Balloons
by WILDBLUE

Comment:
*Critique Club*
I will admit that I'm not a huge fan of abstract, however, I am a big fan of color, and I think you have captured color really nicely here.
Abstracts can often be difficult to comment on because anything goes really when it comes to abstracts.
What I can say is that I think they color is excellent. It really has punch and is quite vivid. I do wish that for the challenge there had been some yellow in there somewhere, but with the balloons, that could have been difficult. I think that with paper, you could have added the yellow, and not lost anything, because there really isn't any depth in the shot. Upon looking at it, it does look very flat, not like balloons at all.
Also, I can say that the red is uniform throughout the photo, but there seems to be some noise in the blue. Specifically in the bottom left corner, and where the blue touches the red. Could this have been some shadow that was transformed when you upped the contrast?
I do like the strong curve between the red and blue. That is quite nice and visually pleasing. You have framed and cropped this well. I'm glad we don't see the entire balloons.
Pleasing to look at, but not really full of excitement.
~Heather~

Colorful News
by eloise

Comment:
*Critique Club*
I will try to elaborate on what I said in my first critique of this shot.
First, I mentioned that it was a bit cluttered. The glare on the car, and the windows of the building add elements that don't need to be there. Had the car and buildings not been in the background, I think that it might be a bit better. Or maybe if the buildings were more plain and simple, they wouldn't be such a distraction.
I said that the colors don't jump out as much as I thought they should. This could be due to lighting conditions, however it could also be due to the fact that there are similar colored items in the background, making them almost blend in with the background.
Your focus and clarity looks good. It does get a bit fuzzy on the white box to the right, but that's not really an important part of the shot. Actually, it could probably be cropped out seeing as that white wasn't really a part of the challenge.
Someone mentioned a funny perspective. I am assuming that you probably used a wide angle lens for this? Sometimes that will distort things so that everything on the outside edges tilts inward.
~Heather~

The Colors!
by Antithesis

Comment:
*Critique Club*
This shot is a little busy for me. The part that bothers me most is the tree branch that pokes in front of the blue and yellow decorations. The colors are good, but I think that for this challenge there are too many, and the right ones are not the center of attention here. You have cut the red one off at the top of the frame. I do think that the red one should be in the shot more.
The lighting is a big harsh on the left side of the shot. It completely washes out the color in some spots.
I think that the angle is ok. It's not a dead on shot, which does create some interest.
The yellow seems more like a yellow green, but that doesn't bother me at all. I think that with the other colors in the shot, the yellow/green works better than a regular yellow.
Focus and clarity are good. Nice crisp lines. I like the detail in the flowery rings around the ribbons.
I guess it's technically alright except for the lighting, but it's just not my cup of tea.
~Heather~

:Surrounded by primary colors:
by Anastasia

Comment:
*Critique Club*
I've already said some things on this, so I'll try to elaborate a bit on the comments I already made.
I'll start out with the biggest problem for me, and that would be the shadows. I wonder if maybe a light from above would help, or some fill flash? I just think that the shadow takes away from the bright colors you have here in your shot.
The second nit pick is the fact that you have cropped off the top of the ropes, but we can still see that more exists. Looks like the ends of the rope. I think that it would be better to see the entire thing, or at least make it so that we can't tell that there is "something more" to look at. The crop is a little strange to me on the top.
The focus and clarity are really good. I like how we can see the texture in the rope, and we get great detail out of that.
The flowers are a cute touch. I wonder though if it were possible to be looking down into the flowers (looking down into the center) rather than looking down ONto them. They are kind of slanted downward, which i understand cause they are only on a flat surface, but if you could somehow make it so they slant up, I think that would be cool.
I don't mind the white negative space, but I think that in order for it to work right, there could be some space to the top of the ropes as well.
~Heather~

Recess at Morijo Mission ,Lesotho
by andrewm

Comment:
*Critique Club*
I've already said a few words on this, but I'll try to elaborate on what I've already said.
My biggest issue here I guess is the lighting. Not a whole heck of a lot you can do about the sun, but it is quite harsh on the children. There are glares on the forheads and faces.
Something else that I see now that I did not see before, is that one of the few children that has eye contact, has a fence wire right through her eyes. I do wish I could see her face more clearly.
The tilt of the play structure in the background bothers me, however, I'm glad you didn't try to straighten it up, because then the strong vertical pole directly in the front would be tilted, and I think that would bother me more.
The colors are good. Some of the reds seem a bit bright by the light, and I do wish there were a bit more blue for the challenge. Outside the challenge though, this would make a nice photojournalism pic had the lighting not been quite so bright.
Focus and clarity, as I said are good, and the angle and framing/cropping are good in my opinion as well. I do like how we are visually lead right down the fence from child to child.
~Heather~

Dandy Primary
by adine

Comment:
*Critique Club*
I already wrote some words on this, so I'll try to elaborate on what I said previously in my comments.
I said that I do like the angle and framing/cropping. The from the top angle gives us a nice look down into the flower, and lets us see the red really well. That is important for the purpose of the challenge in my opinion. I like the negative space to the right, and think that that aspect really adds to the shot.
Your focus and clarity are good. The blades of the grass and the petals on the flower have nice sharp, crisp edges. The red areas in the middle appear a bit soft, but I think that's probably only due to their very tiny size.
The blue grass still creeps me out. I'm wondering why there are still some traces of green in areas of the grass. To the left of the flower for example? This seems strange. Well, not quite as strange as blue grass in the first place. lol The one blade that is giving off the hint of purple is a bit distracting, as it is a different color than the rest, and it is such a strong line through the photo.
The grass does help the flower to really jump out though. The dark color of the grass background really lets the bright yellow scream.
~Heather~

Medley
by greenem2

Comment:
*Critique Club*
Since this loads from top to bottom, the very first thing I saw come up was yellow and green. I think that the dark area in the middle almost hogs the spotlight. I really like the yellow and red, and I think that had you been able to avoid the blue/yellow turning into the green, and all the colors clashing to make the dark area in the center, this would be really really appealing to me.
I'm not generally a fan of abstract, however, I am a fan of color. For the challenge, I think that I would like to have seen more of the blue. However, I really like the green in the shot outside the challenge.
There are some horizontal marks near the bottom of the photo that look like a printout where the printer was running out of ink. Is this some kind of glare from the container you mixed this in? Not a huge deal, but being such strong lines, it stands out from the flowing swirl of the rest of the shot.
Focus and clarity look good, and lighting looks good as well. My only big hang up is the dark area in the middle. I'd like to see more brightness to go with that beautiful yellow.
~Heather~

Goldfinch
by Swashbuckler

Comment:
*Critique Club*
It has been mentioned, and I agree that the biggest problem with this is the focus. I can see that it was taken at a distance (backyard from kitchen) and that could be most of the problem. I'm not familiar with the Celestron C-5 spotting scope, but my guess would be that this shot was pushing it's limits a bit.
The color is nice. For the challenge, I'd probably like to see more reds and blues, but the slight bit of orange does break up the yellow a bit as to make it not TOO overpowering.
The angle and framing/cropping is ok, I might like to have seen a bit more at the bottom, maybe some added wing or body? I think in your attempt to get up close and personal, you may have gotten just a bit too close.
Lighting appears to have been good. Probably just natural lighting, but it did work to your advantage. The yellow stands out nicely and is quite vivid. I do wish though that his head didn't blend in with the background. The tip of his head seems to just get lost into the black background.
It is a decent background though, no distracting elements.
~Heather~

Stop! Moon Dead Ahead!
by Anachronite

Comment:
*Critique Club*
I cannot help but smile when I see this shot.
I really love the concept very much. I do wish that the moon had been a bit bigger, however, that is a minor detail to a great shot.
I like the angle you chose here. Not only is it important in order to get the moon in the right place, it is also not a dead on shot. The slight angle really helps this a lot.
Your focus and clarity are awesome. Nice crispness on the sign
The really important thing for this challenge is the color, and you have captured that wonderfully as well. You have VERY vivid color. My only color complaint is that the yellow is slightly orange, however that is only important in the "challenge description". Outside the challenge. Yellow or Orange, it's still an excellent capture.
Lighting appears to have really been on your side for this shot. The sky is beautiful. I'm really glad it's not cluttered by clouds. Lighting on the sign is great, hence the great color.
The way the sky fades from light at the bottom to darker at the top has great visual appeal. It leads nicely to the moon, and kind of creates a "climax" to the shot. Something leading up to the dramatic finish.
Not much more to add. A wonderful shot. ~Heather~

primary flowers
by tomzinho

Comment:
*Critique Club*
There are a couple things I see here that bother me slightly. They are very small things, and are really not a huge deal, but when put all together into one image, kind of make for a slight distraction.
First, There is a stem going straight through the image to the left of center. It kind of seperates the image, not making it flow together quite as smoothly as I think it should.
Also, as mentioned before, the tree in the background would look much much better had it been some blue sky. (although the sky doesn't really look very blue from what I can see of it)
Another nit pick is the distribution of yellow flowers among the mostly red flowers. There are a few bunched up in the upper left corner. The lighting is a bit bright up there, and I feel that my attention is drawn to the upper left corner by both the group of yellow flowers and by the bright light.
On the plus side, I think that the perspective really makes this photo great. It's a different take on a subject we've seen many many times, and that makes this one stand out of the crowd so to speak.
Your focus and clarity are really good, and the framing/cropping is good as well. I like how the subject fills the entire photo (minus the part with the tree in the background I mentioned).
A really nice shot. We have a tulip festival here in Michigan, and with a few minor adjustments I could see this in an advertising brochure. ~Heather~