Happiness
by narendra

Comment:
Real beautiful picture with fantastic lighting but DNMC.

E l o n g a t e d
by njsabs

Comment:
I dug the tittle as much as I dug the photo.
7*

108 Breaths
by burfino

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club ;)

Artistic Merit
Pros:
* Interesting take on the theme.
* Good use of contrasting complementary colors.
* Good detail.
Cons:
* The crop doens't help. As pointed out in the comments there is too much arm and the beads are too cornered in the frame.
* Not enough subject and too much background.

Technical Merit
Pros:
* Spot on exposure.
Cons:
* The lighting in the hand is a bit uneven.
* Not enough DOF for the subject. Taking in consideration the title the beads should be in focus. Of course you would have extra problems with the background that is already a distraction even though it's blurred. Another choice of background with less texture or placing it at a longer distance might have helped.

Emotional Merit
Pros:
* A good choice of subject. Faith definitely counts these days even though it can't be counted like the beads.
Cons:
* This subject deserved a more determined grip on the hand. This one lacks resolve and more character, probably becasue it belongs to someone young. Hands alone work better if old and gritted beeing much easily associated with faith.

Result
You managed to get a middle of the pack score which wasn't too bad on a challenge where there was some strong pictures and some very good ones even though a bit shoehorned (check #2 or #3). I guess your idea really score the points but the technical aspects let the photo down.

I see this is one of your best results so far which is quite nice as it's always exciting to have your top photos beeing replaced by better ones.
Keep them coming you'll get better with every challenge.

All the best
Duarte Bruno

Welcome to Las Vegas!!!!!
by marcoesquivel

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club ;)

Artistic Merit
Pros:
* Good subject placement, gives us a clear view of it's evolution.
* Interesting and unusual perspective.

Cons:
* The crop is just too tight. The subject has very little space to "breathe".
* It's too aligned with the frame and thus too "stable". Such a photo would benefit a lot from more more dynamic lines and I think a an angular approach works better.

Technical Merit
Cons:
* Sharpness and focus are compromised. With the kind of equipment you were using you should have gotten away easily with a much faster shutter speed without compromising IQ, either by opening up the lens or raising ISO or both. The subject speed required it and you had still had plenty of play.

Emotional Merit
Pros:
* This crossprocessing turned a boring plane picture into something interesting. Quite Warhol-ish as bcenu has put it.
Cons:
* Unfortunately your choice of colors wasn't the best IMHO. There are only cold colors in this picture and these don't convey the kind of energy expected from such a subject. Complementary colors would have given this picture more punch.

Result
It's interesting to see that similar pictures could get get you from first place: to middle ground or bottom of the pack in your case. I voted your picture 5* and 7* on the others, but looking at their placement it's more or less obvious what you got wrong and what they got right.
My take from the comments is that the coloring was missfortunate with the focus/sharpness hitting hard in second.

Keep them coming and don't let those less achieved photos let you down. You are bound to get better.

All the best
Duarte Bruno

Louisiana Morning
by cowboy221977

Comment:
This is about the 3rd picture taken in same place.

Green Fingers
by FrankRobinson

Comment:
Great picture but the toning isn't right for me.

Sandy Beaches
by toddw62

Comment:
Interesting but shoehorned.

Natural Born Killer
by MAK

Comment:
I'd like to see more DOF.

Every good architect knows direction is everything.
by Callisto

Comment:
Needed more exposure.

Wings
by james_so

Comment:
Too cornered. 5* for sharpness and exposure.