Paradise
by kosmikkreeper

Comment:
What an amazing picture. Hope I'm not called upon to critique this one. It's about as perfect as they come. Congratulations on a well deserved first place.

Out to Sea
by owen

Comment:
Critique Club Review:

Wow! What a cool photo! I really like this picture.

As mentioned in other comments, the burned out sections in the clouds probably hurt your score a bit. Focus, contrast, and exposure other than the aforementioned clouds, are done very well. The golden sky is quite interesting, and a very good effect. However, the contrast with the sea is so striking, that it makes it almost look like two different images were put together. There is a black halo, or line at the edge of the sea that looks like an artifact of the image manipulation.

The items I've brought up, are relatively minor as this is, in my opinion a very good picture. It's obvious that you were going for a more surreal effect, as opposed to a detailed capture of the scene, and you've done it quite well. Good job!

Study in Yellow-Green
by Blue Moon

Comment:
Critique Club Review:

I'm not sure I should critique this one, as I have to confess to a bias here. I took a similar picture, more of a diagonal and a back lit cherry tree leaf, for this challenge. As I was editing for submittal, my computer crashed, and took the operting system with it. (Thus no entry.) So it feels weird to critique something very close to what I was doing. Since I can't "give it back", I will try to do my unbiased best.

That being said, I like the picture. (Duh!) Lighting, color, contrast, saturation, and hue are all very good. I like the way the leaf almost looks lit from the left, caused by the darker bands to the right of the ribs.

The vertical vein looks a bit soft in places, like the depth of field was just a tiny bit shallow. More sharpness might have improved your score.

Had I voted on this challenge, I would have given this picture a 7 or 8.

Blue, Green and White Abstract; Homage to Helen Frankenthaler
by xianart

Comment:
Critique Club Review:

Tough challenge, and a tough piece to critique. To my eye, the effects observed were obvious goals, as opposed to accidental creations. Which reading your comments reinforces. I really like the colors and patterns of the sky.

The green of the vegetation, and the focus/pattern used there is not very complimentary. Nor does it seem to contrast quite enough. To me it sets up more of a contest, distraction, and confusion. I think either one would have been a good basis for the start of such a piece, but do not work quite so well together.

I would love to see more sky and cloud patterns, or more of the green against a different background. Or even a lighter green, more smeary (is that a word?) to compliment the watery flowing look of the clouds.

Over all the exposure, color rendition, saturation, contrast, exposure and hue are well done.

Diagonals
by levyj413

Comment:
Critique Club Review:

I really like this photo. Lighting, contrast, focus, and depth of field are all well done. I like the reflections and could see where a starburst filter could have added a "magical" touch to the photo. As is the eye bounces from reflection to reflection. The reflections are well ordered so it is a pleasing journey as opposed to a distracting one.

If you could have staged the piece, the orientation of the handles could have been arrainged so as to provide more of a pattern, and captured the handles in the last two tubes at the top; but I doubt the water park would have been overly thrilled with that process.

I think your decison to go with black and white was a good one. Color here likely would have taken away from the total picture.

I don't see the picture as too dark. Given the subject material, and the reflections, I think any lighter would have really blown things out, and lost the detail of the clear tubes. Any darker, would have been too dark.

Given that no part holds the eye, and yet the eye is guided around the piece by the reflections, as opposed to distracted or confused, I believe you have met the challenge well. Good job!

by cpanaioti

Comment:
Critique Club Review:

Lighting, contrast, color, saturation, and hue are all done well. I like the colors and the contrast a lot.

Photo meets the challenge. Focus is good, depth of field may be a bit short, hard to tell if the foreground at the bottom edge is soft, or just reflections. But the ripples in the water in the foreground do not seem as sharp as those towards the middle and background.

Without the grass, this would have been a pattern piece, but not sure if there would have been enough to hold interest. The front row of thin vertical grass works well as a contrast to the horizontal ripples. The thicker grass at the back, and at different angles, is a bit distracting to my eye, and not as complimentary to the overall picture. It would have been a huge amount of work to edit out, but with the verical reflections in the back, possibly worth it.

Had I voted in this challenge, I would have given you a 7 or 8.

River Rock
by Dr.Confuser

Comment:
Critique Club Review:

Interesting photo for a tough challenge. I think it does fit the challenge well. I like the overall composition of the piece. Your choice of lighting works very well here. However the post processing leaves me with some questions. I try to see what the photographer was trying to do, and sometimes I'm right, sometimes I'm way off, and this could be one of those times. With the sharpening you've done, it looks over sharpened almost to the point of beind surreal. Some of the rocks, especially the large white one, have a dark halo. Was this intentional? At the same time, upper right and lower left rocks look a little out of focus, like depth of field was a little short, which could indicate that you were not trying for a surreal piece, but trying to fix a problem. I like the sand/water background, it almost looks like a fog or mist, which takes me back to the surreal image.

Exposure, color, saturation, hue, and contrast all are done very well. Had I voted on this challenge, I would have given you an 8. Overall I like the piece, and would have gone with the idea that it was supposed to be a bit surreal.

Broken symmetry
by puzzled

Comment:
Critique Club Review:

I'd say this meets the challenge well. After all you do have to take a picture of something.

Colors are great, and saturation/contrast/exposure and hues are all very well done. I really like the reflection of the clouds, across the face of the building. It definetly adds interest and texture to the picture. Your choice of subject matter was a good one. Only two things come to mind, in this very well done photograph. First is focus. I'm not not sure if it isn't just an illusion, but things look a bit soft along the black lines. Maybe it's just me, or a trick played by the lines as some sort of optical illusion. The other is the patch of sky at the upper left. Since this is an advanced editing challenge, if you had made it darker, or more of a contrast or even a compliment to the other colors, it might have added to the picture. As it is, you have these great colors, with a little bland bit at the upper left corner. I don't think just cropping it out would have worked either, because you would have lost too much of the rest of the picture. So unless you could have found a better angle, the sky bit needs to be in there. Overall a very good picture, as exemplified by your score. Well done!

Vibrance
by freakin_hilarious

Comment:
Critique Club Review:

Evidently abstract work just isn't appreciated as it should be. The exposure, saturation, contrast, color and hues all work well. I'm not sure if the red bits needed to be blurred. Haven't seen the original. The piece is well lit, and focused. I think a little more depth of field would have been beneficial, as the bubbles along the edeges of the stream top and bottom are a bit soft. Good use of lighting as the bubbles have a lot of texture to them. Fits the challenge quite well. I like this photo, and had I voted probably would have gotten an 8 or 9 from me. Good job!

Mesmerized by the Rhythm
by Lorene

Comment:
Critique Club Review:

Cool! Great execution. Lighting, color, hue, saturation, contrast,are all dead on! Focus is good, and depth of field, looks a bit soft near the upper right, or it could be just the size of the wires. I can't really tell.

I really like the pattern of the strings across the picture, it really works for me. I might have liked it a bit better without the tie points for the strings in the lower right, but pianos are built the way they are built. Not much one can do about that, and cropping it out would have lost some of the impact of the curved wood and shadow.

Congratulations on a fine photograph.