Merry Xmoose
by camelotnorth

Comment by bobgaither:
Merry Moose to you

Merry Xmoose
by camelotnorth

Comment by joanns:
Hey, the moose has 4 candy canes! and 4 red berries! Very cute.

Merry Xmoose
by camelotnorth

Comment by Lustre:
Good lighting and colour. Perhaps cropped just a little too tightly at the bottom.

Happily Retired Granny
by camelotnorth

Comment by Jacko:
Now that's funny. what on earth is she holding in her right hand? Kinda looks like a bedpan. Neat shot. Jacko 7

Happily Retired Granny
by camelotnorth

Comment by DougPaz:
Super shot, the look on the face is priceless. Lighting and composition is good, I think it may have worked a little better without the pan in the lower front left. Good job, DPz

Happily Retired Granny
by camelotnorth

Comment by GeneralE:
I trust you mean you're retired AND a granny, not retired from BEING a granny!

Happily Retired Granny
by camelotnorth

Comment by Bullwinkle:
This is a really grand down to earth person picture. A comfortable country chuckle. A beautiful illustration. I particularly like the black tooth ,vacuum snake, red hankie hat, blue pullovers and home touches of lamp and wood panelling. I would like to personally see more abuse and grit on the frying pan to keep in character. And some scuffs and wear on the clothes. Well done...7 bullwinkle

Happily Retired Granny
by camelotnorth

Comment by UberFish:
Good use of humour, or good use of drugs, or both. Id replace the frying pan with something smaller of lighter coloured, its making that part of the pic a bit dark.

Happily Retired Granny
by camelotnorth

Comment by cvhs99:
I like her facial expression. It shows her personality.

Gramps! Stay Awake
by camelotnorth

Comment by DougPaz:
Hi Betty, Greetings from the Critique Club };-)

Initial thoughts
Interestingly angled composition, meets the challenge, seems to fall to the left

Composition/ Content

Everything in the shot seems to be falling to the left. Even the angle of the camera makes the table seem to fall that way. I originally thought this was a "set-up" shot before I read your details. Of course it makes it a much tougher shot without Grandpa's help.

Background
Unless you could move around a bit your background is pretty much what it is. However, that said, it is way too busy. The duck seems ready to land on Gramp's head and there is a lot of distraction from items on the right. It seems it would have worked better with a portrait orientation that would have enabled you to crop some of this out.

Camera Work - Technical
The lighting is a bit rough here. The glare behind the subject is also distracting and the light on his forehead glares as well. The left side of the shot is too dark. I now know that this seems as if it was shot spur of the moment but in the end just didn't quite work. More of a snapshot style.

Digital Processing - Technical
The only nit I have here is that on my monitor, the subjects face and arms seem a bit too red. I think you could have taken care of that in post processing.

Fits The Challenge
Definitely fits the challenge well. The motion is pronounced. I hope he didn't hit his head!!

My Opinion On The Photo I originally scored this shot a five as did most of the voters. I think that it meets the challenge well but could have been improved a little to finish higher than it did. After seeing the shot you may have gone back to Gramps and recreated it with better lighting and angle.
Good job, and keep up the good work.
DougPaz