"I read the news today, oh boy!" from "A Day in the LIfe" - Sergeant Pepper
by Riponlady

Comment:
This photo is a good shot, but there are a few things you could do to move it out from the good category and into the extraordinary category. First off, there are too many elements in the shot that clutters it and diminishes a focal point. A tighter crop chopping out the folded table on the left & the table against the metal backdrop on the right would center/ground the focus on the man sitting at the two seater table. Next, the glare on the cafe window is distracting - a simple polorizer filter to illiminate glare would take care of that - flash would not be good because most times it will just bounce off the glass and create a bigger problem of glare. An alternate would be to have been there at a different time of the day as that the sun's position will greatly affect the glare/reflections cast or not cast - but that may have meant you would not have had captured this candid shot of this man reading the paper (assuming that this is not a posed shot). Lastly, show us what the headlines are - if this is a posed shot then their indeed might have been a frontpage headline that catches one by surprise and makes us sing "I read the news today, oh boy!" And even if it was a candid, showing the headline might just by luck relate to the emotion/title/or challenge you are trying to tackle.

She Loves You
by MayaM

Comment:
Already scored this a 10 and I am now coming back to comment. Simple, clean and beautifully presented. The single petal and the remaining portion of the daisy are in crystal sharp focus. In the background we can see the blurred picked petals. They fade into the background not just physically but also symbolically. Those flower petals do not hold the answer to the question "Does she love me". The one that tells us "She Loves You" is the last remaining one on the daisy that dominates the forefront. Simply brilliant.

While My Guitar Gently Weeps
by PurpleFire

Comment:
Minimilistic and simply stated - the photo grabs the eyes attention and holds it with the bold colors (the brilliant blue backdrop and the rich yellow hue of the guitar) and the shaped curves. The only critiques I have on the piece as it relates to the challenge is that those brilliant bold colors project a "happy" mood which is a direct contrast to the tone & mood of the Beatles song you are capturing (which is sad and heavy-hearted). The water drops do their best to project the idea of the guitar weeping, but I feel it can be improved if each drop was not uniform in shape. Perhaps if they (and this would be challenging I know but it would be worth it) were more in the classic teardrop shape. Water droplets in that shape would create a much stronger impact and connection to the guitar weeping.

Ticket To Ride
by lynnesite

Comment:
A marvelous capture - she does indeed have a ticket to ride. Love the action of the rearing horse. This silhouette of horse and rider is a golden moment not just for the beauty of the capture but the warm golden tones that illuminate them. Lovely capture. Now the critique, I think that a closer crop to the main focal point is highly recommended. The dogs off to the side really doesn't add much to the composition. They distract the eye away from the main subject. Cropping away 1/3 of the left hand portion and some of the right hand side (about an 1/2 inch away from the lower hoof) would keep the focus tightly on the horse & rider. This is where you want the focus of attention to remain - keeping the viewer's attention on the horse & rider's dance in the golden light. Above average shot 8.

Doc said "Rocky, you met your match." Rocky said "Doc, it's only a scratch..."
by cogerox

Comment:
A cute interpretation of Rocky Racoon - and gosh darnit every time I see this image (as I am now just getting around to voting and commenting) the song pops up in my head. Which is good because it tells me that you made a strong connection to the song in your photo. I also like the details you placed in this composition. Aside from the stuffed animal racoon splayed in the chair you have a small book on the table. That 'book' makes me think of the lines "Now Rocky Raccoon he fell back in his room Only to find Gideon's bible". It does appear to be a bible. Next is the window with a view of some beautiful landscape. That view makes me think of the opening line of the song " Now somewhere in the black mountain hills of Dakota" Is it Dakota? I don't know but it sure makes me think it possibly is as I gaze upon the photo. My only real critique on this shot is the long shadows present that I find unappealing - mainly the red object on the wall casts this long shadow and there are some strange shadows falling on the right hand side of the wall and floor that could be eliminated with better lighting.

Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
by ClickNSee

Comment:
I have to say that you had the good fortune to capture this snapshot at the same time the challenge was going on! This is definately a great match for the song and has a strong connection to the Beatles. There are some things that I think could greatly improve the composition and technical merits of the photo. First off, as concert photos go, getting them all close together is a challenge - given where I see the mic's positioned. Nonetheless, I wonder if they may have done a number where they guitar players at least came closer together - that would have been the shot to wait for and attempt to get. If this did not happen, then an alternative is to get as many shots as one can and then to try to approach them and ask for a group photo - again that may or may not have been possible but you see the point I am making is that one can at least try. O.K. let me step away from the unknowns and just focus on the photo you submitted. It is a good shot - but it can be better. First off you would want to show us all of these 'Beatles' We can see the faces and expressions of the ones dressed in green & blue. But the one in the red outfit, his face is obscurred by the microphone. I would be better if we also see his face especially since he is positioned practically in the center of the composition. 'Ringo' is practically lost behind the drums and in the darkness of the background. Given that you most probably had to use flash and were not close to the stage the light did not illuminate him as well as his companions. The use of Bracketing might have been a good thing to try when taking pictures at the event. Bracketing, meaning taking several shots where you adjust the aperature setting for each shot you take (i.e. 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6 etc.) to then see which one worked better to capture the action. In Post Processing, utilizing the Shadows/Midtones/Highlight tool might help to bring him out so that we see him better.

"Why Don't We Do It In The Road?"
by Bosborne

Comment:
This picture is just too busy. There are too many things for the eyes to see and not one focal point for the viewer to rest their eye on and look upon. I think the picture would be much improved if you composed it to center more on the action happening on the road. We would get to see more of the action and just what "It" the mass on the road is "doing". As it stands here, it is just a faraway jumbled mass lost in the massively large crowd of spectators.

Happiness Is A Warm Gun
by meow

Comment:
I like your attention to detail to convey the line "Happiness is a Warm Gun" - the smoke rising from the gun and the wide smile of the woman who is all decked out in western wear that makes me think of Annie Oakley (Annie get your Gun also springs to mind). But as good as the composition is it needs some improvements in lighting and color. The red of her jacket and especially the brown of her hat blend way too much into the black background (plus the black background is not a deep black but a flat black)- they need to pop off the background. There are two ways that I can suggest to achieve this. One, you could have a backlight behind her to create a halo-highlight effect around her. Also a higher number f-stop (say 8) could help bring out depth but also possibly make the colors richer. The other way is to use shadow/midtones/highlights along with brightness/contrast tools to make the colors richer, deeper and pop (the Curves tool would give you the best control but I am still in the learning phase to master that much desirable S-Curve to achieve maxium results). I do want to mention one more thing about the composition - I think it would have improved the composition if you showed her holding the gun. Yes the mind automatically fills in the blanks but I still think it would be another nice attention to detail to actually show us that.

" Everybody's trying to be my baby "
by oskar

Comment:
Heh, an amusing and well done presentation of the Beatles song (yes, I was not familiar with these one so I had to look it up). The pose and expressions on the woman surrounding this gentleman is great. They look like they are falling all over him to catch his eye. And I love how you have him in a tux, ladies love a man in a suit and it is presented well here in this shot. As the center of attention, his expression seems alot like a self-assured smug 'game hunter' - one whose catch of the day comes to him without so much as lifting a finger. Now the critique, which are really just little observations. I am not to sure the two-tone background is complimentary to the overall image...would not know unless one had one with a solid background to compare it too. Lastly, seeing that this could be a shoe-in for a magazine ad (very professionaly done) I think that the model with the blonde hair needs her hair stylist to tame the flyaway look of her ponytail to better match the styled look of the other two models in these shot. Bottom line, this is an above average shot and exceptionally well done.

Strawberry Fields Forever
by MartinKemp

Comment:
I like the rich reds and vibrant greens in this shot. I also like how you composed the shot to make it appear that there are strawberries going off into the horizon line. The idea is that strawberry fields go on forever as far as the eye can see as portrayed here. Now the critique, I wonder if it would have been better if this was taken on a bed of greens that one normally finds strawberries growing. The blades of grass while adding nice green color to contrast the reds by has the downside of not truly representing where these strawberries grow. If all monitors were calibrated right I would know what these truly looks like - it may be my monitor, but I think the image could use a tad more shadow depth. By that I mean the whole image is bright that some of the shadows that provide depth -background is as bright as the foreground. Playing around with Shadows/Midtones/Hightlights tool will help to bring that in....I hope I am explaining myself well, so you understand what I am trying to say. In ending these is an above average shot the invokes the Beatles song very well.