Down by the River
by Hipychik

Comment:
Colors seems a little off, and the tree in the middle is not a compositional choice that works for me.

Aqua Vitae
by darnok

Comment:
Greetings from the critique club! This is a very nice image and I'm delighted to get to critique it.

Pros:

Your lighting is very good, and the streaks have great color, great exposure, and a nice fluid motion. Overall color of the image is very nice.

Cons:

Not much here; there are the burnouts in the glass, but they're minor, and I'd prefer a smoother background on this one (there are a couple of dark patches on the left side) but overall I think it's very good, and the voters clearly thought so too.

Challenge:

This clearly meets the challenge.

Thanks!

"Ring Bearer"
by dtremain

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club! It looks like an ashtray to me, but from the title I'll assume it's a ring holder, the kind with the little finger in the middle.

Pros:

You have nice colors, and an interesting abstract form.

Cons:

Your commenters pretty much nailed it here; the first reaction I have to this is "out of focus." It may be that the image is actually in focus, but remember that you're essentially using your subject as one of your camera optics, and that its optical quality is very, very low - that is, it may not have been possible to get this in focus. Compositionally, you're walking a line between centered and non-centered; I'd rather see one or the other.

The challenge:

This is a tricky one; had I seen this in voting I would have given you the benefit of the doubt, but at 1/80th of a second exposure you're not "painting with light." I'd be curious to see what would have happened if you'd shot this on for 10-15 seconds instead.

What are you lookin at?
by downtherabbithole

Comment:
Hi there! Quite a character here.

Pros:

He's got a very charming face, colors and lighting are good, nose is absolutely in focus! I like how he's gnawing the little piece of wire (at least I think he is). Make him look a little bit shy.

Cons:

DOF could be either a little shallower (to blur the grass a touch more) or a little deeper (to get the ears in better focus... But that's not a big deal. I think what hurt you on score was your relationship to the challenge.

I agree that this image is better than a 5.2 shot. But while it's basically symmetric, it doesn't scream summetry in the way that some of the others did. Also I assume you cropped close the way you did to accentuate the symmetry; while this helped for the challenge I think it detracts from the shot overall; he seems crowded and the aspect ratio is a little odd.

I think this is a nice shot, that suffered from being in the wrong challenge.

-Evan

Cow
by Tuckersmom

Comment:
Well, I'm no farmer, but I'm pretty sure that's a bull. I can tell from the horns.

Pros:

Colors in the bull are wonderful; creamy-white to almost black, with that wonderful caramel brown in the middle... And the mottled patterns are beautiful. You found a great animal. Lighting is nice, and the presence of the little birds enlivens the scene for me.

Cons:

I think the greens seem a BIT oversaturated? Not sure about this one... they just seem a little electric to me. Compostionally, I'd rather see him a little bigger in the frame, and if possible, have the shot from a perspective where didn't look like he was balancing the horizon on his head.

Mind you, if I were taking the shot I'd be thoughtful about getting close and kneeling for the right perspective.

Pet the Horse
by BAMartin

Comment:
Well I couldn't pass this one up even if I didn't have time! What a great shot, and a totally different way of looking at the animal than I'm used to.

Pros:

This shot has a lot going for it. The first thing that grabs me is the balances between the two players; the huge horse, the delicate hand; the black hair and white dress; the delicate touch of the hand and the delicate tongue. The motion blur on the hand is the clincher, softening and adding vitality to the image.

Cons:

I'm frankly at a loss to list any. I think it's just a tremendous shot. There is a small spot of blurred hair under the horses chin that keeps grabbing my eye - perhaps it's also motion blurred? Mildly distracting, but not much.

Congrats on a truly wonderful picture.

I'm going to fly out of here - you'll see
by Alicia

Comment:
Beautiful!

Pros:

This is a great shot, and listing the pros is not difficult... The fence and high-contrast black and white give an almost unban/gritty feel that's unusual for a farm animal, but works well for goats. The expression is perfect; it really captures the essence of the little beasty. The late day light and long shadows add a lot of interest.

Cons:

There are some technical problems, including some blowouts on the chest and neck, and the fairly harsh shadow on the top of the nose. A slightly lower point of view would have hidden his little butt, too, which is currently growing out of his head! I can also see what I think is the photographer's shadow on the fence. All in all, though, I think these 'issues' are minor and are greatly overshadowed by the great character of the image.

Thanks!

-Evan

hamming it up.jpg
by fordmanf1

Comment:
This is almost unfair; piglets are the crack cocaine of the cute farm animal world, and add a muddy face and trotters? yeesh.

Pros:

Well, cuteness, absolutely. And again, the eye contact and the connection with the viewer - he's going about his piggy business when he notices a guy with a camera? It's that perfect candid moment of contact without have to deal with an upset person. Lighting is strong but you avoided harsh shadows on the subject, so it's ok.

Cons:

You have a busyness and distraction problem here; the grass in the foreground ends up being a significant feature by virtue of its color, but adds little to the shot; similarly the deep background doesn't add context and takes up a lot of visual space. I'd suggest a tigher crop on the bottom, top, and left, if you have the pixels to do it.

Of course, shallower DOF would help too; but unless you have your ND filter that's hard to achieve at high noon on a sunny day.

Very nice pic, thanks!

Blue Eyes
by L1

Comment:
A lovely pony!

Pros:

While we have another shot with full sun, you've avoided any harsh shadows that would confuse the eye here, so I think the nice bright lighting is great. Techinicals are very good, bokeh is perfect, and the sense of eye contact is compelling.

Cons:

Not sure about the composition. I feel like the closer horse deserves more of the frame; I'm not certain the further one contributes much to the image.

Nice shot!

Goats On The Go
by lynnesite

Comment:
Well, as you say the lighting is a bit harsh, but what can you do? There's a lot to this photo that makes up for it.

Pros:

The strongest point is the expressions on the goats faces as they recognize you; the centered one is reminicent of jj's "eye contact"; and while the other goats have started to notice you this one is clearly the leader. The variety in the sizes and colors is also nice. Border is subtle and not distracting; might not be necessary but that's your judgement call. To some degree the harsh sun gives a "National Geographic" look to it, which is actually kind of nice.

Cons:

As you say, the lighting. Also it ends up a little busy; I might try studying jj's shot to think about how you could lead the eye to that "ringleader" without losing the rest of the shot.

Overall, I think it's great! Thanks.