Daily Bread
by picjunkie

Comment:
How funny! Greetings from the Critique Club! You asked for an in-depth critique and here we go:

There's not a whole lot I could say that you haven't heard from me already. Regardless - I really love this image. It is a completely original and personal take on the challenge topic, and I can see by the comments that you hit a nerve with the viewers/voters. There are many slick images out there, but in the end, the photo that touches people is the one that counts.

Your post processing is very original and emphasizes the subject (the pills) without being pretentious. The composition is good with the angle of the hand, the background telling more of the story, and lastly the positioning of the pills themselves.

Some challenges - The lighting is a little harsh where it hits the thumb. An additional light source might have helped with that. The bottom right corner is a little distracting because of the light ridge of the table. Since this is advanced editing, you could have perhaps burned that ridge to make it blend in a little. This way the eye sort of wanders there.

Congratulations on your first entry and on a great score!

Alicia

The Grey Wood
by rooum

Comment:
The graduated tones really bring this home. Love it.

Horse
by Paul

Comment:
Stunning image, Paul - so glad you got the PH Blue for this!

Spring I missed you too
by KING

Comment:
Hello from the Critique Club! You requested an in-depth critique of your image, and here it is:

I see your score is not bad, but also not great. In taking in the photo, I notice a few things that might explain why it did not score higher.

The topic was Focal Point, and in this case, it's obviously the tulip. The subject (tulip) is centered in the composition, and it fills most of the frame. Therefore, the eye is not lead through the image to the subject, which would be more desirable. Since there is no flow to the composition, the image appears somewhat static.

Even though the sun was setting, the light is a little harsh. In Basic Editing, some of this could have been corrected with Levels, Curves, Shadow/Highlight - depending on what kind of editing software you use.

The focus on the subject is a little soft, which presents too little contrast to the soft background.

The colors of the flower petals and the leaves are beautiful. And who doesn't love a tulip!

I hope this helps a little with future editing and composition decisions.

Best wishes,

Alicia

Time to leave
by Abra

Comment:
Hello from the Critique Club! You requested an in-depth critique and here it is:

You have captured a great urban grittiness. I think the high ISO worked in your favor here. The contrast between the ornate building elements on the left and the raw wall and rebar on the right is wonderful. But of course it's about the birds, and as such, the image is very cohesive, bringing the eye directly to the subject, which is suitably light and sharp (you know... besides the motion blur). The perspective - slightly from above - really gives the photo a lot of depth.

Normally I'm a frame hater, but in this case, the frame adds a finishing element, making the image more artistic than journalistic.

I love the tones of the image as well - and the light/dark contrasting areas.

What could be improved? Compositionally, the image is somewhat long, placing the birds in the center. I see where you wanted to include certain elements, so changing the layout would have sacrificed parts of the building ornaments. After holding my hand here and there to see how that would have worked, I wonder if a tighter crop wouldn't have been beneficial.

Hope this is of some value to you.

Alicia

No Entry
by MarvioPhoto

Comment:
Hello from the Critique Club! You requested an in-depth critique of your image, and here we go:

The challenge was Focal Point, and you chose the sign as the main subject of your image.
The colors and clarity are very good. The background is suitably blurred to bring the focus onto the subject. At the same time, the background color is a good compliment to your subject - the sign.

The composition presents a bit of a problem: The post and the sign are one element of the image. This takes up about half of the frame. Since the topic is focal point, the focal point in your photo is somewhat large. The eye is not lead to it, it's more like you can't miss it because it's so big. The other challenging aspect of the image is that it is basically cut in half. One half is the subject and the other half is background (and some fence). This aspect of the composition keeps the whole image from flowing and makes it somewhat static. I would imagine that's why it did not score better.

However, you did get some very favorable comments. Your sharpening and color techniques are both excellent. I see this was your first entry! I hope to see more from you in the near future. I'd like to encourage you to enter often and vote a lot - both of which are excellent learning tools.

Happy shooting!

Alicia

Yummm, sushi!
by cgino

Comment:
This is awesome! Zoos make me so sad for the animals.

IMG_6897ed
by markwiley

Comment:
Beautiful image.

Daily Bread
by picjunkie

Comment:
What an awesome first entry, Tony! Congratulations on the great score and especially on all the comments. You really triggered a response in the viewers, and that's what it's all about.

That Many Strands
by tanguera

Comment:
Love this image - I figured it might be you. Though it didn't exactly bomb, I wish it had scored higher.