Birthday boy
by DogAngel

Comment:
Great expression and composition.

Decorations
by rebelgirl

Comment:
A bit out of focus and underexposed. I like the composition with the banners, but the lights in the background are distracting. I'd suggest cropping the left and right sides evenly to eliminate the light on the left and cropping the bottom to get rid of the bottom light (even at the expense of cutting off part of the ribbons). Additionally, the color balance is a little off - the white banners have a pink shade to them.

October feast
by BrianR

Comment:
I'm not sure what the focus of this image is. I'm guessing its the sign, but the composition really doesn't emphasize it, especially with the pole in front. Keep trying, improvement will come.

'Still Crazy after all these years..'
by barbaraanne

Comment:
Nice subject, but I think it could be improved with higher contrast, and possibly in a black and white format. Also, to add a personal element to the shot, I'd suggest including their faces in the shot somewhat.

Breakfast Meeting
by RN Patti

Comment:
While an interesting scene, I think the composition could be improved (crop out the pole on the left and the bottom of the scene to focus only on the birds on the wires). Regardless, I don't think this really fits the celebration focus of the challenge - this has more of an ominous tone with the dark shades and silhouettes.

She'll be here any minute......(please say yes)
by AzCKelly

Comment:
Lighting is a bit harsh on this. If you have an external flash, I'd bounce it off the ceiling. If you are using a point-n-shoot I'd set the camera on a tripod with a long exposure or increase the ambient lighting in the room. That should take care of the blown highlights on the glasses as well as give a softer look to the scene. Also, I feel attention should be drawn to the frog and the ring, but the glasses are a bit overpowering. Some shallow depth of field (using a larger aperture to blur the background) could help here as well. Good subject / cause for celebration though.

Family
by leaf

Comment:
Great expression on the child! I'd like to see more of the mother's face though to show more of the relationship between the two. As shot though, the highlights on the baby draw my attention, so it isn't really a big issue not showing the mother's face.

Come in for the Halloween Celebration ... if you dare!
by tate

Comment:
Really cool photo. Not the best fit for this challenge though, with or without the title. I'd have saved this idea for a Halloween theme should one appear. Still, nice use of light.

Snuggle Bear
by Sonifo

Comment:
Nice work, the soft textures are really emphasized well. The color tones are nice and work well here, but I think I'd also like to see a warmer tone to give a more personal look to the shot. Congratulations on 11th place = )

And bending down beside the glowing bars...
by sher

Comment:
No idea how you accomplished this, but it looks great! The lighting is definitely an emphasis and the composition is excellent.