What Is It?
by braghiroly

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

This image needs a lot of work if you want to improve. Centred composition is generally seen as somewhat safe and therefore a bit boring; there isn't enough detail to see what it might be; mostly, the huge bleachy pile of white bleeding down from the top right corner down into the middle bottom third is just a distraction. Shooting faster would have helped a lot.

Hope this helps

Susan

I want a body like... Steel.
by Lydia

Comment:
always an excellent resolution, and you're in good company! 7 So are you going to keep this resolution too, Robin? ;-P

Mission 143.1.19
by olbol

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Aw dang I was wrong, I was guessing the underside of a mushroom :-) Never would have guessed runoff from a shower or bath!

Meets the challenge very well in being an abstract and a macro; the texture is great and the pattern intriguing but I think the bleachiness of the larger areas on the left are what cost you points. I can see the aerial aspect you refer to though and appreciate the effort you put in here. I think that on the technical side, a lower ISO would have helped to kill the bleachiness, and a slightly deeper aperture, to give it more detail.

Hope this helps

Susan

Hermitage
by Pangurban

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Heh, well I almost guessed straight off the bat what this was, my first guess was some sort of handmade Christmas ornament :-) I had hermit crabs as pets when I was a kid. (Not very cuddly, but fun to watch.) Anyway, a good image that meets the challenge requirements, it's both a thought-out macro and the pattern of the shell definitely give that abstract quality.

Like you said, the devil is in the hotspots from your light sources. It looks like 2-3 directional lights aimed at the shell; I also used to use floods simply because I had nothing else to use. If you're stuck with only an on-camera flash, wrapping it up in many layers of small bubblewrap could have helped to diffuse the light so it wouldn't have given that *on-camera flash* look.

Otherwise a fine image, and everyone knows that reflective surfaces are the very devil to shoot. But there are ways to do it, I picked up a book called Light: Science and Magic which is a terrific book to help you learn the basics of lighting.

Hope this helps!

Susan

The Hopper
by aksha

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Yes, this does indeed appear to be an abstract macro, especially as the hopper in question is out of focus, which I am guessing is the intent. That stem it's perched on is very hairy or needly! Interesting use of bokeh. Image is a little overexposed on the grasshopper's head, but the composition is actually quite clean otherwise. Bugs of all kinds are tough to shoot because they often move or fly off or what they are perched on moves, so not a bad effort.

I see a lot of potential in images like this; if you continue to compete, and more importantly learn from comments and critiques, you could do very well here.

Susan

How Many?
by Pangurban

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Good composition, great textures and lighting, though a little surprised that you used the settings you did; a faster shutter/lower ISO/larger aperture is more the way I think most would go. Still, it did the job, and in the end that is all that counts.

I don't quite get the title, though; I'm not familiar with the brand so not sure if Barbour is known for having several layers and/or multiple zippers or teeth.

Hope this helps,

Susan

Hell NO GMO
by jgirl57

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

A very touchy topic that I am glad to see many voters obviously agree with. As I understand it, Monsanto is a gigantic global firm that develops and sells seeds that can only sprout and grow and be protected by their chemical products, for which I understand, they charge farmers an arm and a leg. I take the moon to be indicative of a harvest moon.

Very good concept and well put across, so far, so good :-) That little strip of white on the right is barely visible and imnsho doesn't really interfere with the image, but some aren't fond of it. Most of the food looks a little worse for the wear - love the ghastly tones on the corn - deliberately so? To point out frightening mad-scientist approach Monsanto takes to our food? Chilling stuff.

Very well it placed so high, keep up the good work Julie!

Susan

POP-ouT
by MichaelC

Comment:
I agree with Lydia, an even tighter crop could have done a bit more to the image...but you're the one with the ribbon, huge congrats on that! So whose idea was the makeup and how long did it take to do?

Be careful where I walk
by Judi

Comment:
Better you than me, Kobba! 7

Shine the Light
by charliebaker

Comment:
gorgeous image, why is it so small?