Morning Call
by mawear

Comment by SJCarter:
Great job - I love dragons!

Hot Summer Day
by mawear

Comment by pidge:
Salut from the critique club!

I love the energy of this picture. You immediately get the feel of a classic hot summer day, kids playing with the hose...

There isn't a lot for me to say, really.

Technically, it's excellent (not that I'm an expert on technical aptitude). It's compositionally excellent, and with your fast shutter, you got an excellent capture, where you can really see the drops off water.

I would say this is a little bit on the dark side. A slight boost in contrast or brightness would give the picture just a bit more lightness that would I think, improve the little things in the picture.

One things is his eyes, especially his right eye, is in the shadows. I'm not sure if the sun was off to the side, but in a picture like this, a little bit more light on the eyes so you could really see his expression in his eyes would be neat.

I've noticed both your entries so far have been black and white. Both your pictures entered so far are excellent. I don't know if you prefer black and white or not, but if you don't have a preference, try some color ones. This particular picture may have a different dynamic in color than in b&w

If you have any questions or anything, feel free to pm me. I'm no expert on photography, but I'm jsut trying to chip in here and there.

Happy shooting and I look forward to your future submissions!
Cheers
pidge

Hot Summer Day
by mawear

Comment by whiteroom:
kewl shot!

Missing You
by mawear

Comment by KiwiShotz:
::: Critique club :::
Part of the enjoyment of CC is being able to spend time with an image and explore it in greater depth than the usual passing glance.

In this case, it probably wouldn't have meant very much without the greeting card category. But that *is* what this challenge is all about and so the B&W which at first appears inappropriate, is in context. The result is wonderfully melancholy and poignant.

Pictures of children always attract and 'sells' as the picture editor of any daily newspaper will tell you. When you study this little guy in the context of the category, he looks melancholy, he looks reflective, he looks like hes not really fishing, he looks like he's dreaming. Yes, some of that reaction is by power of suggestion from the title - but isn't that what this is all about? Photographs are a communication and this one does it very well.

So is it perfect? No photograph is. Can this one be improved? Probably but I can't for the life of me think how. I wasn't particualrly attracted to the image at forst. It doesn't have a wow factor, it's not cleverly coloured or post-produced with the sole design of winning. It is a simple picture, simply shot with a simple message and it works. Because of the balance in the composition from his right leg, I don't even think that re-cropping so that his torso fell on the vertical thirds line would make a great deal of difference.

The exposure of low contrast and soft halftones is also appropriate for the title and the card category.

This photograph is not a "star" and I believe it would be inappropriate for it to be so. It is an underrated well crafted communication. Well done

Brett

Hot Summer Day
by mawear

Comment by KiwiShotz:
Cute and good stop motion

Hot Summer Day
by mawear

Comment by roonie:
Great job on this photo. This was one of my favorites in this challenge. I gave it a ten.

Hot Summer Day
by mawear

Comment by msdoubletrouble:
nicely done...8

Missing You
by mawear

Comment by tuffy:
This is really cute! I love the pose & expression!

Hot Summer Day
by mawear

Comment by Commando303:
This should be in a window at a Hallmark store (that's not a bad thing).

Hot Summer Day
by mawear

Comment by TOY:
awwww