Daddy's Boy
by jerowe

Comment:
Hello from the critique club

An appealing image that meets contributes to the open challenge well

He̢۪s a fine handsome young chap. You̢۪ve got a nice good sharp focus on his eyes which, as you already know, is essential for any portrait, this together with the shallow DOF helps retain our focus on him and this all works well. Personally, I think I would have tried to get a little lower down to his level, it is usually a more engaging end result rather than looking down on him. What spoils the image for me is the bright light on the top of his head, there are some clear areas there of overexposure which is a real shame especially in such a crucial area, his lovely blonde hair should be glowingly clothing his head like a crown.

Diagonals
by Kroburg

Comment:
Hello from the critique club

An appealing image that meets contributes to the open challenge well

A well composed landscape that makes you feel a part of the scene in front of you. I like the duality of the foreground rocks with the background mountains, also the foreground detail of the water, its nice that you haven̢۪t gone for the overdone cliched effect of over blurring it makes a now pleasant change. As with any good landscape they don̢۪t just magically happen they are well thought out and executed in the perfect light and thats what this image is all about it has all the hallmarks of someone who knows how to get the most out of their surroundings, well done Kees

Celestial Painting
by Ja-9

Comment:
Hello from the critique club

An appealing image that meets contributes to the open challenge well

A lovely golden hour seascape Janine. Though the sky and the foreground beach have some interest it is difficult to favour one over the other for compositional purposes which may be the reason it didn̢۪t score higher. In this situation I will usually try and emphasise one over the other and more often than not I will choose the foreground, in this sort of situation I think this would have improved it and your result here but we will never know. Anyway, lovely image thanks for sharing.

Baby Gator
by Phocal

Comment:
Hello from the critique club

An excellent image that meets the challenge well

Exquisitely done Ronnie! Yet again you are able to keep pushing the boundaries, another very striking ‘gator, with that amazing eye staring at you, while at the same time reflecting the world around him. The shallow DOF works well emphasising that eye even more but what I like most is the mono processing this makes the end result even more focused. The content while striking is also quite minimal and fulfils the challenge brief, good score and position well done Ronnie

60 Watt Idea
by jbirkman

Comment:
Hello from the critique club

An excellent image that meets the challenge well

Watt (sorry, just couldn̢۪t resist!) a lovely simple concept, it really is true the simpler the image the more effective it is and this certainly is very effective. You̢۪ve handled the lighting well, it̢۪s inevitable given the nature of the subject you are going to get some unwanted reflections but these are minimal to the overall end result. The mono processing is good with a broad range of distinctive and subtle tones throughout. It would be difficult to improve on what you have so well done Joe for a great image, score and result.

Unzipped
by clickodak

Comment:
Hello from the critique club

An excellent image that meets the challenge well

Nice one Marcel. Well done for creating a true macro, something that seems to have been sidelined by a lot of the entries here. I like your composition it works well, I like the soft focus curve of the foreground cloth and the way it leads you into the zipper itself. Your focus point is accurately placed exactly where it needs to be which makes it work even better with the very shallow DOF you have here. I think you̢۪ve done a very good job here Marcel, had the voting reflected the challenge itself more closely then you would have been in the ribbons but anyway, its still a respectable score and placing, well done.

Said the Spider to the Mosquito
by Phocal

Comment:
Hello from the critique club

An excellent image that contributes well to the challenge

A great shot Ronnie, made even better with the quality of the light and the composition. You have done well to include the poor mosquito with the spider it completes the image. As for your self-criticism about DOF I can see your point but it is not a major issue because the rest of it so good. I like the way the light catches the web and the detail of the spider. I am not convinced that this is true macro but the voters here seem to have favoured close up images so well done with your blue.

Bacon and egg roll $5.00
by Pompouspete

Comment:
Hello from the critique club

An appealing image that contributes well to the challenge

A great capture, the two people are of course what makes this work so well. I have to agree with everything streetpigeon says, their lovely broad smily faces draw you right in there. The rest of the image forms an interesting backdrop especially with the mural out of which the cafe emerges. Well seen and captured Peter

princess butter lettuce
by tanguera

Comment:
Hello from the critique club

An appealing image that contributes well to the extended challenge

What a lovely, creative and original idea. I can imagine this must have been one hard image to get together in a convincing way but that is exactly what you have achieved it does look really convincing. Altough it's a tad soft at the front it is not at all detrimental to the end result. The lighting, her pose everything just comes together lovely, well done. A well deserved high score that in any other challenge would have won outright, well done Johanna

Determined
by jerowe

Comment:
Hello from the critique club

An appealing image that contributes well to the challenge

The lighting is good to the extent that it clearly defines the subjects features against the black background. I would like to see the eyes. The eyes are always such a strong draw in any portrait it would enhance the end result a lot, without them it feels a little manikin-like without soul. I take it all back! A closer inspection has revealed the eyes, that makes it work so much better now. Given how hard the eyes are to see I wonder how many others moved on before seeing themâ€Â¦?

A great mono portrait that fulfils the challenge brief well.