The Eyes of Blindness
by Everyday Renee

Comment:
Well, this starts off as a good portrait capture but it ends up with a dog in it . . . no serioiusly I hope you read past that after that big blowup that went on before the contest began. The technical problems I see here are that the eyes are so dark we get almost no catchlights in them and there is a distracting object on the right of the photo. Believe it or not both of these things are fixable so that makes them a real pain. If you have PS you can use the Polygon tool to select around one eye and then hold the shift key and select around the other eye. Now on the layers menu you choose the button that looks like a circle with a diagonal line through it and add a Curves layer based on this selection. You can now lighten just the eyes to bring out more definition and show off some of those eyes that will make this a more personal shot to any viewer and not just someone that knows the pretty pooch. Also with the object on photo right, you can simply clone it out and if you notice a gradiation flowing down your image use the Healing Brush rather than the Clone Stamp to gradually remove the offending outline. I do like the overall dreamy quality you got.

expression of self...
by theodor38

Comment:
Good capture but playing down the green channel in the skin will cause you to totally lose out on some of the definition in the higher keyed areas. I like the texture shown in the hair. Its artistic and technically sound so that's what I'll score it on but I just don't personally like it too much. Good job with it, tho.

Little Princess
by Sonifo

Comment:
Good capture. I know from experience how hard it can be to keep the definition in something like the feathers and still not totally lose the texture in that type of hat. Very good exposure. I'm looking forward to finding out what kind of lighting you used for this shot. I wish it was just a little sharper around the eyes. Perhaps a polygon tool in PS to select only the eyes and apply a selective USM to the eyes to just make them pop so very little more. Good shot.

Solitude
by moodville

Comment:
Damn nice capture. Love the texture of the face and the sharp eyes. The lighting gives this great depth.

Country Boy
by dacrazyrn

Comment:
Totally cute capture. I immediately thought of my daughter and just how amazingly lovely kids are when they are engrossed in learning something or playing with something. It's just so much fun to see them making those connections in their heads. This little guy looks intent on something. Sadly the photo looks a little soft on his face. A gold reflector (or fcb) would have been great on the righthand side of this shot as well to bring a little more light onto his face.

Into The Night
by garrywhite2

Comment:
This is a cool technique. It can yield nice photos if you leave the shutter open for a longer period of time and watch the noise level. I think this is just a little too dark and seems to not be terribly steady on the face. The candle seems to be perfectly still but the face seems soft. Did you use a tripod for this shot? How long was the exposure? Is the subject wearing something around his neck and head or is this totally based on the light produced by the candle? Good idea.

Susan
by undieyatch

Comment:
Seems like this has a very shallow DOF and that the focus is based off the rim of the glasses over the subject's left eye. This leaves the eyes slightly mushy and not crisply distinct. You could use the polygon tool in PS to select around the left eye as that side of the face is lit and then perform a selective curves to brighten up that eye a litlte.

Casual portrait
by ramevi

Comment:
You completely lose the personal interaction with the subject as both eyes are obscured. It becomes more of a study in posing to me than a traditional portrait. It's a clear capture but I'm not sure that anyone would want a shot like this of themselves or anyone they know in particular.

Monica
by Alexys

Comment:
Good angle. I don't care too much for the tint. A few nits such as cloning out the hairs on the nose and lips and maybe trying to capture the eye a little more open although its pretty obvious from the lighting how bright it was. You lose a little definition on the bridge of the nose but short of punching up the contrast and then doing a selective curves on the shadow under the nose I'm not sure what you could do to preserve that piece of the shot. Overall its artistic and technically good. Good capture.

Gazing
by movieman

Comment:
Soft focus and grainy texture that doesn't seem to add to the composition. I like the catchlights but the seem to give away some motion. Was there any movement you had to compensate for or is that just the physical design of the light sources? The skintones are not consistent throughout but that probably has more to do with the uneven lighting that you caught on the face.