Again, I'm glad we live inthe country, and no-one can see into my yard. The pile of charcoal isused again. I had to spray the whole area with bug juice to stop mozzies from flying into the shot.
Photoshopping:
convert from RAW
duplicate layer
adjustment layer - hue sat, completely desat, blend mode multiply, 100%
select layer, duplicate via copy
gauusian blur on copied layer
adjustment layer - clipping mask - hue/sat - desat, darken
dodge
burn
sponge sat and desat
flatten
save as jpeg
reduce image size
save for web
Statistics
Place: 40 out of 197 Avg (all users): 6.1047 Avg (commenters): 7.9048 Avg (participants): 6.1341 Avg (non-participants): 6.0826 Views since voting: 1924 Views during voting: 437 Votes: 191 Comments: 28 Favorites: 5 (view)
for this one i think the hand is not in right place..
look how much space you have for the black ground..
placing the hand to break the negative space would add some interest..
still.. great scene..
good job with the focus.. not an easy shot to make sharp..ISO 1600 ha.. brave... looks like the IS worked just fine here
This is absolutely amazing!!!! I must have missed this as I looked through. What a wonderful display of emotion... sorry I couldn't give a 10 at the time.
Wow, lots of emotion in this one - successful already in that it made me "feel" when this popped up.
I find my mind so full of questions - wondering how this person came to be in this place. The source of her agony - then I realize it's more a photo of agony than of the person expressing it. Very nice work here.
Composition:
Love the composition. The hand is just in there enough to show the twist of pain, but the focus remains on the face. I also like the vertical thirds placement of the subject, and the angle that the nose through the knuckles gives us - adds a lot of energy there.
f/22 so the whole thing must be in focus - so nice work on the post processing to bring that section of trees in the upper part of the photo into submission - it could have been a very distracting background - you obviously took steps to avoid that - so kudos there too.
Lighting:
My only comment here - other than I love the lighting - is the shadow side of her face and under her shoulder seem to have gone all the way to black - I would like to see just a little detail in there. The background having places that have gone to black is a good thing IMO. Of course that's probably a processing comment instead of a lighting one - but as you can see, I have no processing section. So here it stays.
If it were a perfect world:
At least according to me, I might add a little saturation back to the eye, and maybe let her mouth be a little redder. Not too much in either case, but just a little more to draw the eye. With everything desat - any saturation is going to draw the eye more. You've done an excellent job of that already. Maybe just a bit more.
They call this a critique, but it's more of a fan letter in this case. I have no real input on how to make it better than it is, just different according to my taste. Your 6.1 vote indicates many others felt the same way. This is great work. You should be proud.
Feel free to contact me with any questions regarding this critique through the message system here on DPC.
I'm quite suprised this one didn't end up higher. Like I said in my previous comment, you captured the grief and pain of an orphan very well. Great job. Too bad this one didn't end up in top 10. It certainly deserved that placement in my opinion.
"40 out of 198"...??? No way! This deserved to be in top 5. I loved this one. This is dark, (yet)beautiful and desolate. I did not voted for this challenge but this would be my pick for "10" ...for sure.
I loved the PP also. Can you share the original also?
The subject is certainly in agony but it is uncertain for what reason. Is He/she trying to climb a wall, crawling along the ground, or just bemoaning its fate? Too confusing.
OK, so it's not pretty...but it is a good image, and it does fit the challenge. I think I would crop out a bit more of the foreground. Contrast is good, lighting is good. Bumping score to 9
This actually startled me when it appeared on screen. VERY powerful shot! Her expression and the overall composition of the shot (bg, colors, layout) really push the desolation. Hope to see this do well, good luck, 10.
This photo took time and thought in order to bring it about. The charred ground might symbolize burned hopes and dreams. An adult in the dirt is something that makes one stop and look. I think it portrays and evokes feeling of desolation too. But it might make some feel uncomfortable. Perhaps you did it too well.
Man, this one touches my soul.. I've been looking at it for several minutes. I'm an orphan and I feel that you expressed the pain and grief extremely well.
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