On a cloudy day, the sun is hiding, but the flowers are shining
by superdave

Comment:
Positives:
Perspective and lighting are the strengths of this composition. Generally decent technicals and good composition.

Technicals:
Sharpness and lighting are generally good, especially in the clouds. It is very easy to allow overexposed areas in clouds... you didn't. Lighting on the tulips brought out detail that is the main attraction of the composition. The drama of the background clouds supports the image very well. The application of the rule of thirds adds to the visual interest of the image, especially since there is cloud balance of the right side.

The shadows generated by lighting on the tulips creates some distracting shadows. White might not be the best tulip color for this composition.

The Challenge:
Voters look for technical quality and "wow" factor in free study challenges. Your image has both which is why it scored above this challenge's average and the overall DPC average.

If looking for a reason why the image did not top 6 look no further than the slightly harsh shadows on the tulips and their white color.

Suggestions:
Reduce the intensity of shadows on the tulips. There are many ways you could chose to do that. If you have a different colored tulips try a re-shoot to see how it will stand out against the clouds. (Yes, I realize clouds will be different in a re-shoot. LOL!!!)

On a cloudy day, the sun is hiding, but the flowers are shining
by superdave

Comment:
Positives:
Perspective and lighting are the strengths of this composition. Generally decent technicals and good composition.

Technicals:
Sharpness and lighting are generally good, especially in the clouds. It is very easy to allow overexposed areas in clouds... you didn't. Lighting on the tulips brought out detail that is the main attraction of the composition. The drama of the background clouds supports the image very well. The application of the rule of thirds adds to the visual interest of the image, especially since there is cloud balance of the right side.

The shadows generated by lighting on the tulips creates some distracting shadows. White might not be the best tulip color for this composition.

The Challenge:
Voters look for technical quality and "wow" factor in free study challenges. Your image has both which is why it scored above this challenge's average and the overall DPC average.

If looking for a reason why the image did not top 6 look no further than the slightly harsh shadows on the tulips and their white color.

Suggestions:
Reduce the intensity of shadows on the tulips. There are many ways you could chose to do that. If you have a different colored tulips try a re-shoot to see how it will stand out against the clouds. (Yes, I realize clouds will be different in a re-shoot. LOL!!!)

The Window
by Zoomdak

Comment:
Congrats Zoomer! Spokane is a beautiful city in a beautiful area so there are plenty more ribbons to be found where that came from.

Spoons
by Melethia

Comment:
Positives:
A lovely, lovely abstract. Colors and technical quality are its strength. Use of depth of field is exceptional. Generally a pleasing treatment to the subject. The simplicity of the composition is a strength.

Technicals:
Not a lot to say. This is a top notch technical treatment to this subject. Color is exceptional. The sharpness to this subject is slightly soft but perfect for the composition. Offset positioning of the spoons works well.

The Challenge:
Fits the challenge exceptionally well, including the background inside of a dishwasher. You scored only slightly above average for the challenge and only about .3 above the DPC average.

Chances are good that your lower score compared to the quality of the image was because voters did not think abstract was a good choice for the challenge. Please, please... don't ever let that restrict your thinking. Yours is a great image. I did not vote this challenge but wished I had so I could have given this a 10.

Suggestions:
I'd like to to be intellectual enough to make smart suggestions for improvement, but I'm not.

Wisconsin
by eamurdock

Comment:
Positives:
Very, nicely done minimalist composition. It has a black and white feel, not surprising for a snow image, but conveys the sense of winter, and specifically Wisconsin winter, exceptionally well.

Technicals:
The choice of framing is excellent. Looks like the leftmost tree matches the rule of thirds, but having both trees with the rightmost one to the right of the rule of thirds adds even more to the starkeness of winter concept you were after. The stark white background and minimalist concept works well with this composition adding greatly to your main subject. Sharpeness is good for this scene.

You chose to highlight aspects of the scene that support your theme. Whether by accident or design everything comes together to make this a fine composition. I particularly like the snow plastered to the trees brought on by previous blizzard conditions.

The Challenge:
Obviously meets the challenge. I'm never surprised by that nor do I think this or very many other images ever fail to meet that goal.

Technical photographic quality, especially the use of minimalism, is a strength in this composition. It got a 5.1 which is well below DPC average scoring. That might be because it did not have a lot of color and detail expected by most DPC landscape voters.

This is an image I'm pleased to have disagreed with voters on.

Suggestions:
Other than maybe going full B&W I do not have a single suggestion to improve this image, which is the final question I ask before giving an image a 10, and I'm debating that thought.

Bamboo Surprise
by jprhea25

Comment:
Positives:
Very well setup and nicely arranged. Technicals are a strength in this image. Would make a very nice stock photo.

Technicals:
Lighting, color, sharpness, perspective, and use of depth of field are all well done in this image. Brown tones are good. Bamboo mat for a background in support of the theme is a nice touch. The internal lighting works with the composition for added viewer interest.

The basket is cropped very close to two edges of the frame.

The Challenge:
Obviously meets the challenge. Its suprising when such a fine image finishes with a low score - 5.4. That means DPC as a whole thought the image is average. I don't. Looking at it I can find little to fault and would have scored it higher than the group. Technical and overal photographic quality makes it an above average image.

DPC voters are jaded to exceptionally good photography. The quality of photography has improved greatly on this site, but not the scores. Meeting the challenge with a technically good image is not good enough for them to justify a good score. It both has to be technically perfect and have some unique idea or specialized processing for them to give it the time of day.

Based on the clustering of scores it looks like the group as a whole felt most images were somewhat equally average and/or were not very excited about the challenge topic in the first place and gave only average scores to most every image.

Suggestions:
Overall, there is little wrong with this composition.

Oddly enough, you might consider cropping out some of the top and left side of the imnage and clip off the edges of the basket on the left and top. It comes very close to the edge as it is and that is a slight distraction. There are only two choices to address the distraction, either away from the basket to capture it further from the edge of the frame or crop it closer and crop out the basket edges. The reason for doing the second way is because the basket itself will be much larger in the frame and the detail you remove is not all the significant. Before deciding try it by just "cropping" it on the screen to see how it looks.

Resourceful Woodworking
by Greetmir

Comment:
Positives:
Very cleverly conceived idea; unique and fun. Great positioning of kitchenware with respect to its corresponding wood piece and the inclusion of sawdust is a nice touch.

Technicals:
Technicals are not as strong as they might for a composition as clever as this. Overall lighting, contrast and perspective are bland. Color is not bad, per se, but then there is nothing in it that attracts the eye outside the light blue.

The vignetting acts more as a distraction than as a support for the composition.

Sharpness is hard to judge. Though I can see some digitalization creeping in along sharp edges the sawdust itself seems very softly focused. Those two things counteract each other visually.

The Challenge:
This meets the challenge in a highly unique and cleverly conceived way. But the technical treatment is almost as though you expected the idea itself to carry the composition. The technicals held it back, particularly the strong vignette which seems to serve no purpose. Normally titles matter little, but something like "High Fiber Diet" would have helped the viewer to associate the kitchenware to the wood faster. First millisecond impression is that it does not meet the challenge.

Suggestions:
It is a great idea and there is much than can be done to bring all that out. Stronger and more angled lighting with more contrast would add considerable visual interest. Reshooting from a different perspective, perhaps closer to the plane of the table with some light background DOF might be worth consideration.

Dodge and burn on the wood grain to make it stand out more would create additional interest and visual support for your main theme. Proper focus is always a critical element in every photograph. To be honest, I have no idea how to handle it in this composition.

Vignetting
Vignetting generally speaking is a good addition for added visual impact of an image, but not the old fashioned kind we see in portraits from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Yours has more in common with that than not and it looks unbalanced and offset. You want to back off its opacity. Subtlty is a virtue with vignettes and generally speaking setting the opacity of the layer it is on below 18% is a good idea or and/or widening its feathering. We often see on winning images vignettes that have been added that are subtle in their impact but support the image visually very well. Somtimes we see in those images that the photographer has made "hand" changes to the vignette specific to the image. All that you might consider for your own image.

Flower over the lake
by kiskat

Comment:
Nice way to show the rule of thirds... this sure looks like this might be inthe the Phoenix, Arizona USA metropolitan area.

Dare to be Different
by cajay

Comment:
I've been taking tulip images recently... you've captured tulips very, very well. I like this image a lot.

Serenity
by DaveSM

Comment:
Like everything about this image except the white blotches on the yellow tulips.