Chandelier
by doctabrez

Comment by JakeKurdsjuk:
Not a fan of the color palette

Gautam Buddha
by doctabrez

Comment by snaffles:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

This image could be much more closely cropped and some thought put into the available light and composition. Once again this just looks like a snapshot, taken without any effort to get a well-exposed and compositionally interesting photo. There is handshake evident meaning that you shot at far too slow a shutter speed - if you read any of my previous critiques on your images, you would know that I mentioned shooting at a faster shutter speed for handheld work. Any slower than 1/40 or so handheld and it shows.

Lots of blown-out white on the sash and tons of noise everywhere except on the eyelids.

Susan

REST BAN MIRROR SUN GLASSES
by doctabrez

Comment by snaffles:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Not bad at all for a portrait done with a very reflective pair of sunglasses (btw the brand name is Ray Bans), and a p&s to boot. Love the colours on her sari, the shades dominate the shot but don't overwhelm her. Really like the partial smile/near-grin on her face. Don't know why you cranked up the ISO so high, though...are you shooting on *green camera* mode still? If so, time to learn how to do everything on your initiative and tell that camera what to do, rather than let it make all the decisions. Turn that dial, on all your cameras, to M mode, and leave it there.

Feel free to PM me

Susan

Gautam Buddha
by doctabrez

Comment by giantmike:
Still not really digging statue photos that much.

REST BAN MIRROR SUN GLASSES
by doctabrez

Comment by tvsometime:
I like the blue sunglasses and her smile. voted earlier

Victory
by doctabrez

Comment by snaffles:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

OK, first things first. Your image is supposed to be titled, Aftermath. No ands ifs or buts about it. You will automatically get a lower score because you didn't follow that one simple rule, as indicated by a pretty yellow flag next to the challenge description. You made it through medical school, for crying out loud. Surely you know how to be thorough and careful in everything you do in practice, right? (I should add that I am the daughter of an MD so I actually do know what I'm talking about).

Now. Image is cluttery, no real focal point, just a bunch of guys drinking. Pity cause the exposure is good and at least you know your settings! But there is just no POW! factor here. Look at what won and you'll start to get some idea as to what is expected from you here if you wish to do well. You need to do much, much better if you wish to improve.

Also, if people are going to take the time to comment on your image and try to help you, it's only good manners to tick off the check box next to each comment to indicate that you at least appreciate that they made it in the first place. This rule goes double for critiques. People who tend to not tick the box are usually seen as unappreciative and will not get many comments in the future.

Hope this helps.

Susan

REST BAN MIRROR SUN GLASSES
by doctabrez

Comment by clickodak:
Amazing portrait. The blue color of the glasses is very nice Give 8

Turban
by doctabrez

Comment by snaffles:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

For a portrait shot in ambient light (possibly with a little help from a popup flash?), with so much white dominating the pic, you did a great job of avoiding really badly blown-out areas. This is a somewhat safe portrait in that it doesn't take any risks; he is facing the camera straight on and the portrait crop places his face in the middle third. The difference between the two shoulders - one is fully in the frame, the other barely visible - is a little discombubulating, just throws off the eye enough to make the viewer wonder what isn't quite right. In fact the right side of his face is indeed slightly higher than the other. Getting his eyes level, and thus the whole orientation of his body, would have helped. However he is nice and tack-sharp, so no complaints there :-)

In terms of the challenge I can see this confusing many people here. Most DPCers live in the Western Hemisphere and simply aren't familiar with subtle things like the turban and its signifcance. Is it the colour? The way it's wrapped? What is it about it that makes it old-fashioned? There needs to be a little more to the story here, it's like catching just the last scene in a movie, and trying to figure out what it was about. You need to be a little more obvious, as that's the kind of thing that goes over here.

Keep up the good work, please continue entering (and commenting) and do feel free to PM me with any questions.

Susan

Turban
by doctabrez

Comment by lucifero:
A lot of people is wearing a turban today

Selfie
by doctabrez

Comment by Lydia:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Taking a Self Portrait is always hard for me, for many reasons. The obvious reasons, of course... about it being difficult and then... I don't know how to capture my personality very well, as I think I can when I photograph others. Also, I'm uncomfortable in front of the lens.

It appears that you feel something of the same as I do, but maybe I'm wrong. I wish you had an expression that engages the viewer more... draws them in to find out who you are. I think if you'd cropped a bit closer (since the background adds nothing to the scene, and might actually detract), we would feel more intimate with you. As it is, your expression seems far away and the loose crop reinforces that far away feeling.

Perhaps that's what you were trying to portray, and if so, just ignore me. LOL!

I also think the image size is too small for the voters to see the image well, and that contributed to your low score. If you take advantage of the entire 1200 pixels (per side) and 700KB limits, you will be able to show off your focus better.

Go back and look at your "Curious about his missing molars" image. That is a GORGEOUS portrait. You've included something about his personality... steadfast gaze and finger in his mouth... Those draw the viewer in. Also, it's close enough to see and there's no distraction in the background.

I love it that you found a way to do a self portrait with only what you had. Books and such. So clever!