Ritual
by magnus

Comment by Natator:
Sensational, but what a pain to manage all that hair! Love the lighting on the hair and an overall very natural looking photo. Great stuff.

Campfire at Night
by magnus

Comment by pncowley:
Critique Club critique:

First, just some general comments. This would be a very tough subject to capture, and it definitely fits within the challenge. I have often done just as you mention in your comments-- sitting in front of a campfire and watching the flames and embers and the night sky.

That said, I'm not certain the inclusion of the moon (as the frame was exposed) necessarily benefits the shot. It is almost indistinguishable as the moon, and while there is some merit to including it in the shot, it detracts from what I see as the essence of your shot in the flames and embers of the fire itself... unless you were able to get the moon in focus and cleanly exposed. And I doubt that a title change would have significantly increased your score.

Technically, the shot is quite nicely done, particularly the length of exposure and the resulting ember trails. The color and exposure impart a nice, peaceful feeling to your shot, accentuating the theme of the challenge.

I hope my comments are helpful-- if you have any further questions or would like clarification on anything here, please let me know!

Paul.

Campfire at Night
by magnus

Comment by magnus:
I guess my mistake was to not include the word "moon" in the title. I still can't believe that some people thought I just hadn't bothered to crop out some random light in the corner. If I were that lousy a photographer, I wouldn't be entering in DPC!

But thanks to the rest of you for your constructive comments!

Campfire at Night
by magnus

Comment by Neuferland:
Very cool shot, I love the capture of the different sparks, if you had cropped out the white spot in the upper right, this would close to a 8 or 9 for me. I started at a 5 but am bumping to a 7

Campfire at Night
by magnus

Comment by dsidwell:
Very delightful abstract. Fire has always been used in sacred contexts, so this image works well for me. Very lovely; well seen! 9

Campfire at Night
by magnus

Comment by joannadiva:
OK this NEEDS another title. As a campfire there's really no "sacred" tie in. However fire is a sacred element to many cultures around the world. had you tied it in to one of those cultures and their rituals especaly with the almost full moon in the backgrownd I think you would have scored better from the "dose not fit challenge" police.

I almost scored it a 3 for that reason till I really looked at it. it's a solid photograph but I'm taking points off for a rotten title.

7 ;)

Campfire at Night
by magnus

Comment by sonnyh:
Although I think this is a very creative idea of a campfire it doesn't jump out at me. Without the title I would have no idea what I was looking at. However, I am marking you on your skills and not my personal preference.

Campfire at Night
by magnus

Comment by adine:
Okay, I'm biased, but I really like this picture. The energy of those sparks, the blue glow of the moon, all isolated in the darkness. You can feel the cool air and smell the smoke. I like the diagonal direction of the sparks, and the line of glowing flame. I like the moon way above in the right corner giving an idea of the height of the black sky.

Campfire at Night
by magnus

Comment by Natator:
Nice, but I would have preferred it without the white light top right.

Autumn Sun
by magnus

Comment by OneSweetSin:
"Critique Club"

Nice image. The colors are good as are the details. Techinally the photo is good, however as good as it is techincally it lacks the "personality" it hold your attention. The orange leaves grab your attention but once it has your attention it doesn't hold it cause nothing else in the photos grabs you, that tree overwelms the photo and distracts the view from the cloud leaving it almost as if the photo isn't balanced out.

I do feel you met the challenge, and again I will say your colors are really good as are the details.