Mount Rushmore - Through the Crevice
by GentleSoul

Comment by Rikki:
The POV you used on this image is pretty cool. There are some white specks on the black areas that you might want to clone out. Too bad the tree covered Mr. Lincoln. Other than that, I think this is one of those odd ball shots that not too many people see of Mt. Rushmore :)

Jujitsu: O Soto Gari ver.2
by GentleSoul

Comment by aznym:
Just discoverd this one. I love the perspective/composition and amount of blur. Works well. Excellent use of the mirror. I like the shot a lot but I do feel that it doesn't need the amount of sharpening you have done on it. Let people figure out without the sharp outlines.

Urban Landscape: The land 'round here
by GentleSoul

Comment by mycelium:
I too submitted an urban scene, and though I like the picture, its score is poor... granted, the literal definition of a landscape involves NATURE not MAN-MADE subjects - so you and I both turned the challenge description on its head. good perhaps from a conceptual standpoint, if not a scoring standpoint! good luck in the rankings - perhaps yours is doing better than mine. WRT the photo itself, I think a bit of sharpening to enhance the clarity of all the windows would have made this photo pop a lot more and generally improve its impact.

The Badlands: Nature's Primary Colors (no PP)
by GentleSoul

Comment by Skip:
this is GORGEOUS! it's a lot of fun, following all the lines and colors through the image. you might (and this is only a suggestion), play with the curves in photoshop, just to see what happens. i am all for 'out of the camera' shots, but, by the same token, think we do ourselves a disservice by not at least testing out alternatives.

btw, what did you use to digitize the image?

Mount Rushmore - Through the Crevice
by GentleSoul

Comment by arsenal:
this is really cool

The old-fashioned scent of a woman
by GentleSoul

Comment by jmsetzler:
Greetings from the Critique Club...

Hi GentleSoul...

I wouldn't consider this photo to be a failure. After reading your comments on it, I believe you learned a good bit about improvised lighting. Whether the image is 'dull' or not is somewhat subjective. The image is the beginning of a good product style shot. It's very difficult to achieve white backgrounds without strobes, but it can be done. Custom white balance settings help, and in the case of this photo, overexposing the photo by about one stop would help also.

Keep up the good work :)

John Setzler

Christopher_3.jpg
by GentleSoul

Comment by GentleSoul:

Originally posted by Alienyst: A little fuzzy but great timeing to the moment! Was he hamming for the camera? Somehow I get the impression he shoved the whole thing in his mouth at once. I am just laughing at this cause it is just too good!

Hehehe - yep, you're exactly right. He did shove the whole thing in his mouth at once. I wish it wasn't so out of focus, but I'm just happy to have captured the moment.

Kalanchoe #5
by GentleSoul

Comment by CEJ:
This is such a noce image and the colors are great. A little soft on the focus but that seems to help the delicate nature of the flowers. Nice capture!

deer_1.jpg
by GentleSoul

Comment by CEJ:
Wow you were close! This is good, a little blurry, but the apparent expression on the deer's face is priceless! Looks like it is smiling at you. The eye is incredible.

Christopher_3.jpg
by GentleSoul

Comment by CEJ:
A little fuzzy but great timeing to the moment! Was he hamming for the camera? Somehow I get the impression he shoved the whole thing in his mouth at once. I am just laughing at this cause it is just too good!