St3v3M Loc: 35,000 feet

With a look at the four winners of the Weekly Photo Challenge let's analyze why they won and see how we can apply their strategies to our own.

This is what they had to work with -
From WPC 1531 - Moonlit Landscape* http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-327128-1.html

And, here are the results -
From WPC 1531 - Moonlit Landscape* RESULTS http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-328980-1.html

List them in order, or list them by name, but let's walk through each one and reverse engineer them to see how they won. S-

1st place = jr168

(Download)

2nd place = actigner

(Download)

3rd place = Barbwire

(Download)

4th place = jims203

ediesaul

What do you mean by "reverse engineer"? Is that different from critiquing?

St3v3M Loc: 35,000 feet

http://searchsoftwarequality.techtarget.com/definition/reverse-engineering
Reverse engineering is taking apart an object to see how it works in order to duplicate or enhance the object.

ediesaul

Thanks, Steve. Altho' I know what "reverse engineering" means, I wasn't sure that's what you wanted.

St3v3M Loc: 35,000 feet

My apologies as I'm working on something else -

The intent, is to look at the light and try to figure out direction of the shot and the time of day. To look at the motion and try to figure out the shutter speed. To look at ... and try to figure out ... All this in an attempt to understand it and then apply that knowledge to our craft when shooting our own images.

I hope this helps! S-

ediesaul

Certainly! Very different from critiquing, and I very much look forward to the discussion.

St3v3M Loc: 35,000 feet

The idea is, if we can dissect these photos then we can dissect others and use the knowledge to understand how to improve our images.

Thanks for joining in. It will be fun to see what everyone comes up with! S-

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

#1 - I'd have voted for this one for first place too, though it does have some issues from the high contrast lighting, some blown areas in the moon and whatever light that is breaking through the clouds (sun I'd suspect). I'm not entirely sure about those colored lights that may be from a town or something. But the overall impact with the road straight down the middle, the textured clouds and soft glow of those blown or nearly blown highlights creates a pleasing and powerful impact.

#2 - Interesting and pleasing as a graphic image ( circle, triangles) simple but very effective composition, nice calm but rich blue tone. I don't know if it is a composite or not and am curious but in truth that would not matter to me, it still works. Nicely done and nicely presented.

#3 - This one bothers me because it feels off level, as if it is tilting to the left. And the bottom of the image to the left of the dock is a bit distracting. The placement of moon, boat and dock are nice though. I think it was correct to leave the branches in at the top to give the impression we are looking through a "frame" of sorts.

#4 - This ones hard for me to reverse engineer because I have no idea how this was done. I've seen big red transparent looking moons like this. but never with pink water I don't think. I really like the simple composition, the clarity of the sailboat, and again the circle/triangle elements. And I like that the figures are sharp and well defined, but I am unsure about the water, and really don't know how to respond to it. But I have to say, it is original and it is interesting!

I appreciate all these folks' entries, and hope others will share in the deconstructing to learn more about what works and why, it can help all of us be better photographers.