. morning mist .
by roz

Comment:
lovely, painterly, old-fashioned but with a quirky composition. I like it. 7

Standing Tall
by librodo

Comment:
how strange and operatic. I think I'd like this better if it were square. Still, it's a great, bizarre portrait. 7

Holy Union
by fotomann_forever

Comment:
certain elements add interest and humor to this shot:

-they look like they don't want to kiss. she looks like she's about to laugh
-she has a red sash on her white dress
-a cross rises up from their faces.
-they are surrounded by alpha and omega.
-prison-like brick wall

7

Deer in natural habitat
by Omni

Comment:
outstanding. this photo is vivid with line-energy. It is unique in feeling and one of the best deer portraits I've seen here. 8

Exhilaration
by oOWonderBreadOo

Comment:
great expression enhanced by the composition. 8

Tree
by thomaspeople

Comment:
Greetings from Critique Club

This is a perfectly good architecture shot that was dnmc'd by voters who didn't read the challenge description. Exposure is good, focus is good. I'm impressed with such bright sunlight that the shadow details are still clear. How did you do that? Maybe the clear blue sky is making me overestimate the brightness of that day?

Not a terribly original composition, but a good one. It lets the architecture speak for itself. I like the foreground shape on the lower left. I like how the treebranches seem to merge with the more geometrical lines of the building, but that's a subtle pleasure that most dpc voters won't appreciate. This probably would have gotten a 6 from me.

Sparkly
by levyj413

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Jeff, there's nothing I could tell you about technicals that you don't already know. This was a two-second exposure so clearly you mounted the camera securely, and 5.6 f-stop gave you a decent depth of field so you could get all the branches in focus. It looks like you got the white balance correct in camera. That's better than I would have managed!

I find this a pleasant variation on the looking-up-a-tree shot (I remember when I took those in college and thought I was being soooo original! :) ) Obviously the lights in the branches add interest. Because each one is "bursting" with light, they look like explosions or fire in the tree. It creates a magical effect, that works along with the disorienting angle. And I agree that the curved building adds to the disorientation, since it seems like some kind of perspective distortion.

Did you sharpen this? It looks oversharpened to me. Maybe it just needs a little PP TLC. Not an option in this challenge, I know.

If I had voted in this challenge, I'd probably have given this a 6. For me, 6 means better than "just okay." To get a 7 or higher it has to be something I would consider hanging on my wall.

Swan in Estuary
by jswaldron

Comment:
campy, sentimental, beautiful, bold. 8

Symmetry in chaos
by spartacus9

Comment:
Ah, this is a true pleasure to this old pen-and-inker's eye. 8

Twisted
by Breeee123

Comment:
great subject and wonderful overall twisting of shapes into a very dynamic image. 7