:_(
by kenskid

Comment:
(Not voting) Certainly it can be sad to see a creature of the wild caged rather than roam free. The photo is just average but could be alot stronger if 1) the wild cat was facing and making full eye contact with your audience as that eyes are windows to the soul 2) harsh flash was not used because there are harsh shadows of the fence on the big cat as well as his shadow cast on the ground. 3) the use of flash also blew out some details in the lighter areas of the fur and there is a loss of rich color tone. In my humble opinion a higher ISO and faster shutter speed (and if necessary a noise reduction program to get rid of noise) would have yielded a stronger photo with sharp detail, no harsh shadows or blown highlights and perhaps even richer color tones.

H U R T
by ScooterMcNutty

Comment:
Lighting is excellent. There is a palpable sense of sadness - the model is looking up at the audience. Thus I get the sense of innocence, of a child looking up at a parent - even though the model in the picture is a grown young lady I still get that emotion and I feel the clutching the teddy bear to the chest helps strengthen that mood/emotion/feel. The facial expression is one of pleading expectation - "make my hurt go away". There is just one thing that lessens the impact of the photo and that is the position of the tear. (Speaking as a mother) I have never seen a tear come from the opposite side of the eye. I have always seen the tears come flowing from the eye duct near the bridge of the nose and leak down in a path between nose and the cheek. Or if the tears have build up from the eye duct they can sometimes overflow from the middle of the eye but I don't see any build-up of tears in the eye of the model. The position reads wrong and because it does it tends to contradict/lessen all the other visual clues of hurt & sadness.

I HATE the stupid spider hat!
by PetRock

Comment:
Nice focus - I see a little humor and mostly I get the sense that the dog is sleepy. Sadness or any strong emotion is a real challenge to capture. I think a good photo should 'show not tell' and by that I mean the title should be the cherry on top that compliments the photo. Try as I might I just don't see any sadness here at all. Anger and irritation maybe, but that is because you are telling me. Here the title points to the emotion of anger/irritation/hate - you are telling your audience not showing your audience. To me the dog looks rather sleepy - irritation/anger/hate would be strongly communicated visually *within* the photo had it bared teeth in a snarl or maybe even the dog having the hat in it's mouth ripping into it.

Depression and Disability
by AllenP

Comment:
Very nice dynamic tones in the B&W! I really get the strong sense of the old world from the picture - the buildings and the hanging of the wash to dry cements the idea. I like the gritty feel feel of this - the B&W brings out the tones and textures and a feel of the day ending by the looks of the waning light. The sadness comes from viewing the elderly woman alone in the street. She is limited in where she can go by her disability. The door she faces is slightly ajar but because she is confined to a wheelchair she has no way to get inside without any help - and there is no one in sight. I get the strong sad sense she is facing her end of days confined to her wheelchair alone without much company.

Left Alone
by hbakko

Comment:
Nice lighting and great focus. Just looking a the picture alone I see a really cute, little puppy resting in the warmth of a bed. However, I see no visual clues within the photo itself that would give an audience the sense of sadness (i.e. maybe if the background showed a deserted road or the basket was broken & dirty or it was raining such that it gave the feeling of being cold & wet it would have a sense of sadness to it). Personally, I think a great photo should 'show not tell' and by that I mean the title should be the cherry on top that compliments the photo. Here the whole idea of sadness rests 100% with the title - you are telling your audience not showing your audience.

A father and his daughter
by adelezcoeur

Comment:
There is such strong emotion here and for that alone it is a great capture. I wish the image was larger and that you brought us in closer to the main focus - let your audience experience the wash of emotions bring us right up close and personal. A closer crop that just has the father and daughter without the distracting backdrop would be more powerful - the only good reason to include the backdrop is if it had a visual clue that added to the strength of the shot (i.e. - An airline sign saying 'Departures'). The second thing is that half the time I look at the image I see it as a tearful goodbye the other half of the time I read it as tears of joy that her father has returned safe - since there are no other visual clues within the photograph as to which way to define the emotion there is no other way to tell your audience unless it is mention in the title (i.e. Tearful Partings...and normally I like the title to be the cherry on top to compliment the photo rather than fully explain it but I think it may help tell the story that this is a goodbye rather than a tears of joyful reunion)

Chayote
by tanguera

Comment:
Congrats Johanna on the high placement on a brutal scoring challenge. Lighting and textures are very well done on the chayote.

Rural
by dmadden

Comment:
Love the colors and the composition. For me the thing that makes this shot so compelling is the unique tree off to the side of the road. It is almost standing there like a guardian as I walk on the path that leads off to the horizon and onto another journey.....in fact reminds me a little of the Hobbit - "You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to."

The Artist
by Tammster

Comment:
Hey, Tammy congrats on the good finish - Loved the processing - the color tones reminded me of the color tones of the chalk. For me it was always the intense look on the artist face and poise as she works that drew me in.

Whoooo You Looking At???
by Ja-9

Comment:
Top 10% - congrats on the great finish. Loved the details on this owl. The stare just draws you in.