the Agony of Defeat
by margiemu

Comment:
Greetings from CTP2

Technicals:
Your lighting and setup was very good. The end result produced an excellent tonal range.

Subject/composition:
Perfect subject. Maybe the photo needs some help with the title to show failure but really anyone can envision it in the photograph itself. In any case the image that took blue wasn't any better in terms of capturing "failure" than this so congrats on a strong take to what wasn't an easy challenge theme if you weren't shooting sports.

I like the composition but I think I would like to see more of her environment or something that tells me more definitively where she is at. I assume she is laying on a bed since you mentioned a pillow but when I first saw this I thought she was in someone's arms. I think telling us a bit more about the environment would have made this image even stronger.

Suggestions for Improvement:
I do like the crop because it shows her face up close so maybe just make the comforter? brighter so the folds can be more obvious. I would say dodge those sheens just a bit and leave the rest as dark as it is. Seeing that more would also help balance out the image, IMO. That's really it. The image has a lot of emotion and everything else is just perfect. Great image. I look forward to seeing more!

Message edited by author 2006-06-02 17:46:45.

Humane Society
by CalliopeKel

Comment:
That is such a cool photo. Also great choice on fonts!

Still loving you ...
by choppers

Comment:
I don't see this image as flat or boring in fact I find it to be the opposite. The tonal range is very good and overall the image is very contrasty, two things you don't find in flat images, IMO.

As for the color, I think you made the perfect choice. This image is about texture not color. You got your score because most people didn't feel this was right for still life and not because of the quality of the photo, which judged on just that is a 7 in my book.

reflections of the past
by Rikki

Comment:
This looks highly saturated. :P

National Cathedral
by amandak

Comment:
I love stuff with detail and this has lots!

15th Century
by lsmart

Comment:
So browny. Very interesting to look at.

Heavyweight
by cloudsme

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

I'm surprised this only scored a 5.7 something. I liked the image but the distortion at the very top I think was a bit too extreme. Overall, I like the pose but I think I would have liked to see more of your face or cover it some more. It's sorta at that inbetween spot where you want to see more or less, if you know what I mean.

Beyond that the technicals are super. I like the b/w feel especially since this is a boxing theme. The tonal range is also good as is the detail. I think this should have scored higher especially since this was a high scoring challenge. Good luck in the future!

Whatever
by Kronus

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

I really like the aggressive crop and how you have yourself off-centered and to the right. The lighting is what holds this back as others have mentioned. Since you're wearing a hood that light source would have probably served you better if it was located below and pointed up or to the left but level to your face so the light would rake over your face from left to right as opposed to diagonally from the top.

I would lose the sunglasses but if you feel it makes the shot then just get more light on it so it doesn't look like it's just a black void. Now there is some lighting on the sunglasses but it's so faint. You could brighten that up more in photoshop or similar using the dodge tool or selectively applied curves/levels. Speaking of levels a straight auto levels would probably fix that strange color cast or convert the image to black white. My rule of thumb is if the color isn't an important part of the image or it's hurting it I'll convert to b/w and if I want color back I'll try out some duotone combinations. The more I look at it I believe this image would look a lot better as a b/w or brown duotone look.

faith
by renefunk

Comment:
Nice editing on the subject but the background has an odd posterized look to it. I would have made that a solid color especially since it would be easy to do in advance editing.

Dance of the Dandelion
by alfresco

Comment:
Congrats on your ribbon.