Big Spring Time
by photomill31

Comment by Citadel:
Nice shot and very topical given the month.

I'd like to see this with a bit more DOF. The angle is interesting however I'd like to what this would look like without the trees in the background.

Great colors and I like the composition. (Almost an X created by the blossoms)

Center of Attention
by photomill31

Comment by rlmichael:
Great shot, Good luck, Mike

Center of Attention
by photomill31

Comment by cebuloulou:
Title definitely suits it. I can't decide where or not I like the negative sky space. I hope you played around with cropping it closer and then decided on this. The symmetry of the trees is excellent - 9.

Center of Attention
by photomill31

Comment by pedrobop:
Nice shot. I don't know if this tree would be the center piece with colors, but i would like to see the colored version of it. The sky used as an empty space is great, so as the prime tree. I think those trees at the bottom aren't necessary too.
Good luck to you. Hope i wasn't rude!

Black and Blue
by photomill31

Comment by Yo_Spiff:
Way too small, you should use the entire 720 pixels in at least one direction. There is also a ton of compression here. Your file size is only 25k and you could have used up to 200k. Use as little compression as you must to fit challenge limits. Compression kills detail.

Black and Blue
by photomill31

Comment by rlewis:
For me the image lacks any real focal point or interest other than the color

Surface to Sky
by photomill31

Comment by Blue Moon:
I agree with the others, tilted horizon and it also looks a tad bit shakey...were you using a tripod or was the dock moving? The colors are very nice and it has good symmetry, but it leaves me wanting more, especially on the top and bottom.

Surface to Sky
by photomill31

Comment by Melethia:
I'll differ a bit on the "don't use a centered horizon" part. It CAN work but you have to have a reason to use it - symmetry, point of interest, etc. For a simple landscape/waterscape shot, pick what you want to emphasize (water/ground or sky) and compose and crop accordingly. There's that lovely "rule of thirds" for composition that time has shown is generally pleasing to the eye.

Also, your horizon may in fact not be tilted at all, but due to the natural curbature of the body of water. The wake in the distance catching the light emphasizes that, and the overall EFFECT (but perhaps not reality) is a tilted horizon. Again, it can work but only if there's a distinct reason for it. Here the "eye" wants it to be nice and level - less disconcerting that way.

Finally, there are voters that have been at DPC for many years who tire of sunsets with no other point that a picture of a sunset. Sounds harsh, but it is one possible reason for a lower than you expected score.

Surface to Sky
by photomill31

Comment by K3Master:
I really don't know what to tell you on this one. Yo_Spiff is correct about the tilted horizon, but I'm really not a landscape photographer, so I have very little to add.

Just from what I've read though, there is one main thing here you want to avoid. A centered horizon. The better landscape shots have the horizon less centered in the shot. There is either more ground, or more sky, and there's always some kind of focal point. Something to look at, which is offered in a way which leads to viewer to expand their vision to the rest of the photo.

Look around in the ribbon winners gallery for landscapes that win ribbons, and compare your shot with those. I'm not saying that you'll need to suddenly find amazing seascapes and such all at once, but try and look at what they are doing compared to what you are doing and maybe see if you can start applying some of the basics to your future shots.

As for my thoughts on why this scored so low, for my money it's just a plain, flat, boring photo when compared to its competition in a free study. It has some nice play in the sky, but there really isn't much there to grab someone making a fly-by on the vote. It's dark, and there is no point of interest compared to the shots that do better on this website.

Surface to Sky
by photomill31

Comment by Yo_Spiff:
The scene is pleasant and the tones are nice and smooth. I think the biggest thing that hurt you in voting was the tilted horizon that was also very centered top to bottom. The composition may not have been very eye-leading.