Bowl of Bubbles
by riversong

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

When I first look at this photograph, the first thing that strikes me is that I love the way the bubbles in the foreground set off against the dark blue background. I don't think I love the sea of white in the background as much, though.

I'm not quite sure where to go with that, though, as I tried playing around with different crops and such, and can't really find one I like better. I might have liked to see the bubbles in a shallower bowl, perhaps, or something that allowed us to enjoy more of the deep color and intriguing geometry that works so well in the foreground. I guess the best way to put it is that at least to me, the angles and deep blues in the foreground make a promise that the background doesn't quite deliver. That foreground shows a lot of potential, and if it would be possible to capture a full frame of that, I think you'll really have something unique and special.

~Terry

Slim Chance
by LaMas

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

I like the concept here and the photograph and title made me smile. I like to offer a couple suggestions that might improve the execution.

First, it appears that you were working with a touch less light than might have been ideal. This probably forced you to have to make a couple compromises that affected the quality of the photograph.

There is just a touch of softness in the photograph. This could have come from your relatively wide aperture of f/5, or perhaps just a touch of camera shake if you were hand-holding. Use of a tripod and careful manual focusing might help there. If does look like you have sharper focus toward the center of the plane, so I think narrow DOF was your main issue there.

Also, it looks like you might have tried to compensate for the softness with heavy sharpening. You may notice a white halo effect around the pushpins. This is a common artifact of over-sharpening.

A three word sentence that a friend said to me once often sticks in my mind -- "cameras love light." This is a great example of a situation where more light would be a tremendous asset. Of course, I understand all too well that we can't necessarily always have all the equipment we'd like to have in every situation.

The use of smoke in the bubbles is a good idea as it does help to set them off. Congratulations again on a great concept. You have tremendous creativity, and that can't be bought at any price.

~Terry

Lost
by Blue Moon

Comment:
Great photo; love the grain.

Inside Out
by mrmorris

Comment:
Oh wow. Excellent.

Taking It All In
by magenmarie

Comment:
Outstanding entry; great example of street photography.

Nick was right - Kerry & Edwards were best.
by quiet_observation

Comment:
I can't place where, but I'm sure this is in Philadelphia.

Hiding behind music
by zaflabout

Comment:
Great photo, I love the composition but be careful of over-sharpening. Some sharpening halos are evident here.

Trouble
by hroi

Comment:
Great photo, but looks too posed to be believable as street photography.

Strolling along Shek-O, Hong Kong
by krgl

Comment:
Your horizon is not level -- this needs to be rotated clockwise. I also feel like the people in this photograph are almost a footnote or afterthought. With so many loud colors competing for attention, it's hard to know where to look -- or what the story is.

Mink
by pamelasue

Comment:
With the subject's face not visible, it's hard to connect to this photograph.