This was taken after the 2nd consecutive snowfall, and 3rd of the season, in Richmond, Virginia which typically never gets any snow. Snow totals from the three storms are over 2 feet! The parents are getting restless with the endless school closings, children have been out of school for over a week straight, and cabin fever with all the closed roads.
Statistics
Place: 138 out of 163 Avg (all users): 4.5514 Avg (commenters): 4.4000 Avg (participants): 4.3651 Avg (non-participants): 4.6475 Views since voting: 763 Views during voting: 316 Votes: 185 Comments: 9 Favorites: 0
Until a year ago, my son lived in Richmond going to school at W&M. We've visited there and like it, mostly. But I digress. Congratulations on your first DPC entry. At this point maybe you're a little disappointed in the score. Don't be ... you should see my first entry. I hope you'll stick around, enter often, and make the most of an opportunity to get substantially better at the photography thing!
Regarding your photo, there are things I like about it: 1) Good control of depth of field; 2) Good exposure; and 3) The subject.
And there's something that bugs me: Tilt - it seems to be tilted just a bit to the right. I have found that this is a personal pet peeve and that not everyone shares it. But I think if you're going to tilt, tilt a lot, or don't tilt at all to avoid an impression of sloppiness in your capture.
Why did this get a 4.55 score instead of a 6, say? Voters here are pretty strict on the notion that a photo conform to the challenge theme. I didn't, and I think most voters didn't get the relevance to the challenge theme. If they can't more or less instantly figure out how a photo fits the challenge, they tend to vote lower. Occasionally an off-theme (shoehorn) entry will score well, but it is usually a stunning photo that succeeds in spite of the theme. Each time you enter, think hard about whether there is an obvious connection to the theme. If not, consider reshooting from a different point of view, with different lighting, a different lens perhaps ... or consider a different subject.
I'm not sure this helped at all, but at least it lets you know how I was thinking.
If you'd like to discuss this more fully, just send me a PM with specific questions. And I'd be happy to act as a mentor reviewing future challenge candidates before you enter. But only if you think it could be genuinely helpful.
Thanks for the great comments! This was my first submission on DPC. For those that didn't get the perspective, I had placed comments in as I posted the shot to help set the stage. I've now realized that the comments don't show up unless you hover over the little page icon. That I need the image and title to really stand on it's own. Oh well, lesson learned. Looking forward to more challenges.
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