Scattered Pine seeds
by alpharich

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club:

Hi Richard :o)

Composition:

I like the idea you have and feel the seeds work well against the white background. There are ,however, a few bits that distract me. Firstly the seed leaving the frame on the left handside, for some reason my eye is pulled in that direction and it doesn't in anyway help the composition. Also the seed in the foreground almost in the middle looks out of place as if a part of it has been cut off.

I am wondering how the shot would look if you had the camera slightly higher and titled down to give more of an over and across the seeds viewpoint, this may have helped to give less of a feeling that the seeds are floating too.

Technicals:

I agree with the comment below that a greater DOF may have helped this image, for me the out of focus seeds in the background are just too much of a blur.

I think you have managed the lighting and whites very well so a 'good job' on your exposure! :o)

Hope this helps.

If you've got any questions about this critique, please feel free to contact me via the PM system.

- Natalya :o)

Another Great Oak in the Making
by JacquiD

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club:

Hi Jacqui,

Firstly this obviously meets the challenge title, so were are off to a good start :o)

Composition:

I like how close you have got to the acorn but feel the background has too much going on in it. If possible I would have tried to move the leaf in the bottom left side of the frame as this for me is the main distraction.

The shot may also have worked better as a portrait with the the leaves in the top left hand corner and the acorn coming down into the middle/lower third of the picture if you see what I mean.

Technicals:

I agree with the comment below, the lighting is a little flat. A brighter day with a bit more natural light on the subject would have really helped this but maybe further adjustments of Levels/contrast would also help to lift the colours.

I am a little confused about your reason for using Gaussian Blur? I am not sure if maybe by using this you have given the overall image a slight soft feel. Your aperture was 5.6 so you should have quite a shallow depth of field, maybe an adjustment to the point of focus may have helped.

My Personal Thought:

Some better natural light and a little work on composition and this may have scored better.

If you've got any questions about this critique, please feel free to contact me via the PM system.

- Natalya :o)

Seed Spectrum
by banmorn

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club:

Hi Robert

I like the idea and it definitely has 'seeds'in it so certainly matches the Challenge title.

Composition:

The position of the seeds in the frame and the appearance that they are falling is good. The spectrum of light adds another aspect to this shot that makes it stand out from other images that have used similar 'seeds'.

Tehcnicals:

The colours in the spectrum of light are nice, on my screen in the green on the right handside there appears to be some small patches that don't look quite right. This could just be the way it looks or a processing 'problem'?

The subject would suit a black background but again there appears to be some areas on either side of the frame that are a slightly different colour to the centre of the background. Small little details but on voting I would be looking at all these things.

I would agree with the comments below, the seeds are a little grey and would look better if you were able to lighten them to get them a bit whiter. I also agree that the seeds could benefit from slightly less sharpening.

My Personal Thought:

I may have been tempted to do two things with this shot. One would be to lose the spectrum altogther and just have the whiter falling seeds against the black background, but that would have taken away that extra 'something' this shot has. Or I may have placed the spectrum to go more from one corner to the other, say bottom right to top left.

If you've got any questions about this critique, please feel free to contact me via the PM system.

- Natalya :o)

Light Spiral
by wingyisleeds

Comment:
This is fantastic!! You are brilliant at these physiograms and I like your choice of colour for this one :o)

Softly does it!
by wingyisleeds

Comment:
Nice use of soft focus, was this done in camera or in Photoshop? I'm interested in what technique you used if it was done in PS? :o)

Just Bricks!!
by wingyisleeds

Comment:
I like the light on the bricks and the choice of composition :o) The brick just on the right that is out of focus is a little distracting but again just by upping your aperture you could get this in focus (just my preference!) :o)

North Yorkshire Steam Railway Station
by wingyisleeds

Comment:
Lovely composition, the horizon could do with a very slight straighten but other than that I like your editing and the people add that extra something to this image. It could be my eyes playing tricks on me (its late) but I think going up behind the station the trees get a little out of focus. By increasing your Aperture, I normally use F16 for my landscape stuff, you would get a lot more in focus :o)

Hill-top in the Lakes
by wingyisleeds

Comment:
Purchase...A POLARISER! The best thing (apart from my tripod) that I have bought since getting my DSLR. It would really make the greens stand out and give a little more of a blue 'tint' to the sky in this shot :o)

I'm going to straight to the top!
by wingyisleeds

Comment:
I like the choice of black and white for this shot and composition is good. I have mentioned before about the noise and can see a little in this shot but now you've got the new camera hopefully that will resolve the noise issue for you :o)

High Point
by wingyisleeds

Comment:
I like the way you have the road leading into the frame from the lower left and the colour and detail in the bracken (?) is good. I would suggest maybe cropping the bottom to just above where the puddle in the road is as this is a little distracting IMHO :o)