One Room Schoolhouse
by Tarbini

Comment by LindaLee:
I love the the composition in general, but especially the way the church is framed by the branch of the tree. Love the black and white. Would love to have seen a little more light on the church building, but even as it is, it's a wonderful shot.

Quiet Desperation
by Tarbini

Comment by tiff:
I like this image a lot. You subject is hidden and the eye has a sad feeling in it. CUte doggie i say you get a 9

One Room Schoolhouse
by Tarbini

Comment by Konador:
Good composition, and well framed by that branch of the tree. I like the use of black and white too... or is it sepia?

One Room Schoolhouse
by Tarbini

Comment by Gracious:
Nicely composed, exposure, and focus are wonderful. I love the way the building is surrounded by the pattern of bare branches. Good image.

One Room Schoolhouse
by Tarbini

Comment by DougPaz:
Very nice. I like the B & W and the lighting is great. I might have cropped it a bit tighter on the left to get rid of the distracting buildings.

One Room Schoolhouse
by Tarbini

Comment by jjbeguin:
well composed northern and austere picture. 9

Quiet Desperation
by Tarbini

Comment by crboggs:
This one will speak to dog lovers.

One Room Schoolhouse
by Tarbini

Comment by jmsetzler:
nice work :) I like the shadowplay and the lighting in this shot... this was a good candidate for black and white... - setzler

A Mothers Love
by Tarbini

Comment by indigo997:
Hello!
This is a nice capture on your part. It looks more like a grab shot than anything too thought out in advanced. That sort of thing is usually harder to perfect because you don't have as much time to think. I think you did a nice job under those circumstances, but for the sake of this critique I'm going to assume that you could stage it and take the time to perfect it.
Composition: It's a bit busy. My eyes are drawn to the colorful flowers and then to the umbrella (because it is so large, colorful, and centered). Context is nice, but it should add to the shot instead of BEING the shot. Maybe a different angle, closer to the subject, would help. The helium tank is also distracting since it is so close to the woman. It might be possible to move so that it is hidden behind her. If you had really good focus and enough resolution then you could just crop really close around her - leaving just some flowers and part of the umbrella. The focus should be on the two of them and this moment that they are sharing, but instead you're left wandering around in this busy, colorful image.
Technically: Focus is soft. I'm not really sure where (or if) it locked because everything looks a little too soft. Did you already try using an unsharp filter on it? Exposure is good although the woman's face is a bit dark ... maybe if you had been closer and exposed for her then it would be better.
I do think this is a good representation of the challenge and probably was a spur-of-the-moment catch (in which case you can't do a lot to improve it). It got a very decent score, and I think you should be happy with it.

One Room Schoolhouse
by Tarbini

Comment by aussie:
Beautifully composed. I lke the colour in which you chose - gives an 'olden' type of feeling. The tree also adds a nice touch over the sky as well. Kind of breaks the boringness of the sky with patterns from the branches overhanging it. Excellent photo. GL.