'ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE'
by howza

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club };-)

Initial thoughts
Very good composition, meets the challenge, great crispness

Composition/ Content

This shot is incredibly crisp and in focus. I would like to know what kind of lens you used to get in this close. Colors are great and the DOF to blur the background is perfect.

Background
As noted, blurred nicely.

Camera Work - Technical
I like what seems to be late afternoon lighting from the right side. Although I generally don't like centered shots this one is right on. I think you did a good job of cropping the pipe at the bottom too.

Digital Processing - Technical
The only thing I would add here is that I think a 5-6 pixel black border may have made the crispness and vibrant colors stand out even more.

Fits The Challenge
Ahhhhh, here is why you may not have won a ribbon this week. Although technically one of the very best shots, the humor aspect was a bit suspect. The title certainly helped but the shot itself was actually a bit sad.

My Opinion On The Photo
I originally scored this shot a six. Any other week I would have scored it much higher, but I like a lot of others apparently were scoring more on humor and less on technical this week. Really nice shot, and keep up the good work.


I would be happy to talk further about this shot if you would like to contact me.
DougPaz

sunny day
by andlb

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club };-)

Initial thoughts
Very interesting shot, meets the challenge, great color and contrast

Composition/ Content

As mentioned in most of your comments, the colors is what really makes this shot. I like the way you kept your horizon away from the center. I like the way you placed the trees right of center as well.

Background
The absence of anything in your sky works well for you here. You certainly had a minimalist approach and the sky helps helps that direction.

Camera Work - Technical
The focus on the grass is excellent. I know that the trees are slightly out of focus but the DOF seems to be fairly deep. By making them clearer, you would have lost what I believe was your original intent with the grass and the foreground.

Digital Processing - Technical
One thing that may have helped the sharpness on the trees would be a little post processing. I have found that with a digital shot it is absolutley amazing what you can do after the shot. I noticed that you only used 41kb of the 150kb file size allowed in the rules. This should have really sharpened the shot if you used the full allotment. I was surprised that you didn't upgrade the saturation here. You did a great job for out of the camera. A little bit afterwards would have only improved it.

Fits The Challenge
Definitely fits the challenge well.

My Opinion On The Photo
I think that it meets the challenge well but can see why some folks would vote it lower. I was actually surprised that you got a top 50 shot as I didn't think the voters would recognize this shot for what it is. It could have been improved a little to finish even higher than it did. Good job, and keep up the good work.


I would be happy to talk further about this shot if you would like to contact me.
DougPaz

Windswept Tree
by lisae

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club };-)

Initial thoughts
Very nice composition, meets the challenge, could be a bit brighter

Composition/ Content

I think you did a great job on this shot. I love the way the tree is leaning towards the right edge as if it blowing out of the photo. The ground is perfectly horizontal and the fence in the forground adds character.

Background
Either a polarizing filter or an increase in saturation and perhaps contrast would have brought the blue sky and clouds out which I fell would have really improved this shot.

Camera Work - Technical
Focus seems good but not great (more about that later). The only other thing you might have tried would be a different time of day so that the sunlight hit the tree at a different angle. I can envision a late afternoon sun hitting the tree with those bright warm colors that would have given you more of that "Wow" factor.

Digital Processing - Technical
I noticed that you only used 110 kb of the 150 allowed. That may have been enough to sharpen your focus on the tree a bit. I don't know how much sharpening you did in post processing either but I have a good article that I would share with you that really helped my sharpening in post processing. Let me know if you are interested.

Fits The Challenge
Definitely fits the challenge well.

My Opinion On The Photo
I originally scored this shot an eight which is one of the higher votes for it. I have done a lot of Bonsai work so I am a sucker for old, gnarled trees. I think that it meets the challenge well but could have been improved a little to finish even higher than it did. Good job, and keep up the good work.


I would be happy to talk further about this shot if you would like to contact me.
DougPaz

Milk's Perfect Form
by myqyl

Comment:
Good idea and setup. I particularly like the way the milk appears to be pouring into the chocolate. It seems like the chocolate could have been a bit brighter.

Dairy Queen of the Counties
by falvey

Comment:
Nice focus and color. I wish I could see the entire sign although you may have had to cut something out. Good job.

Say...Cheese!
by GeneralE

Comment:
Nice focus on the cheese and a creative idea. Everything seems to be leaning toward the left though. Good job.

Milk and Cookie
by Jacko

Comment:
It doesn't appear that this is your first spash as there seems to be Oreo floating throughout the milk. Great job of getting the Oreo right side up!

Get Milk!
by DigitalGravy

Comment:
Very funny! Good job on the composition. It appears that it could have used a bit more saturation and contrast though.

Café au Lait
by Azrifel

Comment:
Very pretty cup and good color and focus. I'm not sure that the background adds anything but I like the shot.

Barely Sqeezed In
by jimmyn4

Comment:
Very creative. Obviously a bachelor as I'm sure the wife would never let this happen!! Really good color. I'm not sure that the reflection at the top adds anything and may have been cropped out.