Chocolate Fondue
by ellamay

Comment:
Since I don't know what this is, i guess I'm a little confused. I find myself wanting to see the top of the candle thing. Maybe just since I don't know how this works. I see the apples and strawberries, and they look good. I'm not seeing the purpose of the knife, but I find the red end to be slightly distracting, as it is noticable, and out of focus. The setup is nice, and I like how it's centered. Your focus is good on the candle and strawberries. Overall, interesting, but confusing to someone who doesn't know what they are looking at. (me) ~Heather~

Texas Tabasco T-Bones
by newtune3

Comment:
Looks darn good. I like how you photographed them when they were done or at least almost done. They just wouldn't have the same effect raw. lol The angle kind of bothers me a bit. See at the top where we can see just a little edge of the grill? It's angled and tilted a bit like we are looking at it at a southwest kind of angle. If you cropped out the tiny little edge of the grill at the top, we wouldn't know how we were looking at it. I do like how you added part of the grill in the photo. Gives us an idea of how you cooked them. Yummy pic. ~Heather~

Coffee Can Bread
by Dave Gordon

Comment:
Lighting looks a bit harsh. Especially on the can to the right. I think that the bread looks good, and definately a different idea. I've never heard of this before. I realize that it's probably cooked in the oven behind it, however, I don't think that it makes for a really pleasing background. Especially with the glare and reflections of the can and plates on the opposite side of the room. I think I might even see the camera in there. Definatley looks good though, gonna have to try this one. ~Heather~

Lemon Grass infused Spring Rolls
by JC_Homola

Comment:
I think you did a really nice job shooting white on white. The chop sticks really stand out nicely, and add to the photo in my opinion. The food it's self looks really discusting. Just not my kind of food, but I won't count that against you. :) The layout is really nice. I like the splash of green to the left, I think it works well with the dark chopsticks. I'm not really sure about the orange spattery stuff around the food, kind of looks unorganized in the midst of the organized setup. I would have given the plate just a slight bit more room on the left, as the plate is not centered enough to be a centered shot, however, not off center enough to create any dramatic angle or anything. Looks like an error. Overall, and nice shot. ~Heather~

Cappuccino Crème Brûlée
by Gordon

Comment:
I think it said food item, not drink item, but since I'm not really sure what a creme brulee is, maybe it's a food. Either way, this is a really nice photo. I like the DOF, I think it's the key factor in the photo in my opinion. The way you focused on the beans in the cup, and have the background out of focus and non distracting is great. I like the lettering on the cup. It adds just enough difference to the beans, that it really works well. great focus on the beans in the cup. makes for some great detail in the textures. Having it off center like this also really looks good. Very nice shot. ~Heather~

Fast and Easy Tex Mex Dip
by GolferDDS

Comment:
Looks good. It seems though as you could have used a bit more lighting. Seems a slight bit dark. However, the advantage is not having any bright spots on the metal and glass, except for the spoon. The angle bothers me a little bit. Only cause it's not symetrical. The plate is slightly to the left of the tablecloth, and the outline of the edge of the table is also not even at the bottom of the photo. You have a nice set up though, and definately looks delicious. I wonder how a close up would look for this food? Nice cookin. ~Heather~

Macrobiotic Diet
by GeneralE

Comment:
*Critique Club*
While I do appreciate different aproaches to things, I don't think that it works well for this shot in my opinion.
I do have to agree with the others that I think it would have been more effective with the focus more towards the front of the shot, or either have all of the beans in focus.
If you did the focus this way because you thought that the beans in the back were more interesting, than you could have shot from an opposite angle.
Your focus is really good in the back though, we get to see lots of nice detail and sharp lines, and I like that. I'm a huge fan of detail, and we get to see a lot of that here.
I like the arrangement of the beans. I think that you seperated them well except for one little orange bean that sneaked into the white beans near the front. He's bothering me a little cause he's so very much out of place there. shame on him.
Overall, I think it's a great subject for macro.
~Heather~

Don't Get TOO Close!
by mandyg5364

Comment:
*Critique Club*
I think that the thought is here. The spider is definately interesting to me. I like that he's on a simple background.
The colors seem dull and muted to me though. By the harsh highlight on his back, i'm assuming that this is because of the lighting. Saturation and contrast adjustments could definately help to bring this out.
Ideally, a different time of the day might be a better decision, however, with live animals, you can't exactly ask them to come back at a different time, so sometimes you take what you can get.
The focus is a bit soft, which could be from the lighting, or it could also be that maybe it was moving slightly?
I think that the best way to get a great shot of something like this is to take LOTS of shots. It's digital, so we don't have to worry about wasting film. Just go crazy, take like 70 shots of the exact same thing. At least one is bound to be in focus, or have just the right angle. Then you can mess with color and contrast later in an editing program.
The angle is ok. Maybe a bit too head on, but still not bad. I do like how you have blurred the background, nothing distracting there. Overall, crispness, and color would have made this shot really good.
~Heather~

leaf in running water
by deceptive

Comment:
*Critique Club*
You got so many great comments on this shot already, that I'm not really sure if anything I would have to say would really help.
I do really like this shot for a few reasons. First, your focus and clarity are really great, which increases the wonderful detail we see in both the leaf and the water.
The color is great. Nice bright leaf against a fairly colorless background really helps for the leaf to stand out and grab us.
The angle and framing/cropping are ok. I like that this is a vertical crop and not horizontal. I think that really makes the lines 'flow' better. No pun intended. lol.
I'm not usually a fan of slow shutter speed water, but this is so very mild that it really does look good. It's when it looks like milk that it kind of disturbs me.
Anyway, you have done a wonderful job with this shot, and I think it deserves the high score.
Great shooting.
~Heather~

Fall's Fruit
by slgardner

Comment:
*Critique Club*
This is a really nice shot. I really like the detail that you show us in the acorns. Very nice focus helps the detail to stand out and grab out attention.
I do really like the angle and the framing/cropping are nice as well. You have placed the horizontal line (branch) very nicely within the photo. I like how it doesn't draw our eyes out of the photo, but rather draws our eyes right to the acorns.
Lighting for the most part is really good. If I had to make a suggestion about this photo, I would suggest to try to cut out the white areas around the left edges of the acorns. They seem a bit harsh, but really don't affect the overall impact of the photo. I think this is really nicely done.
Great DOF. The background is nicely blurred as to not be a distraction to the subject, but there is a bright spot just to the right of the subject, that could distract slightly.
Overall very nice.
~Heather~