They got me!!! Won't make it to the lineby
marcelliebComment by amber: Hi from the Critique Club!
I love rugby! That tackle looks a tad high and illegal though!
I suspect here that you took this with your 300mm lens from quite a distance then cropped and re-sized to get a closer image and then tried to compensate with sharpening? This has resulted in an over sharpening that gives the players an odd demonic look - which oddly I quite like. They do sometimes turn into demons out there on the field:)) This has cost you highly with the voters, as you probably realise;)
I like the composition - the players coming in from the right gives a great sense of movement and action. The player̢۪s expressions even with the demon eyes, gives drama to the action. I love all the arms, hands and legs flying about, it gives a sense of the chaos that often manifests on the field.
Cropping out more of the black to make a tighter image would make it more powerful.
I think some voters also felt the failure aspect of your image was tenuous, but I think you got away with it;)
If only you had got closer to avoid the resizing - perhaps next time you could disguise yourself as a rugby player and nip on to the field to catch the action and slip off again unnoticed?:))
Message edited by author 2006-06-06 13:09:47. 
Photographer found comment helpful.