Portrait of a man
by Iraklis

Comment:
While the focus is not super sharp this is one of those times where softness in a scene is called for in projecting a mood/feel/emotion. The slant to the portrait and the almost haunted/tired look in his eyes gives the impression that the (his) world is off kilter; things are no longer in sharp focus as time goes on - perhaps he has lost his way. Perhaps there are regrets he has about he has about things done or not done in the past as he looks towards an uncertain future. I could very well see this as a scene from a movie - and wonder just what story will unfold as the movie plays.

The Promise
by Five_Seat

Comment:
Wonderful B&W tones in this excellent. This photo of the moment when the promise is sealed with the placing of the wedding ring on the hand is very endearing. The expression of love is spoken not with the expression of the face or sparkle in the eyes but this time it is with the hands. Very professional looking shot and well captured.

Intimidate
by izadoodle

Comment:
Ima gonna run you over, grab that ball from your hands and take my team into the playoffs.

This is what I perceive this young football player is saying - the determined pursing of his lips and the stare down issuing from his eyes. Details are in razor sharp focus with this portrait. The B&W tones are excellent. The only critique I have is that I wish that I could have seen the reflected expression of his opponent in his eyes. The staredown and the response of that staredown visible in the eyes of this football player.

Rainy Day Raptor
by trevytrev

Comment:
Wow, what a great action shot that is quite different from the typical flying raptors! Look at all those ruffled and wet feathers! You captured such great detail in this nature shot. I have nothing to critique so I am simply going to take another moment to sit back and just enjoy looking at this wild bird trying to get dry. High marks!

Majestic
by elsapo

Comment:
Love the panoramic presentation for it gives the photo a wide sweeping cinematic feel which fits really well to give us this grandscale view of the landscape. The city beneath the rolling cloud-cover looks so tiny and Lilliputian in the shadow of the awe-inspiring giant of a mountain. Colors are visually stunning - but I think just a touch too much. Don't get me wrong I love the color but I think you pushed it just a tad too much because the reds and yellows are fiery and in the far left just off to the side of the mountain is a blown highlight spot surrounded by a halo of deep violet reds that looks unnatural. Still this is an exceptional and stunning shot - 9

Don't Throw the Baby Out With the Bath Water
by Lorene

Comment:
I think that this is an excellent high key portrait of this baby. B&W tones are spot on fabulous. Focus and detail are wonderful with lots of highlights caught in the hair and some really nice catchlights in those big, beautiful eyes. I also like that this portrait shows a little more personality than just a straight look at the camera or smile at the camera. That tongue sticking out with the slight glance just off to the side definately is an interesting expression that draws our eyes to this child. I wonder just what s(he) is concentrating on?

A daughter may outgrow your lap, but she will never outgrow your heart. ~Author Unknown
by toddhead

Comment:
What a lovely and stunning portrait of this little girl. She has such a lovely smile and beautiful eyes. The B&W tones are very well balanced and has great dynamic range - no flat tones here! I can't find anything to critique or suggest to make it better. High marks - well done!

Elegantly Devoted
by scooter97

Comment:
Delicately nestled in her nest with her feathers fanned out to catch the light of the sun, she rested. This beautiful white bird really pops visually off of the dark background and that immediately draws my eyes attention to your main subject. While a good photo I think that there is some room to improve it and kick it up a notch or two into the high above average category. The first thing I would recommend is to always wait for the eye or eyes to be very visible in the shot. Whenever the audience can make direct eye contact it greatly increasing visual interest. Second is that the focus on the body of the bird looks soft and is not as sharp. There are things you can do after the shot is taken to improve the detail - unsharp mask, clarify, playing with the brightness/contrast levels or any combination of these three to various degrees. Now it could also be that the original is razor sharp but resizing the photo down in one stop and then sharpening it looses a lot of detail. I learned this tip early on at DPC - with large original sizes, resizing and sharpening the photo down in two or three steps (i.e. 4800x3000 to 2400x1500 sharpen and then resize again down to 960x600 and sharpen) will help preserve the same sharpness and detail that the original shows at full size.

Putney Pier
by dainmcgowan

Comment:
The fisheye curve to the composition looks a little odd - I'm not sure that it really brings anything aside to skew the world view. I think it would have been much nicer to just show us the scene laid out in a simple undistorted landscape presentation. The key would be you would then have to shot it an an interesting side angle to get the banner with the pier name and the ship docked there. Those are the two main subjects that I find interesting - that is also the other thing I wish to mention. The fisheye lens distortion makes that orange lifepreserver the center point of your focus. The vibrant color and the distortion draw the eye immediately to that object - which I am sure is not where you want your audience to be specifically drawn too. The banner and the ship is what I think the two main strong subjects of this shot can and should be. As I mentioned before the trick will be to find an angle/postion that will make them center stage for your composition.

Eagle view
by mikhael

Comment:
An impressive view I sure to be standing there and observing the view...I would be 20 feet away from the edge fighting down my panic;-) Love the look of the mist/haze hanging around the distant mountains. The shapes and craggy rolling curves of these types of mountains with the mist hanging there are always appealing to look at. While the shot is good it has the potential to be even better IMO. The very faint colors of the sky makes this look really washed out and, at least for me, makes me crave a bit more color. I see some pale, pale pinks and violets but it is almost...hmmm, color starved, does that make sense? Maybe boosting the saturation a tad more to bring up those colors would help make this a more visually appealing landscape. I am not so sure the foreground with the cloudcover has as much visual impact of those rolling mountains enshrouded with mist. That is the main subject that keeps drawing my eyes back to look at it. A 'panorama' crop would be such a nice clean and minimalistic landscape shot especially if you up the contrasts in the highlights/midtones/shadows. That I feel would make this good shot into a breathlessly dramatic one.