Family Business
by madison461

Comment by metoecus:
I don't personally care for the soft focus, but it works alright here; the fact that the bag is fairly sharp makes it look like the blur wasn't intentional, which does detract from the shot. I'd have voted this higher if the girl's frontal lobe hadn't been sheared off by the edge of the frame.

Family Business
by madison461

Comment by bfox2:
Its a cool photo...reminds me of a place I used to eat at alot, but I wish it werent quite so soft.

Outhouse Flowers
by madison461

Comment by SJCarter:
*Greetings from the Critique Club*

First of all, let me say welcome to the fray (as this is your first challenge entry)! I think you met the Macro V Challenge well with this shot. And as you indicated, it may not be taken with a macro lens, but it is a close-up.

I think your composition is pretty good. The color saturation could be bumped up a bit and you might consider cropping a little more off of the left (or selectively coloring the main flower and having the rest in B/W as someone else mentioned - I think that could really give this image some 'pop'). The DOF on the main flower is okay and the fading DOF toward the background works well. But IMHO, the area that could use the most improvement is the lighting.

The lighting here is a bit harsh - washing out the flowers' natural purple colors. And the fact that your "main" flower is partially shaded works against you with strong light. You may be able to adjust some of the exposure levels and make the shadow compliment the photo instead of detract. By bringing down some of the back lighting and adjusting contrast levels (and color sat), I think you can really bring out more vibrant colors to compliment the nice composition.

All in all, I think it's a strong shot and with a little more processing I think you might be able to really make a significant difference in it's overall appeal.

Welcome again & keep on shooting!

Just my 2 cents...

Jimmy

Future NBAers
by madison461

Comment by fixedintime:
You need to move the image to the right. Crop some off of the left and show a bit more on the right and bottom. It usually works better to show more in the direction fo the actiion.

Family Business
by madison461

Comment by Riponlady:
focus poor dislike crop but lovely idea and colour

Future NBAers
by madison461

Comment by popdeepop:
Some dribble action or pass would add.

Future NBAers
by madison461

Comment by The_Itinerant:
Good picture.

One suggestion: crop the left side a bit more.

Future NBAers
by madison461

Comment by Gatorguy:
I think this would have worked better in portrait orientation to show more of the players and less of the background.

Future NBAers
by madison461

Comment by Jutilda:
Great stop action. The complimentary colors work great. I like that you aren't really seeing their faces, but their actions. 10~~

Future NBAers
by madison461

Comment by falcon_time:
bad composition