The Lord of the Rings
by breadfan35

Comment:
Your scene selection is very much in the flavor of the Lord of the Rings movies by Peter Jackson. I really like how your lighting just illuminates the face of 'Frodo' and the open hand holding the one ring. That spotlight light illuminates what needs to highlighted. Everything else fades into the darkness...or can it be said the 'Frodo' is emerging from the darkness that threatens to overtake him...hmmmm. While one of my most highest rated photos in the challenge, I still have one critique. It's a small one admittingly but one that would possibly improve the visual impact. Lighting is the category the critique falls into. A little more lighting to illuminate the hair (mayhap it shows up that way on your monitor as that not all monitors are calibrated the same...much to many people's annoyance including my own:-) ). And with perhaps just a slightly different position of the light or a another small light would have better catch lights illuminating the eyes. The catch lights here are right in the center of the pupils and are not AS flattering as those not dead center. Nonetheless and excellent capture. Good job!

28 Weeks Later
by Giorgio

Comment:
I have never seen the movie, so I am not familiar with the scene...but that is where Google can sometimes step in to help make the comparision:-) I like how you presented the composition in a letterbox format to give it a movie theater feel. Lighting is great and matches the scene represented. There are some differences but not so much. The photo match I found on Google shows the characters running. Here in your composition they appear to be walking. I get the sense of urgency in the Google photo scene but I do not get it here. Whether that impacts hugely on impression of those who have seen the movie I don't know. So I stick with what I see and what I see is a technically flawless and compositionally appealing capture. Lighting, detail, and composition are fabulous! Well done!

Red Dawn
by MAK

Comment:
It has been year's since I have seen this film but if memory serves me correct there is a scene almost exactly like this in the movie in which the sunset represents the end of normalacy for the typical teens who grow into a fighting force to repel the occupation. I love the deep and vibrant reds in this sunset. It has such a warm vibrancy to the composition. Great capture of the sun...I don't know how many manage to capture the beautiful sphere without having a massive halo or green halo around the sun (as what happened one time when I managed to capture a sunset). Love the silhouette of the tree and the dark clouds that really help add some visual punch to this scene. Nice work!

Shawshank redemption: Hope can set you free
by LevT

Comment:
Holy cow! You nailed the pose, the set-up and the lighting! Love how you captured the golden light that illuminates the rain and the your model for this shot. Great pose! Technically and compositionally this is just fabulous! I really don't have any critiques for this one. Great job!

DSC_1558
by ryand

Comment:
The backdrop to your subject is interesting. It could be read as a subtle clue to the power of music as that the meters reading the power outlet can symbolically represent power. Or it could just be a backdrop meant to signal a hard edge or grungy musical sound/style:-) (don't know as I can't really hear what he is playing). The natural lighting is good for it really illuminates the guitar player well. The downside is that is still throws some shadows from the guitar onto your player and shadows on the wall behind. At least they are not harsh shadows caused by flash. Aside from lugging some lighting equipment to eliminate the shadows the only advice I could offer is either to have your model sit further away from the wall so the shadow does not fall there and, believe it or not, use flash. You can use flash effectively to soften those shadows if you know how to soften the burst of light. You can use simple wax paper or even tissue paper on the flash unit to soften the light given off. The end result just maybe a better illuminated subject with no harsh shadows. It is a method you have to play around with though so you may want to try a few different aperture settings and different distances from your subject (flash units on the cameras tend to have an exponential drop-off rate after 5). I like the pose of your subject in that his head is down and in tune with playing his guitar. The only critique to his pose is that if his head was a little more up (the angle of his pose would remain the same) we would see more of his side profile strengthening the visual of us seeing him delving into the music.

Green Dragon
by md8speed

Comment:
Absolutely wonderful capture! Love the vivid and bold greens on the face of this dragonfly. But the most defining feature of this capture is the great level of details you show us in this insect! From the individual 'diamond' shapes in the compound eyes to the hairs on the face you bring us up close and personal with this bug and show us every detail with sharp clarity.

Desperately Seeking Salmon
by Cam

Comment:
This composition has lovely vivid colors in the wooded greens that is a perfect complementary setting for this lone hunting bear. Only this bear is not the wild, untamed bear found in a natural woodland setting but a cute, cuddly 'domesticated' teddy bear. His pose at the water's edge looking into the reflective surface of the water in search for salmon is akin to his wild, untamed cousins - the black and brown bears. Because this bear is not of the ferocious kind there presence in the wild is endangered because the cute, cuddly nature has most observers walk right on up, pick them up, hug them, squeeze them, call them George and take them right home:-) Lighting, focus, and composition all all excellent in this photo. Great job.

Liquids 201 : Surface Tension
by gaurawa

Comment:
A very clean, minimalistic, and hypnotic composition. Love the bold blues that are almost electric against the black backdrop of the surface water. The lines that gather around the paperclips are very psychedelic in that the electric blue color and the chaotic/fractal flow of the lines deliver an intensified sensory perception to the eye. Lighting is absolutely spot on and the focus on the main elements is in sharp clarity. Great job here! Perhaps if you still have those blinds laying around as a prop for a future composition you could try bending the paperclips into different shapes (say a treble clef for example) and see how the the light/reflections bend around them.

Eleven
by connie

Comment:
Love the composition and the lighting is absolutely wonderful. Love how the main focus is the first egg in the foreground showing the viewer the lovely oval shape. Our eye then travels out to the surrounding eggs that travel back in the in the background. Tones and contrasts are great. Love how the lighting is very complementary. Love the way the light and shadows fall nicely on the eggs illuminating them - very pleasing to the eye.

Egg Yoke
by JMS

Comment:
I like the color tones and composition of this piece. The half circle of the bold yellow yolk is the center with the grooves in the plate invoke the idea of concentric circles rippling out from the center. I do wish the yellow yolk was a tad more up so that it would further strengthen the connection that it is the center from which those groves are radiating/rippling out from. Still it is a very interesting composition at times invoking a conceptual idea (I don't know if that was your intention when you created the piece) The composition invokes the idea that the yolk is the sun and the grooves of the plate are the planetary revolutions around it.