Vertical
by Meera

Comment by Konador:
I'm not a fan of the gaussian blur applied to the background, it looks too fake, but otherwise a nice shot!

Daffodil
by Meera

Comment by fotomann_forever:
::: Greetings from Critique Club :::

Hi, as requested, here is an indepth critique of your submission.

First Impression - the most important one:
Nice balance within the crop. Lovely colors also, but is a bit over-exposed.

Composition:
Nicely symmetrical. Works well for this photo as well as the challenge.

Subject:
Clear, stands out well against the black background. BTW, good choice on the black BG. A red background would have worked really well too.

Technical (Color, focus, and light):
Focus: sharp and dof works well for this image.
Lighting: it's a bit overexposed and lighting is a little flat.
Color: Nice color, but the over-exposure washes out colors that could have been a bit more vivrant.

To grow its vote?:
It's pretty, but doesn't have any "wow" factor. More vivrant colors would help and perhaps a bit more daring composition.

Summary:
It's a good photo, scored reasonable well in a very tough challenge.

Hope to see more from you soon,
Leroy

Daffodil
by Meera

Comment by Ecce_Signum:
Nice shot, the white is a little blown on my screen though :(

Daffodil
by Meera

Comment by Pug-H:
Is that really a daffodil? I've never seen one like that before.
The photo fits the challenge well.

Daffodil
by Meera

Comment by Rikki:
Great placement of this wonderful flower. The color pops right out of the screen and the red is a nice touch thanks to Mother Nature. The petals are nicely set apart from each other. Sharp focus and wonderful DOF.

Daffodil
by Meera

Comment by Strontious:
nice

A Reflection on the 80's
by Meera

Comment by e301:
from behind the freezer of the Critique Club

I find the range of hyper-picky historico-pedantic comments rather hard to take, even as a disinterested dearder of someone else's comments. What the hell is the point of that? And it's made especially pointless when a bunch of supposedly 'punk' images dominate the ribbons in this challenge.

Well, I'm afraid there's no defense against the small-minded other than to go along one's way, without letting such things get under one's skin, but it can be hard: it seems there's almost a desperation to find some way, any way to dismiss an image from proper consideration in a challenge.

There are a couple of things I do like here, and a couple I think may prove to have been optimistic ideas. The brightness, almost the brashness of the image seems to me very fitting to the period we were asked to imitate - and of course the subject and your treatment of it is absolutely OK. Your shiny material - and the sand-like quality that you've noticed, causes problems though: precisely because it does look so much like sand, I suspect many people will have actually taken it for sand, and decided that you've over-exposed your background - despite the evidence of the reflection of the cube. Unravelling that, however small, visual puzzle is asking for more time from the punters than a first shoot through is going to get you, though.

A Reflection on the 80's
by Meera

Comment by KarenNfld:
Interetsing, good reflection. Not fond of the too bright background.

A Reflection on the 80's
by Meera

Comment by tannah:
Great creative shot !

A Reflection on the 80's
by Meera

Comment by Rikki:
Ah the infamous Rubik's cube. In as much as this was developed and created in the 70's, I think this really boomed in popularity in the 80s. The colors are sharp but the background leaves questions to be asked. The highlights are a bit too bright here which I think will be the pitfall for this image. Positioning of the cube is spot on with ROTs. Good luck.