I'm watching youby
hogster558Comment by L1: Howdy from the Critique Club! :o)
I am sure that by the other comments you received for this entry you know some of the things I am about to point out, so I will try to be brief in my commenting so as not to bore you to tears. The four areas that I will address are composition, technical details, relationship to challenge, and aesthetics.
1. Composition: I think that your have a very strong facial image in your shot, however, it could have been presented in a composition that would have been stronger and could have accentuated your find in a better way. Your shot is very centered, which many find displeasing or rather uneventful. The "face" itself is dead center of the frame. I think a portrait composition, with more "hair" on top and less sky on the sides would be more visually pleasing and interesting.
2. Technical Details: Your focus is fairly sharp (a little soft on the "hair"), but it appears that you may have taken this in fairly harsh lighting conditions judging by the shadow on the "face" and the contrast between the tree and the sky. Perhaps shooting at a time when light is softer (early morning, late afternoon) or using a fill flash so as not to lose important details in the "face" could help. The color of the sky, as some noted, is a bit too blue, bordering on purple, which could be a monitor calibration issue or it could be an editing issue. Either way, it's something to check into as DPC voters are notorious for their attention to details such as this. The size of your image is rather small...I strongly suggest using the entire 640 pixel limit on the longest size of your entry, as well as the full 150KB file size you are allowed so as not to lose detail.
3. Relationship to challenge: This is your strong point for your shot, as it meets the challenge head-on (no pun intended). Great eye to be able to find and capture such a shot.
4. Aesthetics: Your shot is nice to look at, but doesn't have as much of a visually-pleasing impact as it could have IMHO. Looking at your final score, I believe it is one of those shots that voters look at for the cursory 2 to 3 seconds, rate 4 or 5, and move on without a second look or longer examination. This is where the "wow" factor comes into play. Look for something to set your shot apart from all the others. Interesting lighting, point of view, focal point, or subject matter that grabs a viewer's attention for longer than 2 seconds will give you more points.
Overall, your shot has strong points and points upon which can be improved with some slight changes and by taking advantage of some opportunities. Best of luck to you in future challenges. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me!
Laurie :o)
Critique Club
