Falling
by heida

Comment:
Excellent work Heida...as usual. Congratulations on a well deserved
ribbon! You getting tired of all those ribbons yet?

Athlete's Foot
by scalvert

Comment:
Creativity plus!!!!!!!!!!
Awesome image. You have a lot to be proud of!
Congratulations on your ribbon!

It's Freezing!
by EddyG

Comment:
Excellent photo. Congratulations on your ribbon!

Give Us a Kiss
by digistoune

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

I’ve just finished viewing your submission for the Macro IV challenge titled, “Give Us a Kiss”!
With respect to the technical aspects of the photo, you have done an excellent job here. Focus is bang on, dof appears to be good, no camera shake (always a problem with macro shots) and your exposure is excellentâ€Â¦no burnt out highlights.
With regard to the lighting. You are on the right track here. So many macro shots are ruined with straight on flash lighting. You’ve used a soft, diffused source of light which gives your subject depth, no harsh shadows. Harsh flash flattens so many of the macro shots I see people submitting.
Several have commented on the placement of your subject within the picture or the cropping of the photo. Without knowing what lies beyond the edges of the image that you’ve submitted, this can be an unfair criticism. I am curious what the image would have looked like if it were moved to the right a little showing more background on the left, but then again you may have made a good judgment and cropped out something unsightly on the left already.
You seem to have a grasp of what is required technically to make a good sound macro shot. However, my greatest criticism is â€Â¦your subject or how close you’ve gotten to it. When I first looked at the photo I did not know what it was. I see others made the same observation. In fact I thought it was the edge of a wash cloth when I first saw the image. I had to study the image for a second. . I’ve found asking the opinion of a friend/family member is a good indicator. As soon as I hear “what is it”, I go back to the drawing board. Even moving on to a more “eye-catching” subject to attempt.
You’ve perhaps gotten a little too close to your subject in this instance compromising composition. Backing out to offer the viewer more perspective on the subject would have helped your image. Perhaps this is why others have suggested different cropping.
I feel a more readily identifiable subject or the subject you’ve chosen framed to offer more perspective would have improved your score. You are on the right track and obviously have a sound base for taking a good macro shot.

Respectfully, with kindest regards

Randy Drumm

I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud...
by Imagineer

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club:

With regards to your photo “I wandered lonely as a cloudâ€Â¦Ă˘€ť
Firstly the thing that jumps out at me on this is your use of angle or perspective. So many people take the “bug shot” at a 90 degree angle and the image appears flatâ€Â¦..just another bug shot.
On this one you got down, angled up at the sky and wow what an effect! Getting in close and changing up the usual angle from which we all look at things is the secret to making interesting photos. You give people an interesting “never before considered” angle from which to look at something. To support this, I watched several others present here as they looked at your photo. They studied it, there eyes moved across the image and they tilted their heads as they considered it. In other words, the image caught their attentionâ€Â¦.good job.
Technically, I find no problems at all. Your subject is in focus, exposure is good, no blown out highlights, dof is bang onâ€Â¦you nailed it.
Colour is great â€Â¦.. the blue of the sky and green of the bug look wonderful together. The use of colour in this shot plays a strong part in grabbing the viewers attention.

Some may criticize you for so much sky area. My feelings are you compensated for this by getting that piece of cloud in there. The vastness of the sky above the bug as we look up at it, I feel, only further emphasizes the bug’s smallness in the world. I feel this is what you were going for.

As far as composition goesâ€Â¦.good job. Like I say some may criticize you for the amount of blue space but my feeling is that it provides effect.
I viewed your alternative shot, “The Walk” on your profile. Different angle different effect all of a sudden. I would have had a tough time picking between the two.

Congratulations on your top ten finish Jon. Hope this is helpful and gives you insight as to what you did right on this composition because there is very little wrong with it.

Regards,

Randy Drumm

"POP !" a macro illusion
by graphicfunk

Comment:
You are on roll my friend!
Good work as always.
Thanks for your kind words on my entry as well.

Regards,

Nail Polish
by spydr

Comment:
Very original. Nice job using a multiplicity of materials, colour and texture.

Nailed Image
by insteps

Comment:
One of those shots were simplicity just makes it stand out so well.
Top ten.

Apple
by e301

Comment:
To me, this picture is just so warm. Good lighting and texture. Top ten.

"POP !" a macro illusion
by graphicfunk

Comment:
Excellent effort. Top ten.