Photography contest/assignment #1 (UPDATED 05.22.09: VOTING BEGINS PG. 11 - please VOTE!)

[mjbetch]

what a waste of an idea haha

 

[yamakazi18]

Sorry guys, I have been really, really busy these last 2 weeks out on assignments. I will try to devote more time in the upcoming weeks...

 

[yamakazi18]

Originally Posted by M Eazy724

Sorry guys. I'm going to be so busy with work next week so I took a couple of photos this afternoon to be able to submit for Assignment 1. Here they are:

1) "Black Holes"


2) "Pebble Wash"


3) "Tiled Window"


Wish I had more time!

i really like the first one, black hole. it adheres to the assignment very well, except for the upper blob on the left side. i like the shapeswithin a shape working here. creativity-wise, i am going to give it decent marks, since i cannot physically tell what it is. as for technique, i think it wouldhave been stronger with a larger depth of field, reducing the focus on 1 point in the photograph, which reduces its strength in patterning.

adherence: 4/5
creativity: 3/5
technique: 2/5
overall: 3/5

for the second photo, pebble wash, i really like the different colors and shapes of the pebbles, which overall make up a larger, outside-the-box pattern.however, your lens is soft at the corners, which focuses the eye in the middle, which detracts from the point of a pattern. the colors also do not help it.while it's a good concept, the actual execution is hard to do, and this photograph is not any different.

adherence: 3/5
creativity: 4/5
technique: 2/5
overall: 2.5/5

the tiled window one - i really wish there were just a few things different about it, this would have exceeded any of my expectations for 99.99% ofphotographers. there is the use of multiple patterns in the photograph, something i did not touch on in the original explanations, but that you attempted toconvey here. i see the plant, the window, and the wall patterns. however, the bottles are not repeating, and i wish there were either more of them, or none atall. vignetting at the corner again makes it less of a pattern and more about the subject. the tonality of the photograph also leaves something to be desired.

adherence: 4/5
creativity: 5/5
technique: 3/5
overall: 4/5

 

[yamakazi18]

Originally Posted by Sugahill19

I think this is a great idea, we also need to suggest more categories for the contests.

this first one of the graffiti on the wall, i am not sure what is going on here. patterning?

adherence: 1/5
creativity: 2/5
technique: 1/5
overall: 1/5

this second photograph is better executed, howevr it is a bit blurry, which actually adds to the strength of the patterning. however, it is in such poor imagecondition that it is not desirable to look at. i like the texture of the tree trunk, but the branches are very distracting, themselves not being patterns. thiscould be better done with a closer crop of just the trunk, or just the leaves.

adherence: 2/5
creativity: 2/5
technique: 2/5
overall: 2/5

this third photograph is interesting, in that it does not adhere to the classical "patterning" structure of how you would interpret an abstract. itis the subject which contains the pattern here, not the other way around, as i intended this assignment to be. i do like the different patterns shown withinthis photo, but just wished it were straighter and not at such a dynamic angle, which confuses the viewer as to what the photograph is about.

adherence: 4/5
creativity: 4/5
technique: 2/5
overall: 3.5/5

 

[yamakazi18]

Originally Posted by Jsmilez

"People and City"
I tried to create a set where the patterns of the city's construct parallel or resemble that of the humans living in the city -- how there are continuing patterns between human behavior and the fixed and absolute aesthetic look of the city. In essence, city resembling man and man resembling city. Enjoy!

the first photograph - very well executed in my opinion. i love the people huddled inside the streetcar, the bus stop, the steetsign, and the nondescriptbuilding behind it...all of it works very well together to create a very strong pattern theme based on what you have described. however, without a description(as if often the case), your photograph lacks a bit of punch and understanding.

adherence: 4/5
creativity: 5/5
technique: 3/5
overall: 4/5

the second photograph has some nice patterns and substantial themes of monotony, however it is not as well executed as the first one. and like the first one,it is lacking a photojournalistic quality which tell us about this connecting pattern between machine and man. this is partly my fault - my assignment isgeared more toward fine art, not toward photojournalism, which you seem to have an eye for. to make this photograph stronger in the photojournalistic sense, iwould like to see this airport hall more full, which would mimick the multiple lighting banks up on the ceiling.

adherence: 4/5
creativity: 3/5
technique: 3/5
oveall: 3.5/5

the last photograph is interesting, i really want to like it, but there is also something missing. it seems too structured for a pattern of machine and man, inmy humble opinion there should be less of a rigid crop and composition, such as wide angle distortion, to help gel together the machine and man concept. peopleautomatically look at people in photographs, and so it is the first thing they think about. therefore, it is often advisable to have a more organic compositionwhen humans are in the photograph, unless there is a very specific reason that is instantly conveyed when viewing the photograph.

adherence: 4/5
creativity: 4/5
technique: 3/5
overall: 4/5

 

[yamakazi18]

Originally Posted by 14tez

Great thread. Hope it takes off. ^ that sand shot =

Don't have three but here is my submission for this assignment. Took this in an Italian restaurant on our way through the kitchen. Thought it looked cool. Peace

i like the contrast with the bread and shelf here, and the sepia tone on a color corrected monitor. The pattern is also well done, with the breadsmatching and the shelf being minimal and matching with each other as well. not sure what the shadow is at the bottom, though, and there is also the issue ofDOF, which many other people have used, that actually detract from a pattern defining the photograph.

adherence: 3/5
creativity: 3/5
technique: 2/5
overall: 3/5

Originally Posted by irpstakid

I guess my first entry will be...

i'm not good at naming my photographs, so "Untitled1"

ps. feel free to name it for me.

this one is very similar to the one i critiqued on page 1, and has some issues that are more or less the same. first off, the red and granite gray dominate thephoto, which is a good thing in reinforcing patterning. they are, however, distributed unevenly throughout the photo, which in most cases work against apattern photograph. in RARE cases of brilliant photography sometimes it will work, think about abstract and subtle shapes leading the eye.


adherence: 4/5
creativity: 2/5
technique: 3/5
overall: 3/5

 

[dj bana]

ooo, legit critiques.

exciting. late. but exciting.

 

[yamakazi18]

Originally Posted by SaNTi0321

VVN SYMMETRICAL...

the symmetrical ceiling of the 1st photo is definitely pretty to look at, and very symmetrical, however it does not quite fulfill the idea of apattern. symmetry is desirable but not necessary in patterns, but patterns are not necessary at all in symmetry. the overall shapes created by this photoconvey a real physical space, not an abstract patterning. the natural movement of the eye around this photo though is phenomenal.

adherence: 2/5
creativity: 4/5
technique: 4/5
overall: 3.5/5

the second photo with the shoes is very interesting, bringing in a photojournalistic type of subject into play, via the 3's and legs and shorts. however,as a pattern motif, this photo is very concentric and basic in its nature, while the jean shorts serve, in my eyes, as a large distraction, cutting out aneffective half - if not more - of the photo. while this may be a very good unintentional use to concentrate the pattern, it would work better with naturalgobos, such as buildings blocking other buildings, instead of legs blocking the brick pattern on the ground.

adherence: 2/5
creativity: 3/5
technique: 2/5
overall: 2/5

the last photo is similar to the 1st photo, but this one adds less shape and more pattern, which is a good thing for this assignment! this is a prime exampleof what a well executed and overall solid photograph looks like, with both a brick pattern by the dark lines and an arranged circular pattern. i just wishedthat the circle were not so close to the top edge, which leads my eye up and out of the photograph. DOF is good, as far as i can tell on this small version.

adherence: 5/5
creativity: 4/5
technique 4/5
overall: 4.25/5

 

[yamakazi18]

Originally Posted by PONRinthisWGM


1:

2:

3:

the first picture is very interesting, and certainly would be a solid photograph for pattern motifs, if not for the graffiti! also the angle is abit weird, as is the irregularity of wood, all nitpicky things. that graffiti takes it down many points, though.

adherence: 3/5
creativity: 3/5
technique: 3/5
overall: 3/5

the sidewalk is a motif in the 2nd picture, as are the fence slats. however, the distracting element, meant to be the main focus of the photograph, is anythingbut a patterned motif. this line leads to what looks like a backyard door, another distracting and confusing element. this could be vastly improved by simplypointing at it straight on, much like the 1st photo, if you wanted to increase the strength of a pattern motif; either way, the pictures drawn on the wall arenevertheless distracting.

adherence: 2/5
creativity: 2/5
technique: 2/5
overall: 2/5

the 3rd photo is good, but it also has distracting background elements, blurred as they may be. this could be much, much better if the background were not sodistracting. i think out of all the photos, this one shows the most promise in terms of creativity. try finding a background that is less distracting, and thiswould become a very strong photograph for patterns.

adherence: 3/5
creativity: 2/5
technique: 2/5
overall: 3/5

 

[yamakazi18]

Originally Posted by irpstakid

Entry number dos:

i like this idea, but here is something to think about:

1. the cans are different colors
2. they look like recycling/trash cans
3. the different colors must mean they do different things
4. if they are for different types of materials, then it is really not a pattern

that is how some people's minds think (and mine as well), and actually detracts from the pattern. if they were all the same color, facing the same way, andcropped closer together to give an illusion of more of them, then this would be very strong as well. the background elements are a bit distracting.

 

[yamakazi18]

Originally Posted by 23kidd

Some of my favs...

Hope you enjoy 'em

so i am not really sure what is going on in the first photo, it does not seem to shout "patterns" to me. maybe wrong upload? if you were trying to gofor the powerlines, try to crop them closer and make them stand out as the main subjects, probably easiest when shooting straight up at a blank sky and themsilhouetted.

adherence: 1/5
creativity: 1/5
technique: 1/5
overall: 1/5

this is interesting, but again i felt like you just searched through your computer for old photos and tried to stick them on here. there are many distractingelements, none of which shout patterns to me.

adherence: 1/5
creativity: 1/5
technique: 1/5
overall: 1/5

the last one is good, because it is different from everything else so far. instead of geometric, abstract patterning, it showcases organic, nature patterning.however, there are some distracting elements in here, namely the fact that you can see through to the dirt below, and that not everything is in focus, whichdetracts from the force of a pattern. this is further confounded by the fact that the closest leaf is out of focus, something that is usually very distractingto the eye (when the foreground's not clear). crop it a bit closer, stop down your aperture, and try again! almost there.

adherence: 4/5
creativity: 3/5
technique: 2/5
overall: 3/5

 

[yamakazi18]

Originally Posted by JC412

i like this, but feel that color does not help it in acheiving a pattern. i like the subtlety of obama on all the pins, but feel that this wouldwork better monochromatically, or have the red/white/blue stand out as a theme somehow by rearranging the pins. very cool idea however, but could be betterexecuted with a bit of effort. i think this is one of the more solid creativity ones so far. the tilt of the picture though does not help the patterns, becausethe pins are smaller in the back, larger in front.

adherence: 4/5
creativity: 5/5
technique: 4/5
overall: 4.5/5

 

[yamakazi18]

Originally Posted by AIR Kamote23

I haven't had a chance to take decent photos in a while so...posting some of my photos from my Flickr account...C & C are always welcome!

nice photos, but unfortunately they all suffer from the same problems, so i will critique them together as a whole. they all use extreme amounts of detail inthe rust/metal/ceiling, which can be a good thing (in the last photo) if reinforcing a pattern, but the first 2 just detract from the subject. they also havenot much of a pattern feel, except for the middle one. all of them are drenched with saturation, which adds an abstract reality but color itself is EXTREMELYtricky in manipulation, and in this case, it does not work for patterns.

adherence: 2/5
creativity: 2/5
technique: 3/5
overall: 2.5/5

 

[yamakazi18]

Originally Posted by irpstakid

Entry TRES:

this is a good, basic, and solid example of patterns. however, the people in the photo detract from the pattern of the cars themselves! i like the fact thatthe cars take up the space of the photo and extend through the edges, suggesting more cars, adding to the theme of a pattern. however the vignetting is heavyup top and could be lessned, as could some of the distracting tree/light backdrops.

adherence: 4/5
creativity: 3/5
technique: 4/5
overall: 4/5

 

[yamakazi18]

Originally Posted by nine point five

edit: found a few.. thanks for the contest

(my apologies for the inconsistency of watermarking. just started doing it recently)

M!ke

hi mike,

your first one is interesting, it's a pattern of silhouettes. i find that these pictures work very, very well when the viewer can't figure out what thesilhouettes are in real life, but in yours they can - and that's ok, too, just doesn't make as much of an impact. however, the sunset/background ofwater makes for something that is very distracting and not a pattern.

adherence: 3/5
creativity: 4/5
technique: 3/5
overall: 3/5

your second photo is interesting as well, but suffers from the same problems. in addition it also frames within a frame, which is an advanced technique usedoften in creative photojournalism, namely wedding photography. conceptually it is a very high and complex level style, but execution wise, more is to bedesired for it to work. i recommend taking out the person completely, to just let light and dark play by themselves, and change it to monochromatic (chooseyour color for a mood that's appropriate) in order for use to really abstract the photograph and focus on the shadow patterns. i like the fact that a lotcan be improved to make this photograph a really great photograph.

adherence: 3/5
creativity: 4/5
technique: 3/5
overall: 3/5

the last one, of the railroad track, is obvious in its repetition - the tracks repeat themselves. however, i feel that a closer crop would benefit you increating something stronger, since the other elements in the photo (grass, trees, water, bridge supports) are very, very distracting.

adherence: 3/5
creativity: 2/5
technique: 2/5
overall: 2/5

 

[yamakazi18]

Originally Posted by mjbetch

use of a fisheye lens is a double-edged sword - it can add, or detract, from a pattern. a pattern is defined as a bunch of recurring objects or themes, andwhile this photograph shows the repeating of keys, the individual keys themselves are highlighted and therefore become the main subject. since the keys are alldifferent functions and letters, it detracts from the theme of patterns. lastly, the wide angle makes the middle keys the focus of the photo, which detractseven more from the photo's pattern-motif strength. while this is a cool picture, this would be a very good and basic photo which fit the criteria of theassignment if the keys were dark/blank, and had no distortion.

adherence: 2/5
creativity: 3/5
technique: 2/5
overall: 2/5

Originally Posted by elboricua 6

#1

this is a decent photo of some recurring patterns, but i am not sure what the main subject is: the water fountains as motif, or windows from the building onthe upper left? the most probable answer is the fountains of course, but the eye is attracted to the point of highest contrast, in play with the rule ofthirds; therefore, this picture has many distracting elements because importance is not put on anything in a photo of many, many things. keeping things simple,as in 1 or 2 elements, is KEY to making a pattern photograph. this could be vastly improved simply by cropping the water fountains closer, maybe at a straighton angle.

adherence: 2/5
creativity: 1/5
technique: 1/5
overall: 1.5/5

Originally Posted by victorjames

#1

interesting photo, the highlights don't look very blown out, is this digital? anyway, this is a creative use of this assignment, and something that i hadexpected more of you to do since it is easy - clouds! however, it again suffers from a main contrast/focus point, which detracts from a pattern, whose point isto make the WHOLE photograph be seen at once, not simply one thing WITHIN the photograph; i hope this makes sense.

adherence: 5/5
creativity: 4/5
technique: 2/5
overall: 3.5/5

 

[yamakazi18]

Originally Posted by Purple Face

the first one - full of bursting saturation, usually detrimental for a pattern photograph unless done right, and you are on the verge which can goeither way. for a motif, the flower thingies surely repeat themselves, but the tonality and color density is not quite correct for this type of assignment.this is again why color is tricky - tonality of colors are completely different, which leads one to deal with 3-4 whole tonal ranges at once! complex stuff,which is exactly the reason why ansel adams never did like color photography too much. your use of negative space here is also not as complete as it should be,since there does not seem to be a pattern, but rather an organic compilation of floating flower thingies. it would be better if there were more, or if therewere less and arranged in a pattern.

adherence: 3/5
creativity: 3/5
technique: 3/5
overall: 3/5

the 2nd photo shows promise, but the black space up top should not be there. it is very distracting in a sea of circles, and is confusing as to what itspurpose serves. however, if cropped closer, this could be a very pleasing and fun pattern photograph, especially with the line in between the 2 types of bluecircles. red also is the most noticeable color to the eye, and it is very distracting to have it at the bottom, cropped half off.

adherence: 3/5
creativity: 3/5
technique: 3/5
overall: 3/5

the last photo would be better without the whole, because with the hole, it destroys the pattern! the background is also very distracting, both insmall-aperture light stars, and buildings/wall. while the negative color of the fence contrasts with everything else, it is itself not BOLD enough or THICKenough to stand far apart enough to be a strong motif.

adherence: 2/5
creativity: 2/5
technique: 2/5
overall: 2/5

 

[yamakazi18]

Originally Posted by AirPhilippines

I hope these two count as patterns. Is it me or on a mac looking through firefox pictures on flickr look different from when you look on safari?

they are both similar in that they both lead the eye toward the back of a tunnel, so i will critique them the same. pattern-wise, they are verysafe, utilizing a tunnel that's obviously repeating in section. however, foreground and background distractions keep them from being extremely solidphotographs. i think these shots are difficult precisely because there will always seem to be some kind of distraction in the fore/background, namely cars,people, random trash, etc.

adherence: 4/5
creativity: 3/5
technique: 3/5
overall: 3.5/5

Originally Posted by tony23retro

Soft on the face... I know!

soft on the face actually HELPS this motif of patterns, since it brings out the fence even more! however, the background color and the foreground fence are tooclose in tone, and this being a b/w photograph, close in tone means they are close to disappearing into each other! i do love the use of b/w, it is the safestchoice for a pattern motif, color is very, very hard to do right with an academic critiqued photograph when it comes to patterns. nice dog by the way!!!

adherence: 3/5
creativity: 3/5
technique: 3/5
overall: 3/5

 

[yamakazi18]

Originally Posted by shakaraka

another easy way: architecture! i was expecting more of it, but i guess not! this is an OK use of it though, since there are non-descript, non-pattern pictureson the stone pillars, which lead to breaking of a pattern. the small DOF also breaks up a pattern, since it suggests priority of the close pillar over the backpillar.

adherence: 3/5
creativity: 3/5
technique: 2/5
overall: 3/5

 

[yamakazi18]

Originally Posted by TiDE619

squares

squares

circles

very nice set. the first one is fantastic, except that the tree is not as pattern-y as i'd like it to be, for a perfect photo showcasingNATURAL patterns. the grid certainly helps, as does the b/w, but the spotlighted tonality of the overall photo does not help it. i think a closer crop would bemuch better as well.

adherence: 4/5
creativity: 4/5
technique: 3/5
overall: 4/5

the 2nd one is OK, simply because it is a lowkey lighted photo, without many distracting elements. however, since it is so minimalistic and focuses the eye onthe text, there is not much to say about it. there is a difference between minimalism and simply a photo without much to talk about. i think a closer cropwould also benefit, to help its hindered interest ratings.

adherence: 3/5
creativity: 2/5
technique: 4/5
overall: 3/5

the last one is interesting, but unfortunately does not contain much of the main subject. one can only guess at what the main subject is doing, and what thephoto is about. the most interesting thing to me in the photo are not the smoke circles, but what lies in his hand.

adherence: 2/5
creativity: 2/5
technique: 2/5
overall: 2/5

 

[yamakazi18]

Originally Posted by ii2cky

saw this thread last week, thought it was interesting but didnt have anything to post

all these are new

new is what i like to see!!! with a lot of the other photos i can TELL IMMEDIATELY that they were just picked out of a folder sitting on a personscomputer, but yours are fresh! anyway...

the 1st photo: leaves. very safe as well, but execution is a bit lacking. the many different luminosities of the leaves distract from the idea of a pattern, asdoes the showing dirt, but otherwise it is a very clean photograph. maybe try taking it again with more uniform light, and try to do a closer crop so that noneof the dirt shows, it will do very well in any college level photo critique if you can pull those off.

adherence: 4/5
creativity: 3/5
technique: 2/5
overall: 3/5

i put my finger over the car in the 2nd photo and it works much better! this is simply because, whether or not you intended for it, there are THREE patternshere at play, brilliant! 1 is the lines leading to the sky, the other are the clouds themselves, and the third the barriers on the bridge. all these add up tobeing very creative for a photo critique of this magnitude. however, there are distracting elements: not all the clouds are uniform on the right lower side;there are streetlights; the hill on the left side and the buildings beyond that are also distracting.


adherence: 4/5
creativity: 5/5
technique: 3/5
overall: 4/5

if you cannot read what is on the paper, then it would be a pattern of cryptic language, which is a good and creative motif; our eyes tend to glaze overforeign text moreso than foreign styles of paintings and whatnots. however, the angle is very distracting, as it leads to both a lens flare and green tree inthe background.

adherence: 4/5
creativity: 4/5
technique: 2/5
overall: 3.5/5

overall, i think you unconsciously do more than you think you do - a good thing! keep it up.

 

[yamakazi18]

Originally Posted by lauk4kicks

These were actually taken a while ago. I'm just too tired to process my more recent ones and just wanted to participate

using groceries - brilliant! something that i had NOT think of yet, the first time in this thread at least. however, DOF kills your photo!!! tokeep repeating myself, it places importance on something over other things, which breaks an illusion of patterns. i love the purple bands on all the asparagus,it really adds some depth to the pattern though.

adherence: 5/5
creativity: 5/5
technique: 2/5
overall: 4/5

the 2nd one is nice, but there are too many disorganized wires in between to make it a clean pattern. otherwise, the angle of it probably makes it look morebusy than it is, since it hides wires behind other wires, giving the impression that there are MORE wires, a headache.

adherence: 4/5
creativity: 3/5
technique: 2/5
overall: 3/5

the 3rd one is awesome, i just love the idea of grocery store shots as patterns, because seriously, that's where you can find a bazillion patterns!!!however, be careful to match large to small, especially with readable text - makes the photo very busy.

adherence: 4/5
creativity: 4/5
technique: 2/5
overall: 3.5/5

 

[yamakazi18]

Originally Posted by Mr Fongstarr

Forgot about this post. Here is mine but wasn't intended for it to be in here.....but two birds with one stone.

very simple, just as i intended the assignmet. however, as you can probably critique yourself, there are some distracting elements: namely thatlittle thingy on the bottom right. also, the vignetting is heavy, and tonal density spreads evenly, meaning that there are many shades between the lightest anddarkest tones. this can either add or distract, and in your case - it does a little of both. distract because of the importance placed on the lower right(thats where your light is shining on), and adding because without the vignetted lighting source, the density spread helps to give it interest in the materialitself, drawing the viewer into the pattern VIA the subject, something a photojournalist achieves.

adherence: 5/5
creativity: 4/5
technique: 2/5
overall: 4/5

 

[yamakazi18]

Originally Posted by tree4twenty

Until last week, Besides my phones, I have never even owned a camera, so CC is very welcome.
The camera is just a little cheap $100 camera I bought my fiance, so they are not top quality. I called my pops and asked if I could borrow his $900 Cannon and he actually LOL'd.

PS - When it comes to camera settings and lighting, I have no idea what I'm doing.

I call this one "Only in America".
For some reason, that is what came to mind....
(Yes, it's shredded $20 bills. It had printing errors, so the Govt. shredded it up and sold it as a novelty item.)



This one is called "Retro stacks"
I picked the one with most of the titles blurry, because I want the focus on the pattern, not the titles. Didnt work that well, but I like it..



This one is called "Outcast".
There was only 1 yellow gumball in the machine, and it happened to be the only one with a red mark... (I ate it

)

cameras dont matter! some of the best pattern photos i've seen are from IPHONE PHOTOS!!! anyway the one to laugh should be you, because unlesshe gets paid highly for his skills, your photos are very creative and well done, very solid chunks of critique that would stand up in any college critique.

the first one - shredded up $20's - very cool. the tonality and luminosities are very distinct, which i achingly longed for and love in this type of photoassignment. VERY well done and submitted for this assignment!!! the only distracting elements are the right edges, which are a bit soft, probably due to yourlens. to be nitpicky, i would also say that the shreds could be more evenly faced, but that's just not realistic.

adherence: 5/5
creativity: 4/5
technique: 4/5
overall: 4/5

the retro stacks one is also very interesting, and i really like the angle you give it - however i wish it were just a bit more symmetrical in angle.otherwise, this is another great example. as you'll see later on if you advanced in fine art photo, color really is not very important and more often thannot distracts rather than add to the depth of a photo. so even though your light here is very orange, i don't really care because compositionally it isvery well done!!!

adherence: 5/5
creativity 5/5
technique: 4/5
overall: 4.5/5

the outcast, while a GREAT concept and one that i expected - suffers from the color problem i discussed above. it leads to different tones, and thereforedifferent priorities for the eye, breaking a sense of patterning and eye movement. however, it is still a great concept.

adherence: 4/5
creativity: 4/5
technique: 2/5
overall: 3.5/5

 

[yamakazi18]

Originally Posted by DJ bana

nice photos bana, but again i feel as if you had these photos for a different purpose, and that overall feeling for the viewer in the first fewseconds basically cements how a photo will be judged. however, since i am here to give fair and hopefully helpful critiques, i will of course give just that!

the first photo - very photojournalistic style, and standing by itself, without descriptions, does not fit the assignment of patterns. the floor obviously istiled, but there are so many other distracting elements that compete for the title of "main subject" that the pattern is more of a background (as theground usually is in real life) than anything else. the greens also dominate, further banishing the floor to the bottom (pardon my pun). it could have beenbetter done if there were ONLY feet in the photo, and a straight down shot of the ground with the feet, which could provide alternate patterns of toes. manydifferent things could be tried here to make this stronger.

adherence: 2/5
creativity: 3/5
technique: 2/5
overall: 2.5/5

in the 2nd photo, without the person, it would have been a much stronger photo. it's again simply because our eyes drag themselves automatically to peoplein a frame. if the background were more level, it would have been a brilliant execution of DOF that actually worked in a patterned motif assignment!unfortunately the trees are much too organic as of now.

adherence: 3/5
creativity: 3/5
technique: 2/5
overall: 2.5/5

the 3rd one is again suffering from things described in BOTH the photos above, ESPECIALLY the human aspect. however, if you photographed just the blindsthemselves, with blinding light coming through - it would have been really, really nice. i feel that with just a little push though, your photos can get thatmuch better. it's not that your photos are not good (i took a peek through your flickr), but that you are not used to the rigorous boundaries of anassignment; however i am SURE you will do well in future critiques, keep it up!

adherence 2/5
creativity: 3/5
technique: 2/5
overall: 3/5