Hot Boiled Peanuts ~ Southern Style
by Ja-9

Comment:
I love the steam here, nice job in preserving it and bringing out the structure of the swirls. Cool.

The Peanut Butter Machine
by eaglebeck

Comment:
I would have given this a seven, if you had used some sort of diffuser/flash bouncer.. Damn.. Good idea though, really nice creativity..

Primordial Peanut
by Strikeslip

Comment:
You're a fan of this image too huh??



--

Nice shot. :)

Kiss On The Tips
by Chalkme

Comment:
Hi, thanks for enjoying my portfolio, thought I would return the favor.. Noticed that you would have liked a comment here - so...

This was a great idea, that wasn't executed as well as could have been. Definitely a bit hard on the light, and soft on the focus :)

No worries though, next time, have a friend hold a reflector (perhaps a nice car-window silver sun screen thing.. (they're cheap and easy to find..), that way the area that is producing light is much larger, and you will get way better results.

The hard shadow across the middle hurts you some too.. Oh well, always remember, you're here to learn and enjoy... Winning is a remote possibility that you shouldn't work for, just work to learn and improve.

I would suggest having a go at the forums, we certainly do have our controversies, but overall it's a great way to learn, ask a question here and there, someone will answer it - no doubt :)

Anyway, cheers, and I hope to see more work soon!

Meadowy Bouquet
by maggieddd

Comment:
Critique as requested:

I was torn on this image.. I voted a 4, and that was entirely for the bokeh.

So, let's talk bokeh, I like the amount of blur, it suits the image well, not so much that everything is indistinguishable blur, but enough to really smooth out the background.

Except it's not that smooth is it?? There appears to be an over-sharpened look to the bokeh, especially along the white edges.

Now on to why I didn't like the rest...

Flowers are super, super prevalent in this challenge, so that means you really had a pretty high level of competition here... And frankly your flowers are just too pastel colored. The washed out whites in this image also hurt your score.

In addition to the bokeh, this looks like an image that was slightly out of focus and then sharpened to compensate.. Not good for the bokeh, or the subjects.

As a final issue here, the composition is not to my taste either, the subject is somewhere about middle, and that just doesn't suit this subject well at all.

This looks like mid-day sun? If so, that's a serious problem, as there's nothing that can mess up your shots like harsh shadows and blown highlights.

Try this-- Get a helper to hold a reflector / shade so that you get really nice lighting on the subjects..

Now, to be fair, this is still a nice picture - it's just a 4 in the bokeh challenge for me.. I don't see what I was looking for here, and you choose a very prevalent subject (even I shot a flower picture.., I however did do it as a studio shot.. Soft lighting really helps with flowers..)..

In any case, cheers, and I hope you score better with other voters..

BTW: f/4 @400 mm is extreme! I think some of what I've complained about here might well be related to the limitations of glass :)

Flower for Bokeh
by TJinGuy

Comment:
Really wonderful shot.. Mesquite flowers are one of my favorites!

I think the composition is a bit odd, but I supose it works for this image, and the light border is a plus too! :)

Underglow
by androgeus

Comment:
my only 10.

Guessing by the subject matter, I would guess this to be a androgeus image?

It's just too similar to this shot:

And this would seem to follow androgeus's general style..

VERY NICE

Moonlight Serenade
by rinac

Comment:
Great shot.. I love the sharp grass against the smooth bokeh - the blue sets a wonderful mood.. This is a classic!

youthful fern
by blad

Comment:
Fantastic. I really dig the monotone style here, and I love that bokeh. Very cool.

NnnnnnnYuhh!!
by Timosaby

Comment:
LOL.. Poor thing!