Cisterne
by Denise

Comment by DrAchoo:
Great location, BUT you've blown the red channel quite a bit. I've found that most digital sensors have the most trouble with the red channel and it is easy to saturate. Your image suffers because of it. Because the image is so shifted to the red spectrum, the sensor essentially has about 1/4th the number of effective megapixels (because each pixel is 1 red, 2 green, 1 blue dots). Almost all your information is in the red channel and I bet the blue channel, for example, is almost black. Do you shoot in RAW?

The Grist Mill
by Denise

Comment by DrAchoo:
Another nice subject. You do have a nice eye. Here, though, I find a problem I have seen a lot which is cropping so tightly the subject can't breathe. Now, I don't know what is not seen and sometimes you are forced to crop, but here I would like some negative space on some side. Personally I almost always prefer the space on the left, but different picture work differently.

Mr. Dragonfly
by Denise

Comment by DrAchoo:
I chose this one because I love macros. This is well done. Dragonflies are so large it's often hard to get everything in the DOF. You chose well to keep the eyes in focus. Like any portrait, the eyes are the windows to the soul, even if they belong to a bug. The bokeh is nicely done as well.

Love is in the air.
by Denise

Comment by DrAchoo:
A cute scene. Your conversion to B&W is nicely done. The grass becomes a nice tone to offset the subjects. I personally like selective desat (although others don't). However, one trick is to partially desaturate the color itself. Here it looks like you have the red boosted as much as possible. This isn't necessary since the rest of the color is B&W. Maybe consider a -30 saturation or so.

Nubble Light's golden windows
by Denise

Comment by DrAchoo:
I like to start in the 5.5 section to find a picture that has promise but somehow didn't stack up. However, I like this picture quite a bit. It's an iconic lighthouse scene (albeit without water) and I think you composed things well. The sky is probably what let you down, but actually I don't mind it. While it's mainly white, it does possess a gradient and that can work. The lighthouse also doesn't get lost and remains defined. Frankly I think this image deserves higher than the score it got.

Medicinal Herbs
by Denise

Comment by girafa:
This is a very soothing photo. Thank you :)

Medicinal Herbs
by Denise

Comment by Sheryll:
This is definitely the best of the two herb shots in this challenge. Looks like front page material to me. The white on white is perfectly done and makes it easy to use as a stock photo. (not voting)

Medicinal Herbs
by Denise

Comment by JustCaree:
herbs are the best! very nice (9)
top 3!

Medicinal Herbs
by Denise

Comment by HarveyG:
Oliver? If not just as good! I love the natural take on the challenge and great studio work...

Medicinal Herbs
by Denise

Comment by farra:
I really like the clean presentation. Interesting take