Harsh lands
by Natasha

Comment:
very nice black and white :) the sharp contrast here is excellent and you did a nice job of catching a good exposure in the sky to show the light/dark cloud detail... good work :) - setzler

Blew Bubble
by myqyl

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club :)

I believe from your challenge comments, we have already established the fact that she is cute, so I won't elaborate on that :)

The first thing that jumps out at me on this particular image is that it looks like this could have been a great opportunity for 'fill flash' :) Your subject is slightly dark and a minor fill flash would have brightened her up some and probably kept you from having to do any color correction on this image after the fact. I would have also shot about 100 shots of this while she was content with the bubbles :) I may have tried some different angles as well to possibly catch her eyes in the shot :) I read one of your comments mentioning a 'snapshot' quality about the image. What do you think about this? There are definite difference between your average family album shapshots and portrait photos. What could you have done differently with this subject to eliminate the 'snapshot' feel of the image? I am no expert on this subject, so I don't know either :)

Keep up the good work though :)

John Setzler

?
by sjgleah

Comment:
Technically and compositionally, there is nothing wrong with this photo. IMO, the background makes for a busy shot and your subject sign doesn't really create a sense of high interest for me. - Setzler

Blue Genes
by DougPaz

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club :)

Doug,

I have read through the comments you received here. I agree with a large part of it. Especially the comment about the skin color clashing harshly with the color of the shirt. If *I* was doing this particular shot, I would have attempted two compositional changes... 1) I would have washed out the background completely. It's not adding any impact to the photo and could be considered distracting. 2) I would have shot from a portrait orientation rather than landscape to fully frame the midsection of your model.

I'm not sure how to quantify the comments you have received on grain... I have the 707 and I haven't had much problem with grain, especially at ISO 100 and short shutter speeds. I think this particular shot (done at 1/40") could have been slightly improved with the saturation at a slightly slower shutter speed... maybe 1/30". I have never tried photographing in black light before and I'm not sure how the camera registers that so I can't really comment intelligently on it...

Also, for the purpose of the Critique Club critiques, I would have included the detail about how you did this shot. If it's a black light, I would have mentioned that in your description :)

Now... knowing how *I* am, let me tell you what I would have attempted here... I think you could have made a quite powerful 'nude' out of this by turning your model around and photographing her back side with her hands clasped in some way behind her back... the black light effect could have been quite interesting in that mode... You could have removed the clothing that is creating the color clash that has already been mentioned. Your wife has a nice figure, but I'm not sure how open she is to doing that type of photography with you.

Keep up the good work :)

John Setzler

GO LEAFS GO!
by zadore

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club :)

Phil,

This is a great portrait photo. I really like the concept of the blue hockey jersey as well... I believe the desaturation on this particular image may be a little awkward possibly. The blue seems to be a little more dominant than I would like, IMO. The smile you captured here and the pose are both great :) I think this shot probably had just as much potential in full color :)

I don't think there is anything I would change at all on the composition or the technical aspects of the shot. This perspective looks great :) I wonder if a hockey stick propped up behind your subject would add a nice 'serendipity' to the image? Who knows...

I think the oversized jersey on the child is an excellent idea...

Keep up the good work :)

John Setzler

Market Street
by Mieka

Comment:
very interesting black and white shot... I love the scene here.. the lighting is maybe a tad bright from the sun.. maybe a ND filter or a polarizer would help some here... maybe that would also create a little stronger contrast... good shot :) - setzler

Maybe I Can Sneak Into DPC2
by GeneralE

Comment:
nice portrait :) Maybe a little smoother background would be nice as well... good shot :) - setzler

Last Year's Resolution
by myqyl

Comment:
interesting black and white :) The only thing I may have done differently here would have been to remove the white 'stick' from the corner... i can't really see how it adds to the image, and it did make me look to try to figure out what it was... just my thoughts :) - setzler

BB's
by Anachronite

Comment:
This would make an interesting windows wallpaper screen :) - setzler

Neon Twig
by kandyj

Comment:
The shape here is quite interesting, but I'm not sure that I really like the lighting or the post processing or what may have been done to this photo... it looks a bit harsh... now that the size restrictions on this site have been practically removed, a tighter crop of your subject may work better? not sure... keep up the good work :) - setzler