Sunburst
by EgillP

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Pleasant image, but it doesn't take any risks. It's very safe, and on this site that may make it forgettable. I think you could have done a much tighter crop to emphasize the house and sunbeams. On a personal note I would have done away with the border, especially a dark one. I would have tried to shoot from a lower pov, to add drama, especially with the A-frame roof.

Interesting that you used such a fast lens for this shot. Looking at your settings, I guess you shot handheld. Nothing wrong with that, however a tripod can come in handy when you are planning to head out and shoot something that isn't moving very fast, like a house :-) Then you can close down the fstop, open up the shutter and let the tripod do all the work of holding the camera rock-steady.

Hope this citique helps, keep shooting!

Feel free to PM me with any questions,

Susan

Nikolai
by oskarak

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Awwww...and this from someone who is not a fan of babies!

Very cute studio shot, love that the baby is still small enough to fit in the lightbox and stay on the fleece you put down for him. I am impressed that you got away with an ISO of 50 and only 1/160 for such a squirmy subject. The lighting is just right for this shot, no glare or overly harsh shadows. Composition is fine for this portrait. The b/w is an interesting choice, but it works.

Overall a very sweet image, the expression is wonderful and he looks happy and relaxed. What more could a baby want?

Feel free to PM me with any questions,

Susan

Framed by Nature
by DigiFotoBuddy

Comment:
Hello fellow CC member!

I like the roundness of the logs showing towards us, and the natural dark red of the wood pops out against the mossy green rocks and silky water. Ambient lighting is soft and filtered, no harsh shadows or too much glare except for a teeny bit on the water. Nice dof and good use of long exposures.

I see this though as a piece of nature framed by nature, which may have contributed to a relatively low score for this shot. Replace the logs with, say, discarded pop bottles, and I daresay you would have scored much higher. Still, a finish in the top 20% is nothing to sneeze at, so good work!

Feel free to PM me with any questions,

Susan

Leda
by Rino63

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

What I see here is an excellent idea where the execution needs some work. The profile is not quite a full profile, nor is it quite 3/4 profile, though you may have ended up with a more interesting shot in 3/4 profile.

It looks as though she is being lit by light coming in through a window, which works well. However that light falls off quickly, and at 1/40 there is little chance for the light to reach further back and illuminate more. Also the top of the head vanishes into the background.

I would suggest a reflector of some sort, which would bounce the ambient light back towards her face. In this case, from probably the area of her right shoulder. You can easily make one out of tinfoil and cardboard, as I have in the past! If you have a tripod, put it to use, and if you use a reflector - play around with it a little, see what works for you - stay with your current settings. If the reflector starts to give you some glare, close down your fstop or increase the shutter speed.

Hope this critique/tutorial has been of help. She reminds me of my paternal grandmother, who was from Andalusia. Her face is full of experiences and stories.

Feel free to PM me with any questions,

Susan

Jah Bul On
by rooum

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

What a striking building/buildings. I think you succeeded in capturing the age and power you mention in your notes! Love the effect given by the Tokina...wide-angle lens are fun, aren't they? :-) Love the extreme pov too.

Centred composition but that seems to be the point here as it was a potential Perspective entry. Lighting is adequate, slightly flat due to what looks like a nice case of murk happening overhead. Still, the curves of the building behind the main structure keep drawing me back to look again and again to see what I may be missing.

Overall a great shot of a very imposing edifice. I have probably already given you my lecture on tripods - basically have it handy if you plan to shoot architecture or studio so you can use it. But we don't always have that luxury, so I forgive you for shooting handheld. This time ;-)

Feel free to PM me with any questions,

Susan

Alone with Nature
by denbote

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

This is a lovely capture. The raft on the river, the light filtering through the leaves, the path and river going different directions, look on the boy's face as though he had just realized you were there...all marevelous.

Technically there is some glare to the right of the frame on the water and where the sun enters the shot, but that is nitpicking in the extreme. Too close a crop on the right and you would have been blasted for that. The dof and whole feel to this shot is wonderful. Glad that you got it with such a humble kit lens, too!

Frankly it looks to me like a scene from a movie. I can almost feel the dust in the back of my throat. Excellent work and I am very glad you placed as high as you did, especially in a Free Study.

Feel free to PM me with any questions,

Susan

La Voix de Dieu Résonne
by Senay

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

A little bit of glare visible on the whatsit (bridge?) where the strings attach does tend to draw the eye. Looks like you strummed the bottom two strings, I think it adds nicely to a bokeh-ish effect. As always, there are going to be people who love or hate extreme dof. The title's quite good...and hey aren't you in the same basic area that Anvil comes from? (I'm not a metalhead but yes I've seen the movie! :-)

The 18-55 kit lens isn't a bad choice for what is essentially a macro. I am guessing you shot handheld; this would have been a good time to break out the tripod and close down the fstop and leave the shutter open. A lower ISO may have helped reduce the glare too. I would have tried a lower, and higher, pov too to add more interest to the shot as it is a bit static.

Otherwise, you finished quite well in a challenge that has all manner of unorthodox entries. Keep shooting!

Feel free to PM me with any questions,

Susan

Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today
by Nuzzer

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

I love to see Lensbaby shots, they are so cool. Very nice surreal feel to the shot with the blur and soft light. I was disappointed to see this finish so low, especially in a Fine Art challenge. I think this image has plenty of artisitic merit...however, it does lack the dpc-friendly hit of saturation that voters love.

Lighting is soft and natural, the dof especially coming in from the left is very effective in bringing that daisy forward. I do agree that a tighter crop on the right may have helped strengthen composition. The lit diagonal area adds a sense of place.

Overall an unconventional shot, but I like to see the boundaries being pushed. Keep up the good work and oob thinking!

Feel free to PM me with any questions,

Susan

My name is Gladiator !!
by wingyisleeds

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Lovely capture of an extremely historic site, to say the least. I have the Nikon version of that lens and can well understand why you used it for this shot.

A lower ISO may have helped to capture richer tones, I have to agree with the commenters who see flatness in areas of the shot. The shutter speed is quite fast so you must have been shooting handheld. For architecture, landscapes, anything where your subject isn't likely to be going anywhere in a hurry, a tripod is worth its weight in gold. You then have a stable base and can close down the fstop, open the aperture and slow the ISO right down.

And, assuming that you did the pp in the order in which you list it, you may want to do all your cropping, image adjustment and colour manipualtion before you resize. Then usm and save for web. Wouldn't hurt to try!

Feel free to PM me with any questions,

Susan

Marfill
by marcoesquivel

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Interesting image. I imagine the title and elephants have significance for you, but here it is lost on the viewer. Is Marfill an elephant? A location? Is there a story to be told by entitling it Marfill? As they say, a photo is worth a thousand words, so give what you have at your disposal - your elephant statues and studio and LEDs - a story to tell.

Technically, the composition is quite centred and focus appears soft, though I do like the dof and shadows cast by the figures. And as you likely had a tripod for an 8-second capture, why use such a high ISO? Most LEDs, which are popular with those that like painting with light, give off quite good light on their own. I believe an ISO of 200 would have been adequate, and helped cut down on the background light glare.

The only to improve is to keep on shooting, and never be afraid to mess with the settings. Experiment and see what works and what doesn't. But above all, keep shooting!

Feel free to PM me with any questions,

Susan