Alone in the sun
by ladpupmoe

Comment by dipaulk:
I really do like the composition and the concept. The only thing that distracts me is the line running down the blinds. I know that's normal, but it draws my eye away from the flower.

Alone in the sun
by ladpupmoe

Comment by charmayne:
great b/w work!

Alone in the sun
by ladpupmoe

Comment by Tranquil:
Wow--- Great shot. Very ineteresting background and a great study. Great tonal range on the flower and what an interesting vase. This shot is realy great. The only thing that breaks it up is where you can see through the blinds. When editing this for a print (of which it would make a great one) I would clone across those blinds. Lastly, I would make a rotation so that the horizontals are parallel to the frame itself. Very well done 9

Alone in the sun
by ladpupmoe

Comment by sidpixel:
I love the flower and vase and blinds and shadow. I wonder if it would have improved it with a tight crop isolating the other parts of the window and blind. Hope you don't mind but I find the lines from them a little distracting. Good luck

Alone in the sun
by ladpupmoe

Comment by neonv:
I'm a sucker for textures!! loved the ambiance of this one.. although the outside texturees that can be seen in the bottom part of the shades is a bit distracting for me, the reflection off the vase though is awesome

December Waiting for Santa
by ladpupmoe

Comment by Kavey:
Critique Club

Composition/ Content/ Background
I like the fact that you've really thought about linking your image to the chosen month. That aspect of it is one of the stronger points for me.
As has been said a few times in the comments left during the challenge, a big weakness of this image is in the background. The table doesn̢۪t add anything as the milk and plate on top of it are too heavily cropped to be considered as part of the main content. In any case they aren't needed to convey the Christmas theme so would be best excluded.
The stocking at the back interferes with the colours and lines of the dog's hat and again would be better excluded. The scarf that he's wearing doesn't really match the hat and just introduces a thick black diagonal to the frame that doesn't really help composition.
All in all my advice in terms of improvement would be to really think about the background as much as the foreground and possibly even use a one-colour backdrop.
In terms of the lovely dog, it's a shame he isn't looking directly at the camera. It emphasises the impression that he's not really having fun but just sitting obediently whilst he's used as a model. Stronger eye contact would improve the connection felt between viewer and dog.

Camera Work - Technical
Lighting is very harsh and has resulted in some large blown out areas in the white of the hat. Including large areas of white in your image requires more care with exposure, something that is definitely not easy. Perhaps softening the light source and also bracketing on exposure might help on this front.

Digital Processing - Technical
Some confident cropping (at top and left) would exclude some of those distracting background elements and improve composition.

Fits The Challenge
Yes

Alone in the sun
by ladpupmoe

Comment by jemison:
very cool! love the contrasting lines and forms and textures. one of the best!

Alone in the sun
by ladpupmoe

Comment by saintaugust:
this is a fine example of how to work the b/w medium.. and i think this is headed for a ribbon.

Alone in the sun
by ladpupmoe

Comment by RatedR:
I really like the way you lit this picture

My chihuahua, he is loving & protecting
by ladpupmoe

Comment by Spork99:
The collar makes it.