Bearing the Cross
by angela_packard

Comment:
The eye contact ruins it, for me.

Small City
by karmat

Comment:
Hey, I've seen this before! No vote. :)

Available, first month free
by ericwoo

Comment:
Somehow I almost missed this one in my Trading Post critiques - sorry. I gave this shot a 5, and to be honest that was probably a little harsh, second view says "6". It's almost monochromatic, in my eye, and there's a little too much yellow. The edge of the vertical board that the birdhouse is sitting on has something wierd going on, can't tell if it's color related or if it's something actually in the photo.

It SEEMS that a larger aperture to blur the background to obliteration would help this. I'm continually distracted by all that color back there. Looks like you've done some nice work to get good solid "edges" in the photo, but the background bothers me.

I do like the overall composition, with the exception of that tree limb poking into the side of the subject.

Colorful view
by Melethia

Comment:
I really like this shot, even though you had to physically give up a lot of pixels due to the crop and size limitations. The horizontal window bar 2/3 of the way up really hurts you, I think. It is beautifully colorful, but it starts to be confusing after a few seconds of looking at it. Almost TOO much information. Good processing and technical shooting, I'm just not sure about the composition. Obviously you didn't have a lot of choices if you wanted to include the windown frame. I didn't vote on this pic but would have problem given a 6 or 7.

Reflectively Staring at Her Man
by chalice

Comment:
[[Trading Post Comment]]

By reading your comment, I know you regret this shot :) It is always disappointing when we want so badly to submit and it just doesn't work out well, isn't it?

The reflection alone isn't bad, but it just doesn't make a lot of sense. I honestly don't have a lot of tips to offer for the shot; but I think the stripe down the right hand side of the picture is very distracting. Just my thoughts :)

are you done ?
by DanSig

Comment:
The first thing I notice here is the two catchlights. This has started to be something I really look for in portraits since I heard that a single catchlight in each eye is most desireable. I gave this photo a 5, partly because there is some kind of color cast - possible magenta? - that I see first thing. Beautiful girl :)

Derailed
by Louis

Comment:
Very nice use of crop to almost eliminate the building on the right. That's well done. The leading lines are present here, but they pull my eye away from your subject, instead of to it. That's unfortunate, and it's part of your concept, so I don't know how to prevent it. I'm not a huge fan of selective desaturation, but this is well done and gives a nice effect.

A New Castle Awaits the Coming Tide
by chalice

Comment:
As i write this, I have no idea what you scored or what others thought - these are my "raw" thoughts. This is a shot that I really like. The expanse of sand really makes me think of the ocean. It looks like Atlantic sand. I really like the composition, and I don't know what you could have done to make that suit me any more. The color splash caused by the girl's hat and clothing is especially attractive, and pulls my eye quickly to itself. All that said, it still looks a little bit like a vacation snapshot, and I'm not sure why. I think it needs a touch of contrast, but I think the biggest "flaw" here is that it seems to have been shot in bright midday sun. A similar shot at sunup (or sundown, depending on the beach location) might have had some very interesting light colors. I think that's what it needs most.

OUCH! Sharp
by tngrndream

Comment:
I'm sure this was fun, and it's a neat concept. My first recommendation would be to reshoot so that you can crop out the horizontal line caused by the edge of the table. I also think that moving the hand and knife closer together, so that the knife appears larger, would have added some impact. I think your score suffered because there's a lot of "blank" space with no purpose, but I really like the concept. And it SHOULD be about fun!

New life budding
by Kelli

Comment:
Wow! There's some serious color in this one :) The only negative part of that is that the color is all in the background, and the subject is pretty dark. Keeping all that saturation in the back would have been great, but maybe a teensy bit of fill flash on the bud itself would have given this one a lot more kick. I didn't vote on this but would have probably dished out a 5 or 6. It's also a little bit "static" because it's centered. I really love the color, though!!