The end............or............beginning
by Pikkel

Comment by vawendy:
I know what it's about, and I like the title, but this angle is a little odd to me. I think I would have liked to see more of the stone.

Botch.....eh?
by Pikkel

Comment by kteach:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

First Impression: I remember this one from voting... the bokeh in the background didn't stand out at first because of the harsh lighting on the front of the candle. An interesting candle for the challenge since the glittery candle would compliment the spots in the background. I think giving the candle more space in the frame though and leaving more of the bokeh in the background would have not only helped the composition, but also the lighting may not have been as harsh if you were further away.

After reading your information: I think you captured the bokeh idea quite well. You placed the candle far enough away from the tree and used a shallow dof to get the nice round circles in the background (which is just one way to use bokeh). Unfortunately, I think one of the keys to bokeh is that it is a background used to enhance the subject (if I even understand it correctly), and you didn't leave enough background to really let it do that job. It also looks like you used a flash, which is a bit harsh on the front. Lighting your candle with a soft light and turning the flash off would have helped with that. You can also diffuse the flash with a sheet of paper to get rid of that harsh lighting.

Last thoughts: Overall, this was a good example of bokeh, but you may have been trying so hard to get the concept down, that you didn't focus enough on composition, lighting etc. Keep playing with those shallow dof's and see what kinds of interesting backgrounds you can get. You're off to a good start!

If you have any questions about this critique, please feel free to PM me! Good luck in your future challenges!

Best beans
by Pikkel

Comment by jeger:
Greetings from the critique club...

My first impression is that the scene is a little busy overall. The ground up beans that have fallen on the whole beans makes for a very confusing image. I took me a few seconds to realize there was a spoon holding the ground beans. The spoon is so bright that it merges with the background. I agree with the other commenters who said the image could be sharper.

Overall, a little more care in the setup will go a long way in the quality of your photograph.

I look forward to seeing more of your photographs.

If you need any clarification on any of my comments, please feel free to pm me. It might take some time for me to get back to you.

Botch.....eh?
by Pikkel

Comment by Connor:
nice shot, like it

Botch.....eh?
by Pikkel

Comment by Ja-9:
candle needs to be straightened...

Botch.....eh?
by Pikkel

Comment by pedrobop:
The candle takes almost all the photo and the light on it distracts too much. I think you got a good bokeh, but it's almost hidden behind the candle!

Botch.....eh?
by Pikkel

Comment by mariahdc:
Work on framing.

Best beans
by Pikkel

Comment by Rainbow-Coloured-Soul:
Nice idea

Best beans
by Pikkel

Comment by pffree:
Would have looked better if the whole of the scene was in focus

whirln dervish
by Pikkel

Comment by boyd2000:
I came to look at your entries after your comment about never getting in the 5's. Obviously this is a personal weather station, or at least the wind direction/speed part of one. It's really blown out as someone else said, and the phone/power lines behind it really hurt it also. You did well on the motion blur, still leaving enough definition to see what it is, and if you had maybe changed the angle shooting down the bar with DOF getting sharp when the device is reached and with trees in the background and reduced the exposure a bit it may have done better. The direct sunlight makes exposure difficult. Ideally you should have either waited for sunset (hoping the wind didn't die down then) or put some sort of diffuser screen blocking the direct sun from the unit.