Hi Denis,

Well - here goes. This is my first "critique" on dA. I have refrained from doing this here but in your case, I'll make an exception!

Overall I like your image very much and probably mostly so not just for your impeccable technique but also for the image's story and it's compositional and tonal impact.

I think that your choice of landscape presentation as opposed to your trademark square format presentation works perfectly well with this image and its leading actor - the bicycle.

The handlebars are just born for a widescreen look in this particular image and its contextual scene. Their horizontal diagonal oozes a kind of sympathetic mood with the landscape. Both they and the lamp give a nice lead in to the scene of the image itself and help to create a frame within the image. As our eyes run into the image and travel through the lamp and up the handlebars and down through the handle, we notice the man walking on the other side of this lane way. This is a nice touch. I like images with this kind of structure to them.

I think that this sets your image apart from ordinary lane and/or bike shots because there is something to wonder about especially in relation to the guy and the bike. Hidden corners is a good title I think because the image isn't so straight forward as appears on first glancing. It also brings forward the curious imagining of what lies around the next bend in a curving lane way, apart from a crouching photographer!

I like that the image has a feeling of age to it. Partly this comes from the bike itself - it's an old one by the looks of it and probably has a story or two to tell if it could speak. Film Noir movies come to mind here and makes me wonder about the guy even more.

Looking at the rating system to the right then I have to say top marks for vision on a scene that probably isn't all that original but done with your own individual style. You have a great knack of 'seeing' an image in a very ordinary situation.

There are few to equal you with technique. The b/w conversion is immaculate with fantastic tones and all in all it packs a pretty good punch - for me.