Dinner Or Play Thing?
by flintdog7

Comment:
oh great, now you have me craving canned spaghetti! No fair! :-)

Bad Job
by Michiel

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Not a bad image at all, but the conveyance of cold is a little lacking here. Focus is good, composition not too bad, settings are fine although you probably could have got away with a slower shutter speed of, say, 1/400.

Spiffy can see what is likely going on and can relate to the work being done. But I suspect that for most of the North American crowd, it just looks like the average hydro guy in a safety outfit doing his job.

Overall I feel the image lacks impact. A little hit of contrast and saturation would bring out the blues and oranges; the bg is slightly blah and could have been cropped a little closer to the worker to focus the attention on him/her.

Keep shooting, you will only improve if you persevere.

Feel free to PM me with any questions,

Susan

Dangerous Shot
by gadion

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

I have a 426-lb cast-iron woodstove that I keep fired 24/7 for at least 5 months of the year, and have often wanted to do shots like this with nice red-hot coals in the bg. On to your image. I think it's great, and the high number of 6s and 7s seems to reflect that. The crouching photog cutout seems a little too close to the coals, though. Almost too much is in focus here. Black bristol board may last a little longer, btw :-)

Your settings otherwise are fine for this shot, I imagine you used a tripod. I think a shallower dof, enough to keep the photog in focus but enough to blur out the bg slightly, would have given you an even higher score. If possible I would recommend tossing in something like dried orange peel (burns brightly, and beautifully, but very briefly) to give you a bit of a flame. Wouldn't hurt to see what you got with it.

Overall a wonderful shot, by all means play around with the settings and see what happens. Look forward to seeing more of your work.

Feel free to PM me with any questions,

Susan

Fashion & Function
by Ristyz

Comment:
I like all the crochetwork done on both the helmet and the horse's flymask! Great semi-candid. Gave you an 8 in voting.

Day Off
by JamalHamou

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Beautiful image, very serene and quiet. Composition is lovely and simple, focus is great with the solidity of the dock on the water. I lived in BC for several years, so am very familiar with the climate there.

The only change I'd suggest is putting your camera on a tripod, going down a few stops - say f.11 for starters - and leaving the shutter open longer. 1/100 is pretty fast for a stationary shot. I think you'll find that you'll get an even greater sense of dof and probably a bit of that nice, slightly silky feel on the water.

Overall a very pleasant photo to look at and thanks for the opportunity to critique it.

Feel free to PM me with any questions,

Susan

Eminence
by RebelBlue

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

I like the impressionistic feel of this shot, falling snow, dirty window and all. And yes, wildlife don't take direction well! Looks like you shot on a very murky winter day, when the sky is a flat monochramatic grey, and a flash would frighten off the bird.

Like the way the branches help frame the cardinal. Your settings and composition and fine for such a tricky shot, you scored poorly mostly due to ambient lighting than anything else.

FWIW...I live in an old schoolhouse, the kind that has three gigantic windows down each long side. I scrubbed out the window that would give me the best shot of birds with vinegar and water, and removed the window screen. This gave me the chance to get shots of the birds through almost-perfectly clean glass. May want to give it a try.

Overall, a great attempt in terms of concept, execution needs a little more work. Keep shooting!

Feel free to PM me with any questions,

Susan

Cold Clip
by abuscemi

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Baahhahahahahaahaa! I love the quirky nature and creativity in this shot. Reminds me of whatsisname who was found frozen in the Swiss Alps about 10 yrs ago. Looks quite realistic, too, and many commenters reflect this.

Composition is just fine, good thirds. A little bit of glare on the left, could have stepped down quite a bit, shielded the light so not so much would be caught by the snow/ice, and left shutter open longer.

Overall a very fun image, had I voted in this challenge, a 6 at least, probably more like a 7 for a LOL (I give 8s for public LOLs at an image in a challenge :-)

Well done! Keep up the good work and keep the creative spark fired up!

Feel free to PM me with any questions,

Susan

obcese with the past
by marcoesquivel

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

I would see this as more of a portrait than pieces of the human form, but we'll get to that later. It is an interesting shot, but with the blurriness and poos lighting, does have a very snapshot-feel to it (as a commenter noted, looks like old-school Polaroid). To me, it looks like the kind of shot you would see in an Ann Rule true crime book. Composition is there but rather crude.

You shot with a good camera and lens (probably too much lens for this shot, an 18-55mm or similar lens would have done just fine) and apart from the light, fairly decent settings, so here it's the subject matter that turned off voters more than anything else.

Though the gun isn't pointed at the viewer, it is a highly disturbing image. Is the gun really necessary? If your grandpa has so much history behind him, let his hands or face tell the story.

You may want to try this: starting at the last page of all the entries in the challenge (or any challenge, for that matter) work your way up to the first page/top 10 challenge entries. Watch how the quality of the photos changes, how the subject matter fits the challenge, how the technicals like lighting and composition play a part.

Feel free to PM me with any questions,

Susan

A Short Walk From Home
by ASTONishing

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Ahh, love shots like this. Nice peaceful scene, serene natural setting, silky water, the bent and twisted branch rising from the water in the lower left anchoring the focal point. Great b/w tones.

My only nitpick: It's a very safe shot, there are no risks being taken in terms of POV or composition. You probably could have left the shutter open much longer to enhance the feel of the water, too.

Feel free to PM me with any questions,

Susan

That's it! Next year I AM going to migrate!
by vawendy

Comment:
What a great picture, Wendy! Poor little bird does look like she'd much rather be some place warm. Question though: how'd you get close enough to spray-paint over the blue feathers? ;-)