Thinking outside the box
by e301

Comment by BobsterLobster:
Nicely setup, effective background and lighting. Not sure about the weighting of negative space in your crop. You 'posed' the beetle nicely. Good dof. 9

Thinking outside the box
by e301

Comment by justine:
Fantastic humor. Love the creativity....Congrats really well done.

Thinking outside the box
by e301

Comment by Shannon:
LOL I like the title :-) Nice photo as well.

Thinking outside the box
by e301

Comment by christyrack:
What in the world IS that thing?? I love your creativity!! 9

Gate-keeping
by e301

Comment by karmat:
CRITIQUE CLUB CRITIQUE
by karmat

Awesome work. This meets the challenge in a particularly unique way, I think, as it makes me feel that I have gone "back in time."

Technically, I can find little to fault. I do think lightening it a touch would help, not necessarily because my monitor is too dark, but because some of the shadowed areas look a little too ominous to me. Though black and white or sepia would have added a different feeling to the shot, I think color is very effective in this instance, and you did well to leave it (or shoot it) that way.

compositionally, I don't know that i would change anything. The sack, while it does vie for attention, also is what makes this seem so long ago to me. I think it provides some effective counterbalance to the shot.

And it does look like a painting.

Great work.

Best to you in future challenges.
karmat

Gate-keeping
by e301

Comment by kyrielle:
A wonderfully sweet image, feels very much like opening a door into the past. There's a hint of softness to the woman, as if she moved a little while the photograph was being taken; with everything else so crisp, it's a minor distraction from a lovely photo.

Gate-keeping
by e301

Comment by zeuszen:
My (solitary) choice for blue ribbon.

Gate-keeping
by e301

Comment by rickhd13:
good composition, nice coloring, DOF well done, well done within challenge rules

Coffee and light
by e301

Comment by e301:
Thanks for the comments - yes, basically I agree that it would be better without the light, but the negative space wouldn't be such a strong element of it without the light. Without the glare from the light that would just be a white oval.

Wish I'd had time to re-shoot - I'd have lit the shade of the lamp a little too, just to give some definition. Ah well.

Ed

Coffee and light
by e301

Comment by jmsetzler:
I can't tell you what it is that I love about this photo. I think it's the pure simplicity of it for the most part. = 10