Can't keep my eyes from the circling sky, Tongue-tied and twisted just an earthbound misfit -Lyric
by Juliadavis

Comment:
Hey there from the Critique Club

Congrats on your highest official score to date. Looking through portfolio, I am impressed with your work. Just watch those rule sets closely.

Camera Work/Technical: Nice, crisp focus and great sky tones.

Lighting: I think that the lighting is the main strength of the image. The silhouetting of the subject works very nicely with the gloomy sky for a great moody image.

Composition/Content: The tilt seems a bit much, but it really helps to pair the image with the title. It is a nicely, dizzying angle.

My Opinion: Great job meeting the challenge in a creative manner. I look forward to seeing much more of your images in the future.

Eric

Concentrate
by RulerZigzag

Comment:
Hey there from the Critique Club

Camera Work/Technical: Nice settings that yielded the colors and tones just as the eye would expect to see them. I also like the crisp focus you captured here.

Lighting: I think you ended up with too much shadow. Perhaps a little bit of flash would have helped lighten some of the dark areas just a bit.

Composition/Content: When doing people or animal portraits, be conscious of everything you have in the frame. Chopping off his feet here seems more accidental than an intentional composition. Try not to chop appendages off right at the joints.

My Opinion: I think that you met the challenge well, and, with a little more attention to your composition, would have pulled a much better score.

Eric

Empty Spaces
by jcapps25

Comment:
Hey there from the Critique Club

Camera Work/Technical: Nice focus, but the horizon tilt really destroys any chance that the image might have had. If you only look at one thing when composing an image, make absolutely sure that you have the horizon straight.

Lighting: You did a pretty good job with harsh lighting conditions. The trees in silhouette do a nice job at setting your subject off from the background. No detail was lost with harsh shadows or blown highlights in the subject of the capture.

Composition/Content: I can easily make the relation to the title, but I think you needed a little more.

My Opinion: Meets the challenge, but I think that this one still scored pretty close to its potential. Use this one to learn what the voters like, as well as to get that horizon line level.

Eric

Sticky lights and a boot
by marvin

Comment:
Hey there from the Critique Club

Camera Work/Technical: I like your choice of settings that yielded every element in crisp focus, as well as the tones and colors that you captured. I also like the long exposure that you used to make the Christmas lights flare into stars.

Lighting: Also very nice. Your use of the Christmas lights provides a very warm, inviting feel to the image.

Composition/Content: Also very strong, in my opinion. I really like how the window sill draws the eye into the image and the boots, Christmas lights and city lights hold it and keep it moving.

My Opinion: I think you really stretched this one to meet the challenge, as did most of the voters. When I'm going through voting, I rarely look at the image titles. Rather, I rely on the content of the frame to meet the challenge. I have been hammered on this at times myself, so I fully understand. I think that it is a strong image, but it just doesn't fit into the challenge.

Eric

Mom! Look!
by gloda

Comment:
Hey there from the Critique Club

Camera Work/Technical: Great focus and spot on skin tones. Your depth of field is a bit too shallow as some of the items on your face appear out of focus.

Lighting: Nice, even lighting. There are no harsh shadows or blown highlights.

Composition/Content: I think that this one suffered from taking a common theme in the challenge. There were quite a few entries that were very similar to this, and even more with at lease something sticking to the face.

My Opinion: I think that this one placed close to its potential. Also, you do fine work with shower curtains. This one provided a pretty good result.

Eric

Sticky money
by hajeka

Comment:
Hey there from the Critique Club

Camera Work/Technical: Pretty good focus, but I'd like to see more of the center coin.

Lighting: I think that the lighting is a bit harsh here and that the shadows are more of a distraction than a valuable element of the image. While I am a fan of higher contrast images, this one is almost hard to view.

Composition/Content: Nice work using the curve and angle of the tape to give the image flow. The eye enters and goes either up or down the tape, stopping to study each coin.

My Opinion: Nice composition, but I think removing the shadows, or at least toning down the contrast, would have pulled a better score.

Eric

Stuck In The Kitchen
by cogerox

Comment:
Hey there from the Critique Club

Camera Work/Technical: Nice focus and a very nice job only focusing on the elements of the image. The use of the sheet was a very nice touch to prevent any sort of distractions in the background. I also see some sort of yellow hue to the image. I think increasing the skin tones was unnecessary for this capture. It look over-warmed as it is. I'd be really interested in seeing the original.

Lighting: I like the lighting you used here. You did a good job creating highlights and shadows that give a nice depth to the image.

Composition/Content: While I do not usually withhold points for borders, this one is far too distracting. You have great content for this challenge that is nicely composed. The border is far too strong for the tones inside the frame, thus it competes strongly for the eye's attention.

My Opinion: First-rate job meeting the challenge, but I'd be willing to bet the border and the hue/sat on the skin tones kept this one out of the 6 range.

Eric

Honey, I'm Stuck On You
by levyj413

Comment:
Hey there from the Critique Club

Camera Work/Technical: I like the detail you captured here with the spot-on focus. The fingerprint detail is very nice.

Lighting: Great job with terrifically even lighting on all parts of the subject. I do think that the background is a bit too bright for this one, giving it a somewhat washed out feeling.

Composition/Content: While the sticky relation is easily made, I think that you needed more sticky than just the little dot between the fingers. Other than that, you have a strong composition that leads the eye up and down the entire image. Very well executed.

My Opinion: I think this one scored a bit low. This is a fine macro, but who am I to think I understand the voters.

Eric

Sticky Fingers
by hotpasta

Comment:
Hey there from the Critique Club

Camera Work/Technical: Great focus and terrific post-processing. The arm looks a little discolored and blurry, providing a mild distraction that attracts the eye.

Lighting: All of your elements are very nicely and evenly lit.

Composition/Content: Terrific composition. The angle of the arm provides a great line to lead the eye up and into the image, and up to the subject of the image. I don't personally like the uneven, black framing. It looks more accidental than designed, but I rarely hold points for borders. I would not have held points for this one, but it really didn't add to the quality either.

My Opinion: Looking through the challenge results, this one is far better than MANY that finished ahead of it. I think that the odd tone on the skin may have contributed to the lower than expected score, but who am I to think I have voters figured out?

Eric

Stuck
by owen

Comment:
Hey there from the Critique Club

Camera Work/Technical: Very clean, crisp focus! You also captured some terrific color and a great depth of field.

Lighting: Terrific use and manipulation of lighting in RAW to yield a very nice contrast between the lit subject and the dark background while not losing any of the web detail.

Composition/Content: Also very nice. The web provides a great flow to encourage the viewer's eye to roam the entire frame.

My Opinion: Well-seen and well-captured. This is also a very creative way to meet this challenge nicely. Well done!

Eric