Dodging Birds
by Samara

Comment by Mona:
I like this very much.

Dodging Birds
by Samara

Comment by Natator:
Great candid shot and the b&w works well here.

Year of the Dragon
by Samara

Comment by JC_Homola:
Greetings from the Critique Club

This is a challenge to critique! I'm having a very hard time trying to decide what to say.

My initial reaction is that it hurts my eyes. It is being very hard to focus on.

I think if you had a less straight on approach, adjusted the lighting to accentuate the texture of the item and pushed it back in the frame it would be more interesting.

Even though I can tell it is a 3 dimensional object it looses some of it's depth, again because of the lighting and angle.

I'm going to assume you used a very shallow DOF in order to maintain the black background. While a good technique, it did eliminate some the detail on the end of the dragons snout and the front claw.

The little bit of green reflection at the bottom isn't too bothersome. A little post challenge spot editing would fix that.

Have you tried playing with the Contrast settings, and levels?

I hope this helps.

JC

Stop and Smell the Roses
by Samara

Comment by Crafty Sue:
good composition like the darkened background the red roses really stand out 9

Stop and Smell the Roses
by Samara

Comment by Dave Gordon:
I love the roses, and the STOP sign is a nice touch. I think the words "and smell the roses" on the sign is a bit much.

Stop and Smell the Roses
by Samara

Comment by moodville:
I feel this should have even been a close up shot or probably vertical. There is a lot of empty space on the sides and yet the top of the bouquet has been cropped. Cropping off some flowers is sometimes ok if you have it full frame and there is cropping on all sides, but because this is only at the top I feel it has a severed feeling. The mix of pinks and reds on the flower are good, lighting is good with nothing blown or too dark. The connection to the phrase is good. Only thing letting it down is I think it really needed to be a vertical shot.

Stop and Smell the Roses
by Samara

Comment by adine:
Lovely roses. Wish the roses at the top weren't cut off. I wish there were signs like the one you made, maybe people would be more relaxed.

Circle of Angels to Watch Over You
by Samara

Comment by StevePax:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

This white-on-white piece really catches my eye. Your focus is just soft enough to give the whole piece a sort of cloudy feel (very appropriate given your subject). Compositionally, I think you have done a good job of breaking up the monotony of a centered subject by roting it just a bit, so the heads of the angels are nicely staggered.

I think I would like this just a little better if there were slightly more contrast between the angels and your background. Other than that, fantastic!

Year of the Dragon
by Samara

Comment by DragonBro:
Nice picture, the green on the black background almost makes it glow.

Stop and Smell the Roses
by Samara

Comment by MikeO:
Colour is good but lighting is too harsh.