Fairy Tale Lane.jpg
by Schmeldontino

Comment:
I love the perspective, the leading lines and the overall eeriness. You know, if you dodged the trail a bit so it stood out and gave the background fog a little more brightness this could be a high scoring image in a challenge.

Natalee in the Fall
by gwe21

Comment:
Very sweet photo. I like the contrast of the white dress surrounded by all those leaves. This is one of those cases where a centered composition works very well. All this really needs is a little contrast work and saturation to reach its potential, IMO. You could even push it further and give it a dreamy/ethreal feel by introducing some glow/blur as well.

Workshop
by sillygoat

Comment:
Very good shot! I like the lighting and their expressions are good. What bothers me a little is the hand/arm placement on the left side of the photo. For some reason I don't like that her arm is straight on with the camera. It makes it look too uncomfortable/contorted in a way. Also, the guy's hand resting on the wall pulls my eyes in that direction after my eyes leave her face. I don't think you want my eyes going in that direction and leaving the frame. If she wasn't there his pose would look better so I'd be tempted to clone out that arm. Just a thought.

Iris
by StOlafPhotographer

Comment:
I assume this is a microwaved CD? I don't think I've seen one that bubbled up like that before so from a curiosity standpoint it's pretty cool. So good job adding a new spin on it. One thing I noticed when I messed around with this concept a while back was when I used a cd with an all black print on one side after it was cooked you could shine a light from underneath it would produce a very contrasty b/w look. You may want to try that if you haven't already.

Message edited by author 2008-07-29 19:35:53.

Berry Sweet
by Maggye

Comment:
I like the use of the shallow DOF and the bright background. Overall, good presentation. All this needs is just some more polishing (remove hair on stem, and needle thing in the background what is that?). I agree with what others said regarding the OOF cherry. It's not a big deal but would have helped your score to have it in focus. In addition, the white background could be whiter/brighter. On my end it shows as slightly off white.

Colorful roofs
by Lelez

Comment:
The unique POV and the colors give the photograph its appeal. The shapes and lines are interesting but could be more interesting if they were more in harmony with the frame. In other words, having the lines straight and perpendicular to the frame or more diagonal than you have it would give the composition more of a wow feeling.

Message edited by author 2008-07-29 19:08:11.

Soul Gazer
by cujee

Comment:
Before I get to this photo, it's important to realize that when it comes to the challenges, voters expect a high degree of technical prowess to be seen upon first impression. They require that your lens produces great sharpness, your light is directional/raking and that there is good detail throughout the tonal range (highlights, midtones and shadows) and it also doesn't hurt to show a unique POV/composition. If you are weak in those areas then it is very hard to receive a very good score even if your content/story or idea is fantastic.

In light of that lets look at this photo.

Composition - The first thing that I notice is the subject is a bit too centered. That POV is too common to win you points more likely it will subtract points. The cropped head is ok at the top but on the left side it's a little too close to the edge of his head which is not where you want to crop. If you crop a head make it a good size crop. So in this case you would crop more from the left or don't crop his head at all.

Lighting - I like that it produces a mood which you recognized given the title you chose. Where it fails is in it's intensity. It's too bright in the area around from his cheek to the back of his head/ear. That being the case my eyes want to go to his ear first rather than his eye which is where you want the focus. So if this was my photo I would tone down the light intensity/fall off area so that his ear would start to fade into shadow rather than be as bright as it is. If that makes sense.

PP - I like the look. You executed the grunge well without going over board.

Overall, a good photo. It's got a mood and vibe to it but just needs a little more wow for the challenges.

The Hay Field
by XMountaineer

Comment:
I get the sense of weight and gravity when I look at this. The lines in the photograph appear to be effected (pulled towards and inward) near the point of the hay cloest to the camera. This composition is what makes the photo, IMO. The black and white conversion is good. You mentioned the sky and I agree it's wonderful. Very good shot.

Rasslin'
by BAMartin

Comment:
Very cute. Looks like the black cat is protecting the small one. This reminds me of my tabby and black cat (Squeak and Zeus). They are inseparable. I bet these two will be too.

22-july 08 overlays. jacob & felix
by roz

Comment:
That is better.