Private tunnel
by snaffles

Comment:
** Hello from the Critique Club **

Of all the photos I have critiqued or commented on, I find my opinion of your photo to be far different than your score and different that others have commented on. In short, I really like this one and I think it fits the challenge description right on.

Composition
The challenge is tunnels and caves. The composition of this makes me feel cramped, trapped, looking for a way out. In other words, your photo has what I have in mind for caves. Certainly, your composition is different than all the others, but that is why I like it. First, the negative dark space and limited light provides the atmosphere I mentioned. The light, pipe, and rock, suggest a crawlspace, a personal cave, as you suggest. The photo is slightly tilted, which provides an added feel that you're trapped, pushing to get out. Very well done.

Technical
Exposure, focus, DOF, is right on. This is strictly a compositional photo. The technical aspects are minor and are secondary to the strong composition.

I'm sorry to see this scored so low. I think it is underrated. I'd be interested in seeing a discussion on this.

Iconic skateboard
by boothefam

Comment:
** Hello from the Critique Club **

I normally break my comments down into composition and technical components. For this photo, I want to concentrate this critique around the composition.

Composition
The main problem with this photo is that it appears random, without any prior thought to how the photo will be composed. Often, this is related to as a snapshot. In reading your description, my thoughts seem correct. Let me describe what I mean by snapshot a little more. In your description, you mention specifically "neighborhood kids" and "break from skate transport". When looking at the photo, I don't get the sense of a neighborhood or even that they were skating. Essentially, this photo is taken out of a larger context, perhaps you saw these kids skating and saw them take a rest. The photo, out of context, is a snapshot, a simple capture of time without the relative space around it. If not for the skateboard, which is a minor element, I would not know what these kids were interested in.

Generally, I speak about composition in terms of lines, shapes, contour, color, etc. In this case, I'll discuss space. The photo is divided in the middle. The right photo shows a kid ordering what my guess is an ice cream or similar. On the left, you have another kid, doing something. There is nothing in the middle. This empty space divides the photo leaving the viewer unsure of where they should look.

In terms of the challenge, street photography, there is little to portray a street, except for a reflection of a parked car.

The idea of the photo is just, and there are many ways that a shot like this can be improved. For example, make the skateboard and kids more of a major element. Focus on them together more, with the skate board. The boys could be resting against a tree or a mailbox on a sidewalk with their ice cream, drink, or even nothing at all. A low angle shot with the skateboard in front of them, possibly a little blur on the kids would bring a story to the photo.

Let the photo tell the story, not a description.

If you would like to discuss this more, please let me know.

Bubble-coloured street
by oanacotu

Comment:
** Hello from the Critique Club **

I noticed that this is your first entry. My comments are broken down into compositional and technical elements.

Composition
The bubbles around the person walking is a very interesting idea. The Rule of Thirds is a key compositional element as the eye tends to be drawn to specific points and lines in an image. Essentially, take an image and break it into thirds from left to right, top to bottom. You are left with 9 segments. Often, the right third is preferable for main subjects. In this photo, placing the feet on the lower right point and right third line and surround the image with the bubbles would have added a strong compositional element.

The other problem is the angle: the shot straight down is not as interesting as other angles. Imagine that you are walking down the street and you look down. The view is ordinary, and common. Shooting low to the ground would add an interesting perspective. Experiment with this. Take an array of photos in a similar scene standing up, then on your knees, then on your stomach, and finally, on your back. You will find new vantage points and more interesting compositions.

Technical
If anything, this photo is extremely out of focus and suffers some chromatic aberrations, a fault of the camera lens itself. The lighting seems a bit strong, was this taken mid day? Try taking the photo when light is at a shallow angle.

Nothing is Impossible!
by Ecce_Signum

Comment:
** Hello from your fellow Critique Club members **

Composition
I definitely like the placement of the triangle with the point oriented downward. Not only are there distinct lines in the triangle, but the point leads to another line, one that ends at the bottom of the photo. The person in the lower left is interesting. I'm not sure if it makes or breaks the composition. The face doesn't go with the triangle, but at the same time nothing would result in too much negative space.

Technical
This photo is well lit, exposing the texture of the wood. Perhaps though a little more lighting for shadows would bring out the three dimensionality of the triangle a little more. The only issue I find is that too much of the background is visible and would be better if it was nearly black.

Very nice shot!

Snailfan
by codfish709

Comment:
** Hello from the Critique Club **

Cute fellow. You must have had a lot of patience waiting for him to get in the right spot.

Composition
Although I will discuss the technical aspects of this photo in a minute, the compositional aspect is the one which weighs heavily. This is a very busy photo; there is a lot for the viewer to look at, and it is not clear where the intended focus is. Let me explain that a little. It is clear by the title that the snail is your main subject. However, the eye is easily drawn away from the subject by the coral, the castle, and the large negative yellow space. If you look at the other animal subjects in the challenge, you will find that what surrounds the subject is simple and uniform. Take SandyP by Lutchenko for example. The subject is surrounded by blank space, which forces the eye to concentrate on the Sandy Pea.

For fun, take the snail and place him on a mirror (as in SandyP). Illuminate it with nice soft light and you will have one interesting shot! Try it out and submit in the Free Study!

Technical
There is not too much I have to say about the technical aspects as the composition drives most of it. Were you using the ambient light from the tank? At an ISO of 800 and 1/40 of a second (f7.1) I can imagine that you didn't have too much light. Try supplementing with a bounce flash, or a light bounced of the ceiling. Especially if you take the suggestion for composition above.

So, finally, this is a nice close up shot of the snail. There is a lot you can do with him...experiment.

Duck.jpg
by jomari

Comment:
Very nice! I love the ripple in the water. The colors a brilliant too!

Jump
by pall

Comment:
** Hello from the Critique Club **

This is certainly an interesting take on a portrait. One goal of any portrait is to portray the character of the person. I infer then that you must be quite jovial. In fact, I'm guessing you went more for effect and fun rather than targeting a high score. Which makes critiquing equally as fun. :)

Composition
At first glance, I wasn't sure how I liked the tilt of the photo. Generally, I find that tilt is overused. However, after viewing this photo in different ways I have to say that the tilt works. In fact, it adds an element of suspense. In addition, the angle shot, from ground up, also adds a critical perspective to the photo. The sky is a key element of the background which helps to pull the subject away from the ground, definitely a benefit here.

The posture is also important. The right leg and left arm make a distinct line from the ground to the sky, again adding to the effect.

Technical
The exposure on the sky is appropriate; it is not too dark, nor too light. However, a bit more illumination is needed on the subject. It appears as though processing has pushed the fact and skin tones to the right giving a slightly noisy effect and unnatural colors given the rest of the scene. There also appears to be a slight halo around the subject. It is also clear that the subject is stopped in air by the flash. It would be interesting to see this same photo with a 2nd curtain sync as that may give a little more action to the photo. Either way, this is a fine shot.

Flying
by posthumous

Comment:
** Hello from the Critique Club **

Composition
When this image first loaded on my screen I saw primarily the top white portion of the photo. Then, as I scrolled down and saw more of the flower, the compositional feel changed dramatically. This was a result of a square crop which really helped the photo out the most. The nicest part of this composition, and what really sets this from many others is that the image is not static; its not just a photo of a flower. Rather, there is distinct motion as petals (or pollen?) are floating around the flower. This really adds a sense of tranquility to the photo. The flower is nicely isolated from the background. I think a horizontal crop may have worked better with more open space to the left.

Technical
The focus is sharp; the 4.0 aperture was definitely a good choice. There is the right amount of DOF to isolate the flower, but still have enough of the foreground elements in focus. The black and white conversion really works with this photo as this photo has elements in almost all zones. The main problem, and what probably brought the score down, was the white negative space on the top. It really doesn't add to the photo and distracts from the central composition.

Peony
by korpen

Comment:
** Hello from the Critique Club **

Wow! That is my first impression when I saw this.

Composition
The fact that the flower has been isolated from any background is a very important aspect to the overall composition of this photo. The flower is centered but the break in the petals on the lower right is enough to add a sense of tension to the photo. One very nice aspect is the very subtle use of color against a neutral color flower. The overall purity in color is gently offset by yellow and then red.

Technical
Impressive use of light and HDR. The contrast really makes this photo appear to extend beyond the plane of the screen. I can feel the depth in the photo. Focus is key and overall this shot is nicely in focus. The lower petal is noticeably different in terms of focus, which tends to show after a longer view. I really like how the soft lighting brings out the water droplets without a "hot spot", attributed to the fact you did this on a heavily overcast day. It would be interesting to see which layers you used as this is a great example to teach HDR with. Perhaps an entry in "How did they do that" would be a nice supplement to this fantastic shot.

Symphony of colors
by pall

Comment:
** Hello from the Critique Club **

First, very nice shot.

Composition
The use of complementary colors is a very prominent aspect of the composition of this photograph: blue and orange, violet and green. The placement of the center of the flower on the lower right 1/3 point adds proportionality to the photo. The very shallow DOF isolates the flower center well. The only issue with the DOF is that the leftmost petal falls right in the middle of the DOF plane making it seem slightly out of focus, even though this is due to DOF. With the angle and lens it is understandable how difficult of a shot this was. I also do like the tricolor background: green to blue to violet as this gives a sense of movement and progression. This photo is very calming, and attribute obtained from the colors used.

Technical
Focus is sharp, which is one reason why this scored so high. Sharpness in floral macro shots is the most important technical objective. I noticed that you shot this on a bright sunny day. That was probably the most important aspect for lighting as flowers tend to look more vibrant in sunlight than artificial. With that said, I'm wondering if a little off camera fill light would have been helpful for the center of the flower. Finally, the DOF suggestions above would have been minimized by using a different angle, slightly higher and aimed down; I don't think the composition strength would have been diminished.

Again, very nice shot, certainly one worthy of its score and position.