Ollie and Alana
by jomari

Comment:
Cute shot but, fwiw - based on over 30 years experience as a professional horsewoman - Alana could well lose a few teeth if Ollie decided to toss his head. For that reason alone I never ever condone kissing an animal whose blind spot is directly in front of it.

Bed Time Story and Lots of Kisses
by littlemav

Comment:
Teehee! I did give you better than my base score cause this is funny :-)

Albino Hawk
by brownsm

Comment:
Hmm I dunno looks pretty much like a true albino, or getting there. In mammals they're supposed to have pink eyes but don't know about raptors. Very cool though!

from here to eternity
by sidpixel

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

I gave you an 8 in voting and am glad I did so. Love the low POV, textures in the wood and the solidity of the structure, your model almost appears to be floating and their blur seems to enhance the rush to get to eternity. Composition is good and the dof covers a lot of ground, furthering the impression of having somewhere to go. The punch of colour against otherwise drab tones really makes this pop. Light is a little drab but that's ambient for you :-)

Now I feel like I must go and read the book! Very nice shot and glad it did well.

Feel free to PM me,

Susan

The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, by Douglas Adams
by Osiris1975

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

First off, huge congrats on an outstanding first entry and glad to see you did so well in your first challenge. Your style is very reminescent style of Svetlana, aka silverfoxx. And yes I can see similarities to RKT in there too. And Deb (Melethia) is right - getting both a posty and an thumbprint is a huge accomplishment here. Hard to believe you've only been into photography for 1 month!!!

This is a very haunting, compelling image and now I want to go read the book so I can figure this out!! Don't worry so much about teeny details like the crease in bottom right. Nobody else seems to have noticed it and it doesn't detract. Composition is very good and I don't mind that we can see your wife's face. Adds to the mystery. Very glad you've already discovered the value of a tripod especially for shots like this. The lighting is nice and subdued and the tiny bit of grain in the curtains just seems to add texture.

I predict that if you keep up this kind of work, you could be giving the ribbon hawgs a serious run for their money. Just shoot and pp and enter what works for you, and let the scores fall as they may. It's so much more rewarding to ribbon with a shot you like.

Feel free to PM me,

Susan

What to Expect the First Year by Arlene Eisenberg
by kimberlyMai

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Lovely shot, Kimberly-Mai. Great use of the white to offset Keean's colouring, though maybe using a reflector in front of his face would have helped to light him without bleaching out the rug. Crop looks a little tight; the comp is otherwise OK. I'd try doc's suggestion, methinks he knows what he's on about!

Feel free to PM me,

Susan

The Magical Money Tree
by sjhuls

Comment:
*sigh* need to get me one of those!

...24-Hours-Later
by littlemav

Comment:
Oh Katie, you old lush, what else can I say?!

Mister Sparkler
by asij

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

First impression: This is such a great use of a single light source, but the choice of model, pose and location really makes it an outstanding image. Glad to see your creativity was rewarded with a ribbon! :-)

Artistic: It's always tough to critique images that have ribboned. Love the dynamic pose esp on the edge of a cliff, in the dark...guess you and your model knew the surrounding area well as you'd have been painting him with sparklers. The hoodie/mask? adds an air of mystery to him too.

Technical: Aha! Finally I found something to pick apart - I do feel that there is too much negative space to the right. But otherwise I am at a loss.

Overall: Again this is just such a great example of what I'm always telling noobs to do - concentrate on taking a good pic and don't worry about the pp. Because this image is just perfect for illustrating the KISS principle. I take it from your comments that you were on DPC before and are returning. If that is the case, please stay!!

Feel free to PM me,

Susan

Power of the Night
by petehall

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

First impression: Very good long exposure taken at night of what most of us see and think of as a threat more than clean energy - a nuclear power plant.

Artistic: Colours are great and the tiny silhouettes of the trees add to the ominous feel here. What was your WB, it might help explain if it's a shooting star or a satellite/plane passing by.

Technical: Good use of thirds, I am assuming you used a tripod or are absolutely rock-steady at a handheld 1/30. I have that lens too and love it. Lighting is ambient and adds to the feel as it's bouncing off the clouds of steam.

Hmmm did you notice that your horizon's slightly askew? *ducking* PhotoShop and its ilk are not to be feared. There is no disgrace to pp'ing an image. Straighten the horizon, then crop. (I can tell you where to find the tools if you like). I don't find the green streak to be distracting but you could have cloned it out. Just remember, too much pp can easily ruin a perfectly good image, and no amount of pp will rescue a bad photo.

Overall: You finished in the top ten with your first ever submission, with an image that has a tilted horizon *gasp!*you should be very proud of yourself! Keep up the good work, learn basic pp skills (PS Elements is very affordable and may be all you need, no need to remortgage the house buying PS CS5).

Feel free to PM me,

Susan