A Bridge Between Two Cities
by lkn4truth

Comment:
WOW... Stunningly beautiful. Great job.

Life in the city of lights
by esaintpi

Comment:
Tough to improve on this image in basic editing. Outstanding job - beautifully composed and captured.

Night-Time Traffic
by md8speed

Comment:
Great capture!

At the stroke of midnight.
by sissi

Comment:
Spectacular capture!!! WOW

the promise of a generation
by mattvardy

Comment:
WOW... Strong statement. Love it. Powerful image. Great job.

Skating at The Square
by Strikeslip

Comment:
Absolutely gorgeous! The deep, rich tones, the colorful lights, the busy composition, the motion everywhere - all scream a beautiful night of city life. Perfect.

Piercing Stare
by Sunshine86

Comment:
Love it! I like the grittiness of the image and the starkness of the B/W - IMHO, they really add to the lines and mood of the shot. Great job.

Domino Sugar Cubes Ad Gone Wrong
by literaryradical

Comment:
Astonished at the low score this received... I still think this is excellent (10) - keep up the good work!

Message edited by author 2006-01-04 08:37:15.

Gerbera Short DOF
by cliff_wright

Comment:
* Greetings from the Critique Club *

First let me say that I think you made a great start for your first entry! It took me a LOOONG time to score a 5.5+! :-)

Composition:
Really nice job filling the frame without making it seem crowded. You managed to offset everything so that it didn't seem centered and it didn't feel off-balanced either. Good job.

Lighting:
Very good. Wouldn't be surprised if this was shot in a light box (as someone else suggested as well). Very studio-like lighting, nice and bright without being overexposed or washed out.

Color:
Also good, although I would consider burning the flower a bit (if it wasn't basic editing) to give the tones a deeper, richer feel. As it was basic editing, I think you got a lot of color out of the lighting you used. Good job.

Focus/DOF:
Quite good. Since this was what the challenge was all about, I think you did a great job - and your score reflected it. The only thing I think might have improved it would be to have shown a little more of the vase/glass that the flower was in. Yes, you have good detail on the flower petals, etc. and good shallow DOF further back/down, but because of the glass' transparency it may not have been as evident to some viewer's. This is strictly conjecture on my part, as I have said, I think you did a great job.

Overall:
I think it's a terrific start and I look forward to seeing more of your work. It met the challenge quite well and had a good, solid score.

Just my 2 cents...

Jimmy

Pre-Xerophobia
by newsjunkie93

Comment:
* Greetings from the Critique Club *

First let me say that I scored this a 5 during the challenge. I, like the several other commenters did not see the "phobia" link. In fact, when I looked up the word "pre-xerophobia", I couldn't find it anywhere. Maybe it's misspelled? I found xenophobia and aerophobia. Anyway, I think what hurt your score more than anything was the apparent lack of relation to the challenge topic.

That being said, I think it's a good photograph outside the parameters of the challenge.

Composition:
I think you broke the rule of "don't center your subject" and got away with it quite well. It works here. You captured a great expression on the model and the image conveys a lot of feeling - good job. I would probably consider cloning out the white line in the upper right, but realize that in basic editing this would not have been allowed during the challenge.

Lighting:
Nice job controlling the lighting in what was probably difficult circumstances (outside during the day). You don't have any overexposed areas that I see other than the man's shirt sleeve in the background, but it's not distracting to me.

Focus/DOF:
Very good focus on the model and DOF on the water and background. You managed to keep the viewer's attention on the main subject through a lot of potential distractions - also good work. I like the blurred background and water spray in the foreground. Well done.

Overall:
Again, I like the shot - and while it does have a snapshot feel to it, it also conveys a lot of emotion and makes the viewer smile. The lack of obvious relation to the challenge topic really hurt your score IMHO, but shouldn't take away from your enjoyment of a good shot.

Remember this is just my 2 cents... I look forward to seeing more of your work!

Jimmy