Reflections Under Ice
by gminish

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club :)

This is a lovely photo... The snow is beautiful and I love the way it contrasts with the blue sky. The reflections on the water always add an interesting element to a scene like this one... Since you won first place this week, I'm gonna be 'picky' with my critique :)

There are two things I would have done slightly differently with a photograph like this one. First of all, I would have made sure the horizon line between the mountains and the water was perfectly level in the frame. This one is very slightly tilted down towards the left. This tilt is very minor and probably went unnoticed for the most part. You can quickly rotate this in photoshop to correct it... I don't really believe the 'rule of thirds' applies to horizon lines in landscape photos. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesnt. In your case, you have something interesting to see on both sides of the horizon. When this is the case, you can usually toss the 'rule of thirds' out the window :) Secondly, I think I would have lowered that horizon in the frame just a tad so that the horizon line did not split the center of the frame. Someone commented that it would be nice to see a little more sky and a little less foreground... I'll have to agree with that comment completely.

This is definitely a beautiful photograph. Keep up the great work and I look forwared to seeing more of Alaska from you in the future :)

John Setzler

Modern Romance
by magnetic9999

Comment:
Beautiful shot! I love the way the red stands out in this one. the only minor issue I see is that the front side of the white rose has lost a lot of detail in the lighting... great shot = 10 - setzler

Milky Bath
by Jean

Comment:
Phenomenal job at a white on white composition! This is my 'best of show' for the challenge... great shot! - 10 - setzler

Start Spreadin' the News
by magnetic9999

Comment:
I love the strong composition on this photo... This is on my favorites list for this week.. The great composition and extreme depth of field, along with an excellent toning job make this an extremely strong shot... great work :) = 10 - setzler

One Way
by boyte1

Comment:
This is a phenomenal shot and it's also my favorite of the week for the 'signs' challenge. It's definitely the most creative shot I have seen this week, and coupled with your choice of black and white, I hope you have a winner here. I would love to see this on the main page all week next week... kudos on my 'best of show' for the week :) - setzler

Crossing
by timj351

Comment:
you live in a beautiful and photo op rich environment :)

mid winter
by flasher

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club :)

Hi Flasher!

I really like snow and ice winter scenes and I think that they can make terrific landscape shots as well. In my humble opinion, this particular image is slightly weak for a landscape photo. You have 'captured' a landscape with your shot, but my mind is looking for something slightly more dramatic with higher impact. Maybe a wider-scale scene with some more 'land' showing here would create that impact.

The lighting here creates some nice shadow for your shot as well. The shadow areas contain a bit of a 'blue' cast... possibly caused by a polarizing filter? Not completely sure about that but... when this happens, you can often correct it by desaturating the blue/cyan channels in photoshop :) I think that could improve this image just a bit as well.

Keep up the great work :)

John Setzler

Martin hill
by ivana

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club :)

This is a nicely composed landscape. I believe that the horizon being just above center in this particular image works very effectively. Unfortunately, the tint of the sky doesn't really work well for me here, but i know that you can't control the weather :)

I didn't know where "Drugo Selo" was located so i looked it up to find Croatia as the location... I would have expected to see a nice 'cold' weather and wintery scene in that part of the world this time of year :)

Keep up the good work!

John Setzler

OW! I HATE It When That Happens!!!
by albright1

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club :)

I think you did a great job of capturing humor in this image :) Somehow, I think this 'subject' enjoyed this assignment.. lol... The look on his face was the deciding element in this photo for me...

I can't really offer you much real critique on this image because all of the elements come together so nicely. The directional lighting creates a nice drama for this shot that would not have been possible with more light. The balance of light and dark is perfect. The light on the background also helps separate your subject from the background. The detail of his hair is quite visible and not washed out.

Keep up the good work... I have enjoyed watching what you post here :)

John Setzler

Walk of Beauty
by kathleenm

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club :)

Hi Kathleen :)

This is a beautiful shot. The pathway leading into the landscape is a very strong eye element in this image. Your Canon does a beautiful job with the exposure also. I would love to know what kind of lens you are using here also :) I can't really see much room for improvement on this image at all. It looks like you probably used a polarizer on this shot, which was a good choice. The sky seems to be a little deeper blue in the upper right. That could be caused by two different things. 1 - the sun could have been coming in from the left, or 2 - your polarizer could have been twisted slightly the wrong way. Turning a circular poliarzer changes the polarization... If you are using a linear polarizer, it could have been slightly off correct orientation...

Another possibility with this shot would have been to get the camera slightly closer to the road here and shoot at a little higher angle also.. that can create a really nice effect in a scene like this :)

Keep up the great work :)

John Setzler