Paper Tiger
by talzam

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Hmm no comments during voting...that means you can get a little icon to put on your page if you like, PM me for the URL :-) Now onto the critique.

I think most people simply didn't get it, especially with the title being Paper Tiger. I had to read the photog notes to see what is in the pic. The scissors and paper are obvious, but the drawn rock is probably the weakest part as it doesn't automatically 'read' rock, again people are primed to see a tiger. A real rock would have worked a lot better. The composition actually isn't all that bad, but the shallow dof, tight crop and the poor lighting aren't helping. Assuming you weren't able to shoot faster than f5.6 or had better lighting, a higher ISO would have helped. Take advantage of Canon's killer ISO!!

Again not a bad concept overall and with a few minor tweaks it could have worked a lot better. Try reshooting using some of the suggestions above; it never hurts.

Feel free to PM me,

Susan

The Breakaway
by Qiki

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Leaaannnn....yep, works for me too. Very nice capture, sharp and tons of detail, lovely ambient light. I would have liked to see the whole of the leader's front tire in the shot but I imagine this was pretty tight (I have a 300mm f.4 and can imagine how tight the field of vision was) and am guessing that you wanted to get the riders in more than anything else. Some very minor hot areas like on the forks of the 2nd rider's bike, that could have been burned down a little, but nothing major. I don't see the pp, which imho is a good job. And you finished in the top 15, so good work!

Feel free to PM me,

Susan

The fool
by kimberlyMai

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

For some reason this image brings Cher's song, 'Dark Lady' to mind. But then, I have a weird mind :-)

I don't have problems with the three candles vs you in terms of balance, and I like the crop and the comp. The tarot card seems to do a handy job of helping add balance imho. Facial expression and body language is fine and I have no lighting issues. But what really seems freaky to me is the positioning of your arms - I'm having trouble discerning which is which! It looks like the left one is by your face and the right one is holding the card.

So it may have been that, and the way you're leaning more into frame than being encompassed by it, that turned voters off. And it's not edited up the wazoo, which does seem to be expected for Expert...more the pity :-/

Still, you seem to be enjoying yourself with entering challenges, so why stop? Just keep on having fun and let the cards err, votes fall as they may.

Feel free to PM me,

Susan

The Sport of Kings
by UrfaK

Comment:
Great top 10 capture of 'hockey on horses'! :-)

DSC_0665
by mrjssims

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Have to agree with the comments on soft focus, it's not quite here or there. Love the colours and rich texture, and that you did virtually nil editing. The lighting is nice and the settings are fine for a handheld shot. The title could use a little work! :-)

However although the leaf does have many interesting aspects to it - the stem, the texture, the veins - it really needs something to draw the eye in and lock it. A bug, a snail, a frog, anything at all, even if it's also green, but there has to be something there for us to find and not just skip over it. Lack of focal point and the softness is what hurt you here.

But it's not a complete train wreck, you can do better and I hope you're still shooting and entering.

Feel free to PM me,

Susan

the three ages of man
by sidpixel

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

I like the simplicity of the shot and framing, great use of silhouettes and lovely tones in the sky. However I would have liked to see the three men spaced out a little more, they look to be stepping on each other's heels here, and they have so much room! I might have gotten the boy to act a little younger, leaping or running, but the more contemplative stride of the middle-aged man looks fine. Glad you didn't go quite so far as to give the eldest man a cane.

So the concept works for me, and the execution is hard to fault, except maybe shooting a little faster or dialing down the ISO to take out what little highlights there are in the sky. Overall a nice shot, keep up the good work.

Feel free to PM me,

Susan

Loser..
by lobrin

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Yowch! Having a faceful of funky clothespegs doesn't look like much fun...but whatever works for you...:-)

This shot is a little puzzling as the viewer doesn't know which comes first, the clothespegs or the hand L. Are you a loser because you have a faceful of clothespegs or vice versa? You refer to a poker party but I don't see a tie-in to the shot. The lighting is quite harsh, looks like the flash was placed very close and without a diffuser, nor angled enough at the reflector for it to do its job adequately. A higher ISO or larger aperture may have helped as you probably would have started to blur past 1/30. Overall impression is a shoehorn shot at the last minute.

But the creativity is there, the concept needs a little work and the execution definitely needs some fine tuning. Do keep shooting and trying things out and keep entering.

Feel free to PM me,

Susan

What Goes Up....
by Magnumphotography

Comment:
WOOOHOOOO DUDE!!! I am so freakin proud of you...I always knew you would ribbon here, that it was a matter of when, not if. Huge congrats on the red to my Red (which btw is 1st place in Canada)!!! Love you!! :-)

Message edited by author 2012-02-13 00:22:08.

The Sport of Kings
by UrfaK

Comment:
Hmmm so far as I know horse racing is still 'the sport of kings', though of course royals do play polo - they're virtually the only ones who can afford it!

Looking Through the Wet Window
by ScooterMcNutty

Comment:
*WARNING* Brutally honest critique following:

The impression I am getting here is disengagement/indifference from the cat, you can see the eyes but it's not looking at you. Only the nose looks in focus, and shooting through a window is always tricky. The crop looks really tight too, I feel constrained. The colours look fairly drab in the first place and the pp honestly doesn't seem to have helped.