Two Bridges
by photoneer

Comment:
Hello from the Critique Club.

This image is very well done and a good subject choice for this challenge. I remember when I voted on this image that I liked the bridge and the technical aspects of the image but that there was a lot of other stuff competing for attention. The part of this image that grabs my attention first is the under lighting of the bridge. This part of the photo shows great texture and really addresses the subject of the challenge. From there, my eyes went to the far right side of the image to the lights reflecting in the water. Then I glanced over to the colors in the sky over by the second bridge. As you can see, the great from the ground up perspective was lost by all of the other pleasant looking things in this image.

Here are a few suggestions you could try to see if they help bring focus to your image. I suggest you crop off the reflected lights on the right side of the image, including the two bright lights that are under the bridge. Since the eye naturally looks from left to right, this crop would eliminate the competing subject of the reflected light and make the second lighted bridge support a complimentary secondary subject. I would also suggest cropping some off the left side of the image so the bridge bisects the upper left corner. This will let the bridge act as a leading line to the wonderful lighting underneath. If you feel like re-shooting this image, I would suggest staying a little longer and see how it looks when there is less color in the sky on the left. This bridge has so much texture and character that it should be able to stand on it own merit.

If you have any questions regarding this critique, feel free to send my a PM.

Tim

Essence of Grace
by Weefan

Comment:
Hello from the Critique Club:

I didn̢۪t vote on this challenge so this is the first time I̢۪ve looked at your entry. Let me congratulate you on a great looking image for your first challenge. My first impression was Wow. As you can tell from the comments made during voting, this is not the strongest subject choice for a Stopped Action challenge. However, chasing a butterfly is not easy and you surly did a nice job capturing this one. One suggestion I can offer is to crop just a little bit off the top of the image. If you crop the image so that the purple flower intersects the upper left corner, it becomes a very strong leading line to your butterfly. As cropped, the flower acts more like a leading line out of the image. This is an image that you should be proud to have in your portfolio.

Tim

Message edited by author 2006-08-19 09:23:03.

Who let the bunny out ?!??!!
by zymara

Comment:
Where to start. First, since the bunny appears to be looking to see if there is food in its bowl, it looks more like it is use to being free verses getting loose. The concept would have been stronger if the food bin had been tipped over and the rabbit feasting away on the spillage. Second, the red eye is really bad in this image. Not sure if you have bounce flash capability or not but this would have been a good time to use it. An alternative angle would have been another solution.

white begins, black wins
by annev

Comment:
Sorry but I don't see the Stupid, Stupid part of this image. The closest I can come to for Stupidity is that the black still thinks they have a chance to win even though there is only one black piece remaining. This image also suffers from poor contrast. The whites need to be whiter and the blacks blacker. I suggest you read the B&W conversion tutorial written by photomann under the Learn/Tutorial menu.

Edit: Now I see the Stupid, Stupid part, as the black piece will actually win. Guess I was too stupid to catch it.

Message edited by author 2006-08-25 12:18:37.

My Turn to Play
by UrfaK

Comment:
Back to comment. For an image that was set up, the execution of the concept is not as well executed as I would have liked to see. First, the background makes it look like this was taken on a metal countertop. This in turn leads me to think that the fingers are holding the cleaver up. Second, the image has a lot of noise. This contributes to a flat overall appearance. Third, the bright object in the upper right corner is a distraction.

Hitchin
by Jchamp

Comment:
Back to comment. One of the better challenge subjects. The lady looks a bit over dressed to be hitchin but that is just my opinion and won't affect the score I give you. A suitcase or broken down car could have been used as props for this subject. Bumping to an 8.

Message edited by author 2006-08-23 06:14:16.

Deer Camp
by ShutterPug

Comment:
Back to comment. Hope this was a display at some tourist trap and not something you spent hours setting up (I have a feeling there is a Yopper connection here). The image fits the challenge in a stupid way but the left half of the picture looks soft and that is the half with the only deer looking directly at the camera. Still gave you a six.

OUCH!
by Ecce_Signum

Comment:
Back to comment. Stupid enough in my book and technically well photographed. I don't understand why you cropped out part of the Isopropyl bottle on the right edge of the picture. It's an important enough prop that you put it in the picture, yet you hack right through it. Now that is stupid. Bump to a 7.

Ribbon and Cap
by stefania

Comment:
I'm willing to bet by now that more than one person has mentioned that this is supposed to be a picture of your camera taking a picture of itself. As for the image you did submit, you might want to try adjusting the contrast and brightness to help the Nikon on the strap look brighter and more prominant. This could also be accomplished using curves or levels. I think the image could use a little more sharpening after resizing as well.

water water...Am I the cutest camera?
by honikum

Comment:
Back to comment: This image has very little detail of the camera visible and it could use more contrast. You could have used a couple of reflectors (white poster board or crumpled aluminum foil) to help direct some light between you and the water to improve the detail issue. The contrast issue is fixable using a number of post processing tools, like brightness/contrast, levels, or curves. I'm not that experienced with curves but I would be willing to play around with your image with levels if you would like to see how it might look. Feel free to PM me.