High Key Cougar
by JulietNN

Comment:
nice pic but missing the euphemism.

Mountain Goats
by GUTomek

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Whether they're bighorn sheep or mountain goats, I know how difficult it is to shoot wildlife. So kudos on a very decent shot especially with the subjects coming towards you! Nice detail and I almost feel a little dizzy looking at the bg, so good capture on the vertigo aspect :-) Good colours esp on such a drab day, nice detail on the coats, beards etc. I'm not distracted by the pp, which is a sign of good pp in my book. My main nitpick is the crop. I can see that you wanted the bg in there for a sense of place, but Mom's heading out of frame to the left, so I'd have liked to see some more room for her to go into. The back on the mom is a little blown out, some burning could have brought back the texture to the coat.

Otherwise not much to complain about, and year-end FSs are exceptionally tough to do well in. Please keep shooting and entering!

Feel free to PM me,

Susan

Two angels !
by maroberts

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Very nice capture of two cute boys, both obviously very different personality types. Like the angle of the heads, though would like to see the blond boy's eyes at teh camera. Nice dof and good focus, lighting needs a little work. I'm guessing your main light source is an off-camera flash to the right, which is doing a spectacular job of showing off the dark haired lad. (Very glad that you didn't use the on-camera flash, those are brutal!) However the little boy on the left needs some light too; his eyes look dull in comparison to his brother's. I understand that you probably don't have a 2nd flash, but reflectors are fairly inexpensive and do a wonderful job. If need be you can make one out of cardboard and highly reflective heat tape, which is bright silver and comes in a roll like duct tape; most hardware stores should have it. Even one of those big reflective thingies you put on your car's dash in the summertime to keep the heat out makes a handy reflector.

Otherwise a very sweet pic, and don't feel let down by the score at all. Free Studies are always pretty tough and year-end FSs are even tougher. So keep up the good work and maybe, just for fun, grab a reflector and try a reshoot, if the boys will hold still long enough! :-) You should notice quite a difference.

Feel free to PM me,

Susan

Heart of the rose
by Someamateur

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

I like the angle you have on the rose here, it helps make the shot look much less cliched. Very shallow dof is always tricky to do well, especially as you aren't square onto the subject; you pretty much have to pick your battles. Most voters seem to like shallow dof so long as it's more to the front of an image.

I'm not so sure about the heart. It's at a third and it's white, so it competes with the redness of the rose and the other object at the heart of the rose. With a minor change in comp the white heart could have been at the rose's centre instead.

But the main thing is, you're happy with what you shot and entered and fwiw I find that to be the important thing. Too many people shoot just to please the voters, not themselves, then end up disappointed. So please stay true to your vision and continue to enter, learn, and have fun.

Feel free to PM me,

Susan

Fruits vs. Vegetables
by Osiris1975

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Are green peppers considered fruit? I didn't know that.

Very cute and fun idea, lovely concept with the sparring veggies/fruit. I don't mind the wires that much, but know what you mean - and never fear, even the mighty Christophe has had fishing line visible in some Basic entries :-) Mind some black marker ink or paint may have dulled the wire of the VS. enough to minimize the support wires.

The main problem here is the darkness of the shot. A higher ISO and larger aperture would have helped a lot, and a reflector of some kind. Even a piece of aluminum foil on cardboard works well. I am guessing you mean 1/15 of a second? With a shot like this, you would want to go much longer. Obviously the camera is already on a tripod, just set the time to a second or more.

But obviously people liked it enough as you finished in the top 15, so keep up the good work, pay more attention to the technical side esp lighting, and you'll do fine.

Feel free to PM me,

Susan

My Girl
by mrjssims

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

First off I love the simplicity of this shot. The ribbon being slightly askew is wonderful, adding interest and giving us some idea as to the girl's personality. I can see why some don't like the braids being in focus and not the ribbon, but in this case I think it works. The lighting is fine for this sort of shot, composition is straightforward and the crop isn't too tight. A more vertical orientation might have made the image more compelling - I'm wondering if we would have seen a school uniform below that fall of hair - or more contemporary clothing.

Either way it looks like you know what the KISS principle is, so make the most of it! Please keep on shooting and entering.

Feel free to PM me,

Susan

DNMC: We all love mummy and cakes. Portray both based on provided reference material.
by mcaldo

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

This concept is great but needs some refining. It looks like a handheld snapshot, and a cute one, but still a snap and with some camera shake, too. 1/40 is basically as slow as you can possibly go handheld, and even then it's best to steady yourself somehow. Time to break out the tripod - they start off fairly cheap, you don't need anything heavy duty just yet.

The composition is actually pretty decent but the glare off the canvas and boy's sleeve draw attention for all the wrong reasons. His head is swallowed up by what's behind his head...sofa? He's adorable and needs some catchlight in his eyes. The easel is grabbing all the attention.

And yes, I do agree with the comment on the wordy titles. The boy looks like he's just wandered into the studio, snatched a cake and is now making off with his prize when he sees you lurking there. So I'd focus on that moment.

Feel free to PM me,

Susan

Par
by kimberlyMai

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

I laughed when I read your comments because I've done that too, bought Alpha-Bits to use only as props :-)

OK now getting down to brass tacks, the concept is great but for once I think the b/w let you down. It really doesn't work for food photography, of photos of food if you get my meaning. The letters look like they're made of rock but the spoon and to some extent the dof tells us that they're cereal. Add the liquid in the bowl being something other than milk, and it seems to throw people off.

Otherwise it's a decent image, especially done on the fly, so keep up the good work!

Feel free to PM me,

Susan

The Real Sound of Music
by wernerH

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

First off congrats on a top 20 image, that's nothing to sneeze at. I'm glad to see a licorice pizza in the challenge and what looks like a fairly modern turntable - you don't have a nickel taped to the head to keep it from skipping :-)

OK now for the nitpicky part. A few hot areas on the arm and in the bg...hmm...and that's really all I've got! The lighting is fine for this kind of shot, the composition is simple and clean, the dof is bang on and I find lots of atmosphere with the very light sepia tones.

Overall good job, please keep on shooting and entering.

Feel free to PM me,

Susan

I start in the middle of a sentence & move both directions at once (John Coltrane)
by mcaldo

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Like this shot a lot, but am siding with EL-ROI and have to admit that it's a) it's gorgeous and b) it's a shoehorn. And I';m aggravated for you that most voters didn't see what you were getting at, the rhythms in the lines and sinuous curves and funny little notes in between.

As you yourself say, 'either way I shall enjoy the trip.' Your work is very good, you have a marvelous eye and really seem to have a knack for b/w in particular. And when you do ribbon - because I really do believe you could, if you stick with it and just keep on there is nothing better than ribboning on your terms, as opposed to selling out for the vox populi.

Please keep on shooting and entering!

Feel free to PM me,

Susan

Feel free to PM me,

Susan