One Small Step ...
by tate

Comment:
Love the backlighting! Nice job exposing in a tricky (but beautiful) lighting situation. Mom in the background is actually kind of distracting. I think it would be a stronger shot without her there or if you had stepped to the left a little so there was more separation between her and the baby. 7 from me.

Boardwalk
by diegomcnamara

Comment:
Greetings from the critique club,

I read your self-critique. I think you were much too hard on yourself. THis is a very nice night shot.

I think you sdid a great job with the flare, especially with basic editing. I like your perspective and the way the horizon meets the end of the dock.

COmpositionally, I agree with your comments. I would have cropped right to the post on the left, so that the dock posts frame the shot. This would also make the biggest light less centered inthe frame. You could crop a little off the bottom without changing much if you want3ed to keep the horizontal aspect ratio.

Depending on the rest of the scene (that is outside of the frame here) it might have been better to take a few steps to your right and angle in a little so that the dock cuts more across the image. I like the leading lines of the dock and the vertical lines of the poles, and I think angling the dock even more than you did would make it even more dramatic.

I didn't vote in this challenge, but I would have given this a 6. I think it is well executed and interesting to look at.

Please feel free to pm me with any questions about my comments.

Cheers,
Liza

Hi there
by tazza

Comment:
Very cool angle and perspective. I love the distortion. I think the clock on the wall is kind of awkward and distracting. 8 from me.

Hide and seek.
by photogene

Comment:
Cute idea. The lighting here is very harsh. (I am guessing you used the on camera flash?) Try putting your setup next to a window and using natural light next time. I think you will get much better results.

Tea for the Fisherman
by temba

Comment:
I like his relaxed pose. His eyes are very dark in this portrait. Turning him slightly to try to get some light into his deep set eyes and some catchlights would have helped alot.

Spring
by elsapo

Comment:
The field makes a very nice background, especially with such nice DOF. There is a strong green cast on her skin and hair.

Teenage
by Joey Lawrence

Comment:
Very cool shot and very well executed. The lighting on her face is fantastic. My only nitpick is that it would have been nice to have the whole circle complete and not cut off at the bottom.

Heavenly Garden
by Bosborne

Comment:
Hello from the critique club,

Just to get it out of the way, I think that your score reflects many people's opinion that a close-up flower shot does not meet the theme of the 'holy places' challenge. I really have no opinion on this. If it said holy place to you, that is good enough for me.

To comment on the actual photograph, I like your composition here very much. Leaving a little more petal in the lower right hand corner would make it conform more to the rule of thirds, but I like it the way that it is. I love the lines that the petals make. Some very elegant geometry. I like the choice of black and white. Youhave a nice range of tones.

The image seems fairly soft overall. That may have been the feel you were going for. I think that at least the center part ofthe flower could be sharper.

Please feel free to pm me if you have any questions about my comments.

Cheers,
Liza

Siblings
by bucket

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club,

What an interesting and creative image I drew to critique. I really like this one.

I think this unconventional framing and composition of this image really makes you stop to study it and think about the moment that has been captured. I like the way the camera angle is on the boys' level and how it is cropped so close. It concentrates the viewer on the expression and interaction between them. I especially like the way only the eye and wrinkled nose on the older boy is shown. I like how the baby is higher up than his older brother. The whole image really tells a story. It is very engaging. WEll done.

A small nitpick about the crop is how the ear of the baby is a little distracting and leads my eye towards the edge of frame. THe larger negative element in this image is the background. It is too high contrast and busy, which is very distracting especially becuase it takes up the middle of the frame. Maybe burning it down and/or blurring could help with this.

I love commenting on a free study, because I don't have to address how well the image met the challenge!

Please feel free to pm me with any questions about my comments. Excuse the typos :)

Cheers,
Liza

the last dance
by gaston

Comment:
Hello from the critque club,

What a beautiful image I drew to comment on. Here are my thoughts...

I love the pose in this shot. Not just the obvious ballerina pose, but the tilt of the head with the eyes looking up at you really sets the mood. The lines of her body are engaging and beautiful, both the long lines of her arms and legs and the more subtle ones such as her jawline and neck.

You did a great job keeping detail in the blacks here. I normally would like to see more separation from the background when doing black on black, but here I like the way she melts into the darkness. It makes her hands and her face really stand out. The side lighting is very nice for modeling her face. You did a very good job of getting enough light to the shadow side of her face to make the left eye clearly visible. She is broad-lit, meaning that the light is hitting the side of her face closest to the camera. Portraits, especially women, are usually short-lit (with the light hitting the far side of the face). I think it would have been more dramatic to have a little more of her face in shadows by tilting her head to the other side and having turn her head a bit to her right instead of her left. It would suit the mood that you have created here.

There seems to be quite a bit of grain, especially in the floor, but I think the graininess works for the image. I imagine the light level was fairly low. I like the vignetting on the floor.

For the challenge, I am guessing this wasn't obviously photojournalistic enough to get a higher score than you did. For me, it captures a moment for this dancer and tells a story about her. It is a lovely image and well captured.

Please feel free to pm me if you have any questions about my comments.

Cheers,
Liza