DPChallenge: A Digital Photography Contest You are not logged in. (log in or register
 
Challenge Entries
Portfolio Images
This image is not part of a public portfolio.
branch, sky, and clouds
branch, sky, and clouds
dragonlady


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Branch (Basic Editing III)
Camera: Fujifilm FinePix A340 Zoom
Location: parking lot at a supermarket
Date: Sep 4, 2005
Aperture: f10
ISO: 64
Shutter: 1/250 sec
Date Uploaded: Sep 4, 2005

Tree branch taken against the sky with a large cumulus cloud in background. Levels, unsharp mask and cropped.

Statistics
Place: 271 out of 432
Avg (all users): 4.8443
Avg (commenters): 4.9091
Avg (participants): 4.7285
Avg (non-participants): 4.9710
Views since voting: 603
Views during voting: 367
Votes: 289
Comments: 12
Favorites: 0


Please log in or register to add your comments!

AuthorThread
09/19/2005 07:20:01 PM
Hello, and greetings from the Critique Club. This is your critiquer Artyste speaking.. bow down before me and worship my comment... err... heh, sorry. I sometimes get a little into this.. shall we start?

Initial Thoughts

Dark overall, not too interesting.. not enough of the challenge subject.

Composition / Content

While it's a unique composition in a way, you don't really give the viewer any one thing to focus on, and the image tends to just be there.. nothing really going on, nothing really being said. You also don't have enough of a connection to the branches to really sell the image for the challenge.

Background

Some hot spots in the clouds and the sky just seems a little oversaturated and dark.

Camera Work / Technical

You've done ok with your metering and and focus, but it looks as though post-processing has interfered a little.

Digital Processing

This is where a lot of the issues in this image come from. You seem to have leveled the clouds a little more harshly than they needed to be, yet kept the rest of the scene really dark and forbidding. The eye is gravitated to the clouds because of this, and you almost miss that there are branches in the image altoghter. By the time you realize, "oh yah, there they are", it's unappealing and the voter has probably given a lower score and moved on. For myself, this image is just a little oversaturated, there aren't enough highlights and detail in the brush, and the clouds are too blown out at the edges and have a cyan tinge to them. A few more selective color tweaks, a little less of a heavy hand on the Unsharp Mask, and less saturation would have helped here. However, even with all of that, we're still left with a generally uninteresting photo.

Fits the Challenge

You do include branches, but the connection to the challenge is tenuous at best, with the clouds becoming far more of a subject than the branches themselves.

My Opinion of the Photo

Not a fantastic photo to begin with, but a heavy hand on the processing has brought it down a little more as well. Watch that your processing enhances your photos, but doesn't define them.. also, keep in mind that photos with a more central subject with more interest to them do much better on DPC. You want your photo to speak for itself, and speak loudly. This photo is more "leaves and clouds" than "Branch", and that hurt your scoring. Keep practicing and trying new things, and good luck in future challenges.

  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
09/13/2005 05:03:34 PM
interesting composition.. might want to review how you are resizing. I see lots of noise around edges.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/13/2005 01:14:21 PM
no comment
09/09/2005 11:23:04 PM
You've got great color, focus, and contrast, but the elements seem to be so separate that there's nothing that connects them except the title. Technically a good shot, but compositionally, I think it's missing a focal point and/or link to bring the pieces together.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/09/2005 10:23:42 PM
What a great capture! More green in the tree would really bring out a contrast that would enhance this.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/08/2005 08:47:47 PM
interesting. great cloud shot and sky but tree looks a bit dark
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/08/2005 02:02:24 PM
This is a very dramatic shot bu,t being underexposed, the tree is in "almost" sillouette. If you could have used a gradiated ND filter to expose the tree properly (reducing the brightness of the cloud/sky) this would really be a great shot.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/08/2005 05:32:09 AM
The strong diagonal composiiton suggests a lot more action than a stationary shot such as this needs or suits.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/08/2005 12:12:57 AM
The topic should be the main focus and you shouldn't cut it off either.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/07/2005 10:47:24 PM
nice contrast
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/07/2005 04:15:29 PM
like the contrasting colors, bit more light on the leaves may have helped, imo
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/07/2005 01:10:07 PM
the leaves are underexposed :(
  Photographer found comment helpful.


Home - Challenges - Community - League - Photos - Cameras - Lenses - Learn - Help - Terms of Use - Privacy - Top ^
DPChallenge, and website content and design, Copyright © 2001-2025 Challenging Technologies, LLC.
All digital photo copyrights belong to the photographers and may not be used without permission.
Current Server Time: 03/13/2025 04:17:56 PM EDT.