Papatowai Beach
by Scottj

Comment:
Can I nitpick here just a little? You have such a good composition going except for that disturbed sand around the kelp/seaweed object. Those footprints take this just out of the "great" category... But one heck of a good idea, for sure.

#10 Envelopes
by graphicfunk

Comment:
Congratulations on your top ten placement. As usual, a well thought out and original image.

Can U Spot the BARRACUDA ? ?
by dmadden

Comment:
Great piece of driftwood. Oh, how I wish the horizon was straight. You have a terrific start here.

The "zooming" Romanesco
by RUEDISCHMUTZ

Comment:
Nice one!

Old and new
by locutus

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

Welcome to DPC. I see this is your 3rd Challenge and soon you'll feel like an old pro.

We can't do anything about the voters who decided pens are not items of stationery, but maybe I can give you some ideas on how to make a more appealing image here.

Most people would make the leap to quill pen from the feather you have shown, but it might have been better to show the point of the quill to really get the message across. But, then, the quill has seen better days, and you couldn't use any of the PS tools to clean it up in Basic Editing. Maybe you could persuade your son to make a better-looking pen out of a prettier feather? Or use the quill in some context that would make an advantage out of its scruffiness.

The soft focus you chose was, perhaps, a bit difficult. If you don't yet have a tripod, try balancing your camera on books, or something else(er)stationary to give yourself more control over focus. Then I find it helpful, personally, to bracket my shots, to make sure the f-stop is right for the image.

You've got a good camera and one that will help you take great pictures. And I wish you the best of success in future challenges.

Frosty's rarely seen little brother
by cryingdragon

Comment:
really, really cute idea. needs to be just a little sharper though for good impact.

Yellow Daisy
by Faye Pekas

Comment:
very, very nice.

Details???

Sunflower
by tangerine

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

Welcome to DPC. I see this is your very first entry, and you didn't do too badly for your first try!

I was taken at once with the very,very nice background for this sunflower. The vertical out-of-focus foliage in the background is original and captivating.

Because this was an advanced editing Challenge, my primary suggestion would be to edit out that little bit of flower at the lower right corner.

Second, I'd suggest a little groundskeeping here, to move that forward out-of-focus bud out of the way before the image was taken. This would give a clear view to your center of attraction, that lovely sunflower in the middle. If you keep a clothspin or the like in your camera bag you can move unwanted stuff out of the way and not harm anything. Just a little thought for you...

But mostly I want to compliment you on a delicate, nice image that you obviously gave a lot of thought to making.

Some of your commentors suggested you try to use the full 640 pixels allowed. If you're unsure how to resize for DPC, I think there is a tutorial that gives some good clues. Look under tutorials to find it.

Keep up the good work and I'll look forward to seeing more of your photography.

"We are Lilies fair, The flower of virgin light"
by obsidian

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

Hello! Congratulations on your nice placement in the Flower challenge. This is, of course, a striking image, and immediately engendered strong emotions from your commentors.

Technically, and compositionally, in my opinion, it's just fine. sure it's bold and the colors almost hurt, but that's what you wanted and that's what you achieved. I very much like the way you made the stems cross on the two lilies. That added an extra thoughtful touch to the image.

I will point out that the lighting on the lavender background is very slightly uneven (but you knew that) and the flowers have a slight indication of oversharpening, at least on my monitor. But those are pickings of nits, and just something to do to keep my fingers occupied while on the keyboard.

In any event, nice image, and I'm very pleased to have the chance to examine it more closely.

Keep up the good work.

Alice

Orchid's Anatomy
by patrinus

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

Patrinus, hello! You have a nice image here that certainly scored comparatively well in this tremendous field of terrific flower pics.

Nice composition, and lovely colors, of course.

Since it is the mission of the Critique Club to suggest ways to make your image 'better' I'll do my best.

I would suggest first that the image gives the appearance of being slightly oversharpened. At least the charactaristic haloing shows up on my screen. Some of our more technically oriented voters may have noted that.

The other is a personal opinion. I wonder if a different cropping would change this very nice image to make it more appealing. I put your orchid in different spots on my monitor, and really liked it when just the wings and that great red center were showing, eliminating most of the lower half of the picture. Again, just a thought.

It's always nice to come across your work, and I'm pleased to have had the opportunity to enjoy this one again.

Alice