Long Way Downby
rodehiComment by Artyste: Hello, and greetings from the Critique Club. The critique you are about to recieve is tailored for DPC challenges alone, and is not intended to be seen as an artistic critique per se.
Initial Thoughts
This is nice, a really good POV.. but there's just something missing.
Composition / Content
This is one of those rare photographs where.. although the subject matter is pretty awe-inspiring.. the photograph itself is still pretty plain. You've chosen a nice composition, and I love the point-of-view, but other factors take away from it too much to really be a true DPC contender in my mind.
Background
Did the shallow DOF hurt you here? My guess is that it did. The blurry background puts focus on the person, but also gives the photo less of an impact.
Camera Work / Technical
You didn't add the information, so it's hard for me to really say anything. What I do know is that selecting a smaller aperature to increase the depth of field woud have really helped. The river would have been much more impactful had it been sharp as well, IMO. Your exposure is also slightly on the dark side on your human subject. Diffused fill flash or a reflector of some sort could have helped here as well.
[bDigital Processing[/b]
Again, you haven't entered any information, so I cannot comment on this area.
Fits the Challenge
Your perspective is probably the strongest part of the image. It's a nicely strong connection to the challenge in its own way, but perhaps not as strong as some voters seem to have been looking for, given your score.
My Opinion of the Photo
I do believe you ended up lower than you may have deserved to with an image that isn't a bad photo.. but a few factors seemed to have turned off the voters (given the comments), and led to the lower score. I personally like it, but it definitely doesn't have that "WOW!" feel that most top placers seem to have. Good luck in future challenges.
Photographer found comment helpful.