~ Cold/Hot ~by
Ja-9Comment by salmiakki: Greetings from the Critique Club
I think you did very well to come up with something a little outside the box for this challenge. Sometimes that pays off and sometimes it doesn't. Judging by the score, in this case, it probably didn't.
In my opinion, the main reason this did not score higher, is the lack of a white background. You were being hit hard by the DNMC police.
From a compositional point, this is OK, but could have been improved a bit by a step to the left. Meaning that the main subject would have been at a slightly different angle, rather than straight on. The focus is not particularly sharp, which will hurt. I see that a function of using a slowish shutter speed (1/20) rather than a use of selective focus from Depth of Field. It is almost impossible to handhold and shoot below 1/60 and the longer the focal length of the lens the faster the shutter speed needs to be to avoid camera shake. With your lens, focal lengths between 18 & 60 you can get away with 1/60, but at 135, you would need a shutter speed more like 1/160 to keep the subject sharp. Of course, if your lens has VR (vibration reduction), then you may be able to use slighly lower shutter speeds when handholding.
The next aspect I doubt you had any control over, if you were at an antique venue, but the fact that the taps themselves are rather dirty probably didn't help much. You know DPCers like pristine things!
Actually, now I have written my observations I just read the comments received.
Sorry didn't do better, I think it was a good idea. I didn't vote in this challenge, but I probably would have given it a 4 or 5, due to the above mentioned technical issue with the focus.
Hopefully this short critique has helped a bit.
Sarah
Photographer found comment helpful.