A Tree With Heart
by 777STAN

Comment by smudgeSMJ:
Nice dof, would prefer a little more of the right tree's trunk near the top.

A Tree With Heart
by 777STAN

Comment by rlewis:
Nice catch, I like the color on the tree, the desaturation did not catch the light behind the leaves, so that is a little distracting, good idea and try.

A Tree With Heart
by 777STAN

Comment by HeiSch:
creative idea with the tree and the branch and the selective desat. somehow the picture lacks impact. May be because most of the space is grey? or because there is no real focus point?

A Tree With Heart
by 777STAN

Comment by mileskea:
very clever I like the use of negative space

A Tree With Heart
by 777STAN

Comment by aliqui:
I can see why you did the selective desaturation, but unfortunately you missed large chunks and in this venue you're going to get hammered for being sloppy. I think you're too close to your subject and that is limiting your framing and cropping options. You can see the heart fairly clearly from the thumbnail, but at full size I'm looking at the pretty bark patterns.

Tungsten: Out of the Blue
by 777STAN

Comment by Mal37:
Nice light play. I'm not sure I like the frame divided right down the middle, but I like the overall concept and execution.

Just Plane Blue
by 777STAN

Comment by Shutter-For-Hire:
nice find!

Tungsten: Out of the Blue
by 777STAN

Comment by Shutter-For-Hire:
nice idea with the white balance

Tungsten: Out of the Blue
by 777STAN

Comment by pffree:
I didn't enter the challenge because I couldn't find a clear tungsten bulb with the old style W shaped filaments, so for me its nice to see an alternative take on the W element, lovely idea and picture

Chlorophyl Factory Hard at Work!
by 777STAN

Comment by SaraR:
Hello from the Critique Club.

This is a bold photo, with a simple but strong composition and feel. The choice of blue background contrasts and compliments the green of the leaves well, although it might be better if the blue of the background was smoother - if I tip my screen right back, the background becomes much darker, and that looks really cool! The back-lighting is lovely, and I can quite see why you were drawn to photograph them. I do feel that the central leaf, the bright one that draws the eye, could be in a little sharper focus; that said, I can see that it is a tricky job to get sharp enough focus on the critical parts whilst still throwing the subsidiary parts into a soft blur. The diagonal composition was a good choice.

With a smoother and deeper, darker background I suspect this would have scored better. A simple subject such as these leaves needs to be technically perfect to hit the right buttons with the viewer - for me, it is a case of very nearly there.