Pure Thoughts?
by namast3

Comment:
Greetings from the critique club! Thanks for the opportunity to critique your shot.

Pros:

I really think this picture has a lot going for it. The expression is great, background is perfectly black, composition is interesting and effective. The B&W conversion is perfectly adequate, though perhaps a little more contrast would have been good; better than most of mine, anyway. Not that that's anything to brag about. Which raises the question, why did it score well below average? This brings us to...

Cons:

You do have a few technical and compositional issues here.

First, and this is almost certainly your biggest problem, is that the shot is a bit soft. At f/5.6 the lens should be performing well, but 1/2 second is very long for a portrait, particularly up close - any tiny movement will lead to blur. It also looks like your light was quite low, so your autofocus might not be at its best. So step 1 - brighter lights! Menards halogen worklights. Hot, but cheap. Also it doesn't look like you did any sharpening? That would have helped, some.

Second, and speaking of lighting, some of the shadows are a tetch harsh; not terrible, but around the eyes and from the hair. Of course, a halogen worklight will make this worse, not better - so bounce it off a wall, and use a reflector (tin foil on cardboard) to provide some fill from the other side.

Finally, the bit that I believe is her shoulder should be not there; it's confusing and distracting.

The Challenge

This was a very open ended challenge, and I think you met it fine.

Overall, I think this is a good shot with great promise; I'm frankly surprised it didn't do somewhat better but sometimes you just rub the voters the wrong way with a perfectly good shot. I hope you stick with us, and I'd encourage you to try this shot again with a few of the technical issues fixed. Feel free to write me if you have any questions; I really do like this picture.

-Evan

The last door
by Valdo

Comment:
beautiful shot. great work with the B&W, great contrast, wonderful texture, and waldo (waldette?) is hidden just the right amount.

bump to 10.

Clearing Life's Hurdles
by GeneralE

Comment:
PP doesn't work for me, sorry. At least the whole horse should be the same - it looks like he has no front feet.

Hidden Amongst the Columns
by noraneko

Comment:
This is the third shot from this spot. Someone had a GTG?

First for the Show
by LanceW

Comment:
haven't I seen this?

Seaside Arch
by orvaratli

Comment:
Woah - I thought it was a pool of water, but it's an arch? cool... Great shot; if the horizon appeared in the arch it would be more obvious.

Color
by okiesisi

Comment:
Greetings from the critique club! Great shoe. I wish they'd had these during my converse days - my favorite pair had each panel a different color, though, which was cool.

Pros:

The colors are working for you, and you've captured them well. I like the general idea of the composition (abstracting the shoe by cropping part of it) but I do agree with those who suggest you change the angle a bit and definately keep the top of the shoe - it feels crowded.

Cons:

The biggest is your lighting; it's quite harsh and flat. If you could diffuse it somehow and/or add additional lights from the sides I think you'd have a much stronger shot; as it is the shadows on the background are quite distracting and the shoe lacks depth.

The Challenge:

You were concerned about meeting the challenge, but some of these are so open ended that I think people are pretty interested in different interpretations; from my perspective anyway you met the challenge just fine.

Overall I'd try to soften your lighting try taking your shots from a bunch of different angles, to see if you can find something that pops a little more.

At the Holiday Inn (Yes, he's there!)
by Elaine

Comment:
You've got some camera shake; seriously detracts from the image.

Downtown
by menele

Comment:
a bit oversaturated.

Storm Flight
by hotpasta

Comment:
A little more D&B than suits my tastes, but I recognize it as a style, and it's well executed. Perfect approach to the challenge. Very nice shot.