Cincinnati at Dusk
by jpeters

Comment:
Creative use of non-symmetrical framing.
Very clear and shot at just the right time - the blue hour. (7)

Engaged
by whiteroom

Comment:
Simple, effective and tells a story of days past.
Great use of image grain & toning here.

The break in your whisper
by Brad

Comment:
Can't thank you all enough for the gracious comments here.
Pictures do not do the moment justice and should be experienced at least once.

Aeon
by Rikki

Comment:
"Almost" borderline? LOL
A lot of impact here.
This I can see, large, on a wall in a high-fashion clothing store or similar.

End of the Road in Oz
by scalvert

Comment:
Shannon, you need a life!
LOL
Great shot btw. Ever think of doing graphic arts for a living?

Sweet Innocence
by toddhead

Comment:
I love coming back to visit shots in my favorites.
This is so tender and pure.

The Chase
by Brad

Comment:
This was one for me really.
I really liked the grouping of the birds and then brought out the colors to give it a painted look.
I guess I see something in this many/most don't, and like this one a lot more than many/most of my ribbon pics.

The Chase
by Brad

Comment:
Thanks Jason.
When I first read through that and saw I realize that with a lot of my entries. And that was largely due to your words I gasped for a second. Then realized it was a compliment, not a blame - LOL.

The Tamron? I would be happy if it were twice the price.
AF times are fast, it's quiet and a very sharp piece of glass.

Candle Light on White
by phylsy7

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!
"Take a photo in which the background is white and the subject is predominately a "light" color."

This type of challenge is always a tough one due to various states of monitor calibrations. Details and shades can disappear in light backgrounds, or appear over-exposed/blown out in the highlights.

Composition:
Your composition pulls the eye right to the main focal point - the burning candle. Perhaps the candle placement was a bit too high in the frame or could have been in the lower right portion. The tip of the flame being cut-off hurts this composition in my opinion. Depth of field places all the items well in focus. Possibly less depth of field would place the outer areas slightly out-of-focus and give it a softer feel on the edges. The arrangement is gentle & tender.

Lighting:
Your subject is well lit with the natural lighting and what appears to be overhead lighting as well, as revealed by the shadows. A softer overhead lighting source would help eliminate the harshness of the shadows, but as we know, professional lighting equipment is expensive.

Post-Processing:
Overall this image is fairly even in levels, with the exception of the flame itself. The faded look here works well to add the soft feel, but somehow believe the voters were looking for a white/non-existant background as described in the challenge details. A central bright area such as the candle makes it very difficult to fade away the outlying areas without hurting the loverall look.

Suggestions/Improvements:
I have a very hard time trying to figure out what could have been done to help this overall and yet stay close to the challenge description. I do however really like this image as a stand-alone shot, adjusted in Photoshop to bring out the details and colors using a basic levels adjustment.
As this is now your second highest scoring image, congrats on improvement. This was a tough challenge for all of us.

I hope this was useful to you, and please feel free to contact me via PM if you have any questions regarding this critique or anything else relating to the site in general.

Regards,
Brad

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
by Brad

Comment:

Originally posted by sher9204: great shot, B!

Out of the box, that's for sure.