Blue Lace
by Samara

Comment by claudia26:
wonderful picture - a clear winner in my opinion

Blue Lace
by Samara

Comment by melking:
This is a great image, the only thing I would fix is...the image needs to be straghted up a bit. Other that that it is a great photo.

Fairy Shadow
by Samara

Comment by mhoogendyk:
If you're going to "capture" a fairy, or "prove the existence" of one of those little elusive creatures, it probably won't be a direct sighting anyway - why NOT a shadow? Tht's better than some little fake model that is so obviously placed in a contrived setting. Besides, I liked the theme and presentation. Different. Congratulations.

Fairy Shadow
by Samara

Comment by waterlilies:
Very cool concept, and gorgeous colors, but the picture loses something with the out-of-focus sillhouette and the grain.

Fairy Shadow
by Samara

Comment by photom:
Excellent indeed! Superb colors and the mysterious silhouette make this one of the top contenders!

Fairy Shadow
by Samara

Comment by claudia26:
neat picture !!

Fairy Shadow
by Samara

Comment by joyeaux:
I like this!

Fairy Shadow
by Samara

Comment by computerking:
Good use of shadow.

Fairy Shadow
by Samara

Comment by Artyste:
creative.. I'd like to find out how you achieved the rainbow effect.. or what you shot this through.

Intergalactic Virus
by Samara

Comment by BikeRacer:
Hello from the Critique Club.
This is a good, well composed and interesting photo. To me, the image conveys a great sense of captured motion and feels like it's vibrating with energy. I especially enjoy the interaction between the subject and background elements and the play of color between the two.

Some suggestions:
Your comment says a lot. This image is good, but it could have been great with a few minor adjustments. Minor contrast, perhaps a boost to saturation. Maybe a little coarse sharpening to really bring out the lines orbiting inside the ball.

I think the lighting is a bit off, but I have no idea how you would fix it. I like the specular highlights, but they draw your eye to what looks like a window and a mirror reflecting daylight onto the subject. Not terrible, but I realized that I was trying to figure out what I was seeing in the reflections rather than getting lost in the photo. One of the highlights seems to be a different color than the rest, possibly from an incandescent lamp. I probably would have re-colored it to match the other highlights or simply cloned it out.

Final thoughts:
I like this image, but feel that the lack of post-processing is keeping it from having the impact it could have had.

Feel free to critique my critique,
Ara