In The Church Garden With My Son After His First Communion
by Pixlmaker

Comment by lucienaw:
(¯`·._.·[Critique Club]·._.·´¯)

This photo is certainly a very clever way of showing your son while
highlighting his faith in Christ situated cleverly behind him.
Every time I look at this photo, it seems incredibly clever how you
rotated the camera in such a way to gain this impression of Christ being
everywhere, even over your son. Excellent composition and camera use.

In terms of lighting, it's good you managed to get a good part of bluish
sky in the background, allowing no annoying shadows or reflections.

Nothing in your composition seems out of place and so we can clearly
observe all the feeling you were trying to express in your proud snap.

Great news hearing about your son's first mass, he certainly looks like
one devoted Christian! I especially like the symmetry behind him that
displays how the photo has been well captured to have an even horizon.

Finally, I'm surprised that this picture wasn't rated higher
over some of the less impressive images in this competition, although
on the homepage, I can see that the voters seemed to enjoy more of a
landscape image representing holiness as opposed to a simple subject.

Good Luck for all Future Competitions!

.·´¯`·->Lucien<-·´¯`·.

In The Church Garden With My Son After His First Communion
by Pixlmaker

Comment by thefishpimp:
quite fond of this one...

In The Church Garden With My Son After His First Communion
by Pixlmaker

Comment by alfresco:
Exceptionally well framed with the statue, horizon (roof) tilted though. Could use a little oomph to make it pop, the photo seems a little flat. Perhaps some burning around the edges to guide the eye towards the subject? I think your use of the statue is inspired - nicely done.

In The Church Garden With My Son After His First Communion
by Pixlmaker

Comment by joannafulton:
taking pride....blessed....great shot!

In The Church Garden With My Son After His First Communion
by Pixlmaker

Comment by yourbuddyjhawk:
Absolutely love it the way christ seems to be watching over the little boy.

New Haircuts
by Pixlmaker

Comment by ShutterPug:
I'm not sure I care for the one boy's chin being buried in his brothers head. I think having him lean over the big brothers shoulder might be a better pose. The younger boy's right eye seems to pull inwards. If his eye seems to do this a lot, you may want to stand off to his right slighly so that his right eye will be more centered. My sister has an eye that does this and positioning is an easy fix in portraits.

In The Church Garden With My Son After His First Communion
by Pixlmaker

Comment by vtruan:
Great shot and interpretation.

New Haircuts
by Pixlmaker

Comment by loriprophoto:
Rather than having one boy directly above the other, I would have been more inclined to have the boy at the rear looking over the left or right shoulder of his brother leaning slightly forward to keep them on more of an even plane with his chin at ear level or thereabouts.

Two good looking boys!

New Haircuts
by Pixlmaker

Comment by Louis:
Very cute. :) I like the way it's set up, and you've captured very natural expressions. The background for me detracts, because it just presents the entire composition as somewhat flat, although it could be argued that it makes the subjects pop well. Lighting is also just a tad flat for me, giving a "washed" appearance rather than the much sought-after "Rembrandt" lighting effect; if there were more highlight at left, and right were more in shadow, this may have helped.

In The Church Garden With My Son After His First Communion
by Pixlmaker

Comment by digitaldave:
Nice shot with a very realistic capture of your son's expression. The placement in front of the statue is a good idea.