Divine Illuminatrix
by glad2badad

Comment:
Yes, very nice shot, great bokeh, purty flower...but...*ahem* I beg to differ, Spiffy...imho this is a divine Illuminatrix...

And if you aren't Spiffy, my apologies! :-)

Day at the Museum
by philcozz

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Initial impression: Lovely shot, great clean sweeping lines, as someone else said looks pristine. Had I voted, a 9 or 10, because you are not relying on the people to carry the shot.

Technical: Great pov, the comp draws the eye up to the soaring roof and the pavilion, finally you notice the people. Very clever! Lighting looks ambient and bang-on for the shot.

Artistic: Terrific sense of a story being told in such an intriguing location. Made me think of a scene before the new 007, James Blond, bursts onto the scene and trashes the place! Pity you didn't finish higher, but a top-20 finish is very good too.

Overall: Glad you did so little editing. Good work, keep shooting!

Feel free to PM me with any questions,

Susan

(Or just send me a few tins of Twiglets out of gratitude ;-)

Bankers Hall - East
by Citadel

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Initial impression: the style of the building, sepia and pov combine to make it look like an opening shot for a Dick Tracy movie. Very atmospheric. Had I voted, an 8.

Technical: You used ambient light and the few shadows you did get just enchance the shot and scale of the building. Composition might be called stark by some, but I find it achingly simple.

Artistic: Good for you, having the discipline to get downtown and get this shot at 6 a.m. with the golden light! Seeing how high you scored it seems to have paid off. I am very fond of this extreme pov, so bonus points for that :-)

Overall: Not familiar with Lightroom, but whatever you did clearly works, and all the pp in the world will not save a poor shot. Again, a lovely image, I am a bit disappointed by the lack of comments, but perhaps voters were Architecture'd out.

Feel free to pm me with any questions,

Susan

Minty Fresh
by colorcarnival

Comment:
Way to go Michelle, a top ten finish! Woot! :-0 Love the raindrops on the mint leaves.

Huckleberry
by sfmorris

Comment:
What a lovely Arab! Lemme guess...he's a Huckleberry Bey? Terrific capture and I love the way you use animal sfx to get his attention! Congrats Sharon! :-)

Reflections of AT&T
by geneward2

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Initial impression: Wish I'd taken it. Lovely, and would have been an easy 9 from me in voting.

Technical: Great use of ambient light, pov works beautifully, comp could arguably be seen as a little centred but this kind of shot calls for it. Wonderful use of negative space. PP seems to be just fine.

Artistic: Actually another glance at the top part of pic reveals a slight list to the right, which enhances the sensation of vertigo. Like the way the sky seems to form a giant '1'.

FWIW/Overall: the only change I'd make would be one pass with sharpen edges, after unsharp mask, just to give the tops of the buildings just that little more sharpness.

Very good shot, you just finished out of the ribbons but in the top 10, and here that is nothing to sneeze at!

Feel free to PM me with any questions,

Susan

Fallen
by meyers

Comment:
very Goth and freaky...would like to have seen the brown hair cloned out. Had I voted, an 8 for sure.

Chrome; A Forgotten Art
by Shutter-For-Hire

Comment:
Eric can I please please please PLEASE borrow your fisheye? PLEAAAAZZZEEE!!! ;-0

Turtle Exhibit Billboard
by Lydia

Comment:
This is such a cute and appealing image...would have made a great billboard! Congrats on the ribbon!

Support Your Local Zoo!
by IWhispered

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Initial impression: very cute picture of an otter, but a very noisy picture too. I gave it a 6 in voting because basically a good shot and I could understand wanting to shoot at a high ISO to ensure a good capture of subject.

Technical: ISO 3200...yow, that's VERY high. ISO 800 should have been sufficient, especially for a subject that is basically very relaxed. Composition good, DOF a little shallow, lighting is ambient; again feel that a lower ISO would have resulted in a better shot. POF is dead on, but in zoos you are often limited as to how you can shoot.

Artistic: Would have been nice to get a face-on shot or even a 3/4 shot to add a little more dynamism. However, critters do not take direction well.

FWIW/Overall: I worked as an advertising copywriter for several years, and the copy here sounds quite dry, more like a corporate mission statement. You want to create a sense of excitement and adventure: Share the marvels of nature with your children! etc., etc.

Quite a pleasant shot of an appealing subject. Keep shooting!

Feel free to PM me with any questions,

Susan