Sunset_05
by DigiFotoBuddy

Comment by taterbug:
Lovely sunset shot here. Such rich, warm tones in that sky. Perfect timeing, awesome burst of color in the sky, but nice light to showcase the birds and ships, which obviously add a lot to the image. I really like how you've captured the 2 birds in the sky. Really nice composition, with the exception of 2 minor yet easily fixed things IMO. Might want to try cropping out the 2 little bits of bird that are cut off on the right edge. Not only are they, well, cut off, but I'm thinking it might add even more emphasis on the 2 main flying birds. Also, your horizon (where the ships are) is just a wee bit tilted. It is just slight, but a lot of people have real pet peeves about tilted horizons, even if just slightly :-) Depending on what editing software you are using, a good fix of horizons is the 'arbitrary rotation' command (that is what it is called in at least Photoshop) You can use the ruler tool, draw a line along your horizon (or building, or anything you want to have straight in an image) then arbitrary rotation, and it will turn the image to make that the straight line. Of course, do this before any cropping, because you will need the crop to get rid of the empty edges. But overall yes, a very good eye, good timing, and a very nice shot :-)

Sunset_04
by DigiFotoBuddy

Comment by klstover:
This is amazingly beautiful. I adore the colors, the shapes of the birds... the only thing I could think to change would be the tilted horizon - that would make this very amazing picture just perfect.

Thinking outside the BOX
by DigiFotoBuddy

Comment by kari1:
not square

Thinking outside the BOX
by DigiFotoBuddy

Comment by Pug-H:
Rikki, is that your brother? ;-)

Thinking outside the BOX
by DigiFotoBuddy

Comment by LN13:
certainly is outside the box, but not really something that really grabs my interest. And you're two pixels short : )

Thinking outside the BOX
by DigiFotoBuddy

Comment by KarenNfld:
Rikki? Not sure if it is or not. Cute idea, I don't like the halo/blurryness around the box, not sure why you did that.
LOL, just realized this isn't even a true square crop! Thinking outside the box in more way than one! Too funny.

Treaty
by DigiFotoBuddy

Comment by e301:
from a backwater of the Critique Club

Well, one has absolutely to agree with most of the comments already made. There always seem to be Coke cans or bottles in any challenge, and I guess your chosen set-up meets the challenge - I would recommend trying to get a bit further away from the obvious perhaps, as that very fact will have hurt your scoring here somewhat.

Your lighting and composition really do need work I'm afraid, at least as shown here. Compositionally I think you've made several little errors of judgement that combine to make the image not effective at all. First off, you've chosen a very ordinary point of view: we always see these things from this angle - alongside and slightly above. Simply getting lower and shooting from the same level as the cans - or even slightly upwards from absolutely the ground - would have helped change things, and made the image stand out some more. Secondly, whilst the detail and ficus is fine, the rightness just isn't there - and that area of floor/carpet/whatever around them seems like a mistake: we don't get all of that surface to see, especially surrounded in black, and what there is is so indistinct as to only look like a mistake. Your framing of the two cans seems without point: I realise that you've tried the rule of thirds thing, but an image doesn't just need it's subject placed at those lines - and arguably you've actually placed neither of your subjects on those strong lines.

Lighting is the big issue here, for me: you've managed what might inother subjects be an interesting glow - it seems almost directionless, yet lights the bits we need to see. However I don't think that such a moody atmospheric feel suits your subjects at all - again, especially with your chosen point of view. It might have worked with a radically different view-point, but if you're going for the 'ordinary' then you need, I think, 'ordinary' lighting - except that photographically, 'ordinary' lighting is actually reasonably hard to achieve. With a 15 sec exposure you evidently have at least something to put the camera on, and so making a very basic soft-light wouls help this kind of shot enormously - something a simple as a piece of white paper taped over a desk-light would work. The best recommendation is to experiment with such things.

I hope this is helpful

Ed

Thinking outside the BOX
by DigiFotoBuddy

Comment by Melethia:
Heh! Clever idea!

Thinking outside the BOX
by DigiFotoBuddy

Comment by Katmystiry:
Great take on the theme.

Floreza Jarrón
by DigiFotoBuddy

Comment by YourBuddyFlo:
I dont like the vase it takes away from the flowers.