because of your wide but narrow presentation which is common of panoramas. Don't know if yours is a multi-image panorama but I don't want mine to 'look' like a panorama. If interested I will share my work with you if I can ever get it 'right' and you are interested. LOL!!!

A River Flood As Seen From A Passing Train Window
by EssAreDubya

Comment:
Interesting and very worthy compositional subject but your treatment of it in post processing does not do the scene justice.

Spring Forest
by Tom_Robbrecht

Comment:
The choice to compose the large number of tree trunks, as opposed to including the whole trees, contrasted against the wildflowers carpeted on the forest floor is clearly the strength of this composition. The path just adds more viewer interest to the image.

Desert Rocks
by BAMartin

Comment:
Looks like this may have been taken in Phoenix, Arizona USA in or near the Desert Botanical Gardens. May not be true but I am pretty sure this is the Sonoran Desert, a place near and dear to my heart. :) Like the cacti and rocks, but the main 'mountain' (Papago Peaks?) is insufficient to carry the whole composition. An additional element in the foreground would add considerable viewer interest to the composition.

Maunga-a-Reipae - "Watchful Mountain"
by julesski

Comment:
Don't like the near centered tree orientation, especially when there is so little of viewer interest on the far left that could be cropped out for a better tree off set with more viewer interest. The tree and its shadow is the main subject and you want to do EVERYTHING possible to highlight it.