The Woods Are Lovely, Dark and Deep...
by ecdillon

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

First impression on the photo is that there is no real overall theme or focal point to the photo. You have done a good job on the exposure to get the sillhouettes to be sharp.

I do think that the colors overall do contribute to the photo. The sky is just a small section that is blown out, but it does not detract from the photo.

A couple of improvements that may help:

First is that the branches, while the theme for the challenge, do not seem to be a focal point for you to look at. Rather, they are jumbled together and generally seem to form a detraction to the eyes. The eyes are almost forced to jump around from place to place trying to find somewhere to rest and really look at for a while. Especially in sillhouette shots, there should be something that really makes me stop and look at it for a while. Simplify the composition by removing some of the trees/branches from the photo.

Second would be the crop. The trees are supposed to give me a vertical feel, they should be tall and lofty. Instead with the crop that you've given me, everything feels stumpy, short and confined, which is exactly the opposite of what trees should feel like. Also the trees seem to be leaning all to the left (except the one to the far left), so a little clockwise rotation would help to give them more of a vertical feel. If you want the crop you have here, at least remove the branches which are poking in from the right side of the photo.

Overall Impression: While I did not vote in this challenge, I would have scored this picture a 4. The sillhouette and feelings evoked by this photo give it potential, but it just needs a little more of a focal place to make it stand out.

If you have any questions about this critique, please feel free to contact me via the PM system.

After The Rain
by Bowerbird

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

Contrasting the bright red color of the flower against the watery background works very well in this photo. When you can find one thing that is different from the surroundings/background it has the beginnings of a good photo.

A few things might make this composition a little better. First is the removal of the second branch from the photo. By going forward and physically moving the branch so it is not in the picture would simplify the seeming jumble of branches to the left and allow the one remaining branch to point to the flower which is the focal point of the picture.

A slightly tighter crop, sort of like this simplifies the photo, yet keeps the flower as the focal point.

I just don't think that the square crop helps the photo. Notice how the branches now all point to the flower, and don't leave me stuck on the ends when I am following them with my eyes.

The red flower is almost directly in the middle horizontal of the photo and gives the picture the 'flat' or dead look. Try to make it more dynamic by moving it either up or down to one of the third's lines.

I would also like to see a little more of the flower, turned toward me or some more detail in it.

Others have mentioned the seeming darkness of the picture and the softness in the branches/flower, so I won't repeat that even though I do think they are valid points. Maybe a slight levels adjustment in the dark areas while not touching the highlights would do the trick.

I would encourage you to increase the size of your photo that you submit, as your picture is only 501x480, where you are allowed to submit up to 640x640. The larger the picture size you enter, the more detail the voter will see (especially in the flower itself). I do think this would have bumped your score up by 2/10ths at least.

Overall Impression: While I did not vote in this challenge, I would have scored this picture a 5. Larger version of this would be a 6. Cropped it to get the flower more dynamic a 7. I do like the photo overall, and feel that it has potential, and just needs a little more to make it stand out.

If you have any questions about this critique, please feel free to contact me via the PM system.

p.s. People really appreciate when you click that their comments are helpful, so I would encourage you to do that.

Tuba
by elsapo

Comment:
Wow, great shot, so many elements in it, but each one is an individual photo, but yet not distracting to the central theme of the tuba. Let me count the photos....

1. Tube and player
2. People on sidelines of field reflected in tuba
3. Shadows of band reflected in tuba
4. Football players playing on the field
5. Stands (wish they were a bit clearer, but can't have everything)

All working together to make the one photo of the Tuba. Interest everywhere, but with a central theme. Congrats on this one.

Panorama of Lake Ronkonkoma
by TabbyCat

Comment:
Hard to tell from this size, but looks like a great first attempt at a panoramic. Only real suggestion I would have on this one would be to clone out the metal railing on the right side, so as to have just water.

Dignified Mallard
by TabbyCat

Comment:
Another good duck photo. I like the water glistening off his chest. And you can never go wrong with the iridescent green neck and head. Picture does seem to be cropped a little tight to the right and top sides, maybe a little more room in the picture for the duck to have room to 'swim' in would help.

Lounging Duck
by TabbyCat

Comment:
Simply a beautiful picture of a duck. I don't know if it is possible, but maybe a hue shift on the color of the water to make it slightly more appealing would help, although, it may be that it matches a little the coloration of the duck. I don't know. But the duck itself is great, don't see how you could get it any better.

Busybodies
by TabbyCat

Comment:
Repetition always (well almost always) works in a picture, and this is a good example of that. If only that third gull would be looking the same direction as the others. Oh well, can't have everything.

Twin Mallards
by TabbyCat

Comment:
The guy in the foreground is just gorgeous, sharp, beautiful colors. Unfortunately, the one in the background is out of the DOF (his head), and is holding the primary place in the picture, so he is taking my eye off the one who is really sharp. Maybe to use a slightly higher F-stop in the photo would help.

Soaring Seagull
by TabbyCat

Comment:
Wow, now this is more like it. Great sharpness, great interest. Angle of the gull brings some action to the photo. If only that stupid shadow line wouldn't be there behind his head. Now, how do you stick a reflector under a gull to lighten up the shadow areas :-)

Hovering Seagull
by TabbyCat

Comment:
I love hovering seagulls photos. Unfortunately, this one isn't as sharp as you would like it to be. The blue sky in the background has really good color to it though.