Anastasia
by nborton

Comment:
A bit unnaturally smooth skintone gradations, too plasticky/painted. I'd work on that. The technique I know is a bit too much to explain. :(
Pose and lighting are good, you could dodge the eyes a bit.

7

unseasonal highs linger
by jackditch

Comment:
I like the composition and b&w toning.
The background is very busy though, so I would rather see it out of focus (less dof / wider aperture, smaller F number).
The concrete pole is well hidden by putting it on the same line as a tree. Don't know if that was on purpose, it would have looked worse if it was next to the tree.
I think I'd have given it a 7 or 8.

Helen Angel
by fdpiech

Comment:
This girl has a lovely face and great eyes, well portrayed.

Winter will be here soon...
by Kaja Lund

Comment:
Like the tranquility of this photo. Seems like a early misty morning to me.
Perhaps some tighter cropping would work better, but I like the mood of this. It is like redmapper's "Dream of the Past" (Unfortunately disqualified because of a wrong date).
Nice work!

Orange Lily
by Spork99

Comment:
Excellent filling of the frame and the lighting causes it to be right in your face. Good tonal balance, no blowout yet strong contrast between fore- and background. Good color, well chosen subject for a soft focus.

Life's Encounters
by JPR

Comment:
Despite all the technical limitations: Highlight blowout, lens flare, noise in the shadows, I really like this scene. The composition and subject choice works great. I can definitely feel the joy of the little boy towards the dog. His forward positioning and expression express this.
And there is just enough detail to see the joy of the girl about this. I can even imagine the way the father (or grandfather?) enjoys the boy's encouter with animals. The dog seems excited too.
It is photos like this that make me wish I had a little lad to take care off, it reminds me so much of my own youth (memory like an elephant). :)
Verry happy scene, emotional. Well captured!

Warmth
by Konador

Comment:
Good photo. Excellent exposure & toning. Interesting subject and composition, good job on the lighting; I especially like it how you chose a shutter time that didn't let the candle flame blow out the highlights of itself and its surroundings. The detail within the hands is therefore very good.
This would perhaps also do very good in a 1:1 aspect ratio. Nice scene for a Medium Format camera.

"I'm thankful for my new home"
by ladpupmoe

Comment:
You know, somehow I am trully grabbed by this portrait of your (?) dog.
That eye, that eye, that cute hanging ear, that nose, that curled tail, who wouldn't love a dog like that? :)
Nice composition, good whitebalance and exposure. Easy to blow out the highlights on a subject like this. Good dof, good focus on the eye. The faint tail makes it 3D instead of a flat image. First pet pic I gave a 10 (that's in about 13.000 votes). :) You just grabbed that emotion of a pup in its new loving environment. Well done!

And do I know the downside of a new pup, o man! Our last bouvier (belgian race: bouvier des flandres) used to shit in the kitchen and kick it all over the floor. The smell...........ooooooowwwwwwwwwbbbbbleeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhh. Guess who had to clean that up. :)

Our Love
by jmritz

Comment:
I like the basic setup here, but....

There is the bridge at the left, that's an interesting point in the scene, it breaks the line from the right. Where both these lines cross you have a natural focus point for the human eye. The right side is now a bit empty, does not have a lot of interesting items in it.
Therefore my choice would be to move the two people to the right side of the frame (ask them if they posed, change your own position if this is a natural scene). That way you fill up the empty space and you have an invisible leading line from the point of the people's heads to the crossing of the lines of the bridhe and the rightside river bank. Most times it is better to leave more space in front of people when they look or move into that direction.

Apart from that, nice pic. 7

Ahhhhhhh.... nothing like the smell of coffee in the morning.
by kosmikkreeper

Comment:
Seems like a familiar face to me....... (from previous challenges)
This photo certainly expresses: "Aaaaaaaahhhhhh, Coffee!"
Nice photo, good toning, but I'd drop the border. It is not necesarry here and it distracts becayse it is too light and in the same toning as the scene itself.