Sultry Redhead
by Bowerbird

Comment by Neuferland:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

This girl looks very familier to me, don't know why but she does. This is a very nice shot, the set up, the model. Reading over the comments you already received I would have to agree with comments about the expression in relation to the title, I did not think Sultry when I first saw the shot, I thought more along the lines that she was not to happy or warm at the time.

I love wind shots when the hair is blowing away or around the face but hair is the face is a personal pet peeve of mine, it's me. Sometimes, if done just right I like but in this case it's hiding a lovely face and not really adding anything to the shot for me.

The colors seem really muted, one thing I like about redhead shots is when the hair really looks alive and vibrant. I'm an auburn myself and when I have shots taken I play with the tones until the true color comes out. Again, these are all just personal opinions, hope they are helping.

The background is a bit distracting but with some blurring and burning it could work very well to your advantage.

If I were to rework this shot the only things I would do are boost the colors, mute the background and maybe crop in a little tighter on the left side, putting the rule of thirds in play.

If you do any other work on this shot I would love to see the results! Again, great shot, lovely girl!

Deannda

Rusty Bubble
by Bowerbird

Comment by oOWonderBreadOo:
I particularly like the gohost bubbles :0)

Rusty Bubble
by Bowerbird

Comment by CNovack:
Interesting composition. I like how you paired the a delicate soap bubble that is shiny & smooth to contrast with a heavy rusted chain that shows a bumpy & rough texture.

Why The Barbed Wire?
by Bowerbird

Comment by Rasai:
To keep the sheep out!

Secure That Smoke!
by Bowerbird

Comment by oOWonderBreadOo:
definetly excellent perspective! maybe a little oversharpened...

Secure That Smoke!
by Bowerbird

Comment by Tammer:
Interesting fence perspective. it could be the pole of the fence or infact an industrial plant smoke stack. Good eye. Bumping up after second look.

Secure That Smoke!
by Bowerbird

Comment by racb:
Nice sot, creative. Unusual perspective- nice.

Why The Barbed Wire?
by Bowerbird

Comment by Bebe:
Why, indeed? I like the image but I think a little more contrast would have gone a long way in making it more interesting.

After The Rain
by Bowerbird

Comment by skief:
Greetings from the Critique Club

Contrasting the bright red color of the flower against the watery background works very well in this photo. When you can find one thing that is different from the surroundings/background it has the beginnings of a good photo.

A few things might make this composition a little better. First is the removal of the second branch from the photo. By going forward and physically moving the branch so it is not in the picture would simplify the seeming jumble of branches to the left and allow the one remaining branch to point to the flower which is the focal point of the picture.

A slightly tighter crop, sort of like this simplifies the photo, yet keeps the flower as the focal point.

I just don't think that the square crop helps the photo. Notice how the branches now all point to the flower, and don't leave me stuck on the ends when I am following them with my eyes.

The red flower is almost directly in the middle horizontal of the photo and gives the picture the 'flat' or dead look. Try to make it more dynamic by moving it either up or down to one of the third's lines.

I would also like to see a little more of the flower, turned toward me or some more detail in it.

Others have mentioned the seeming darkness of the picture and the softness in the branches/flower, so I won't repeat that even though I do think they are valid points. Maybe a slight levels adjustment in the dark areas while not touching the highlights would do the trick.

I would encourage you to increase the size of your photo that you submit, as your picture is only 501x480, where you are allowed to submit up to 640x640. The larger the picture size you enter, the more detail the voter will see (especially in the flower itself). I do think this would have bumped your score up by 2/10ths at least.

Overall Impression: While I did not vote in this challenge, I would have scored this picture a 5. Larger version of this would be a 6. Cropped it to get the flower more dynamic a 7. I do like the photo overall, and feel that it has potential, and just needs a little more to make it stand out.

If you have any questions about this critique, please feel free to contact me via the PM system.

p.s. People really appreciate when you click that their comments are helpful, so I would encourage you to do that.

Secure That Smoke!
by Bowerbird

Comment by giniro:
wow. I like how the gate is at a side rather than scaling upward and how the cloud seems trapped.