One Diamond Ringby
peterComment by ericwoo: Hey there from the Critique Club
It looks like I may be becoming your personal critique provider :)
Camera Work/Technical: I do like the crisp focus on the diamond. Your primary focal point is exactly where it should be. I can also see the voters' complaints that the image looks soft. I personally like the shallow depth of field, and I believe that it is exactly what you were attempting to capture. However, images that seem soft often do not do well here. The coloring and saturation do feel a bit too warm for my taste. With just a little bit of a cooling filter, the yellows are toned down, and the reflection is also a bit less harsh and distracting. It also brings out some very nice blue hues in the stone itself. Here is what I envision it should be:
Lighting: Again disagreeing with some of your previous commenters, I also like the high-key feel tat you created.
Composition/Content: The centered composition fits this capture very well. The reflection, though, is horribly distracting. Reflections are hard to capture, especially with a normal mirror. I just bought a large piece of frosted glass to see if this will capture reflections better than a mirror. The problem with a standard mirror is that the reflective surface is below another piece of glass. There is a pretty good discussion
HERE about using a painted piece of glass. There is also a specific type of mirror that has the reflective surface on the outside, though the name of it escapes me right now. I tried to scan the forums for it, but we have the most unfriendly forum search tool. You may want to take a look there, and I wish you better luck with it.
My Opinion: You met the challenge well, thought that particular ring will probably look out of place on your hand. Although, you may grab some attention from a whole new crowd. I think that the voters were a little harsh on this one, but the yellow hue is tough to overcome. Without that, I think this one would have been better understood, thus pulling a bit better of a score.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide a critique on your entry,
Eric
Photographer found comment helpful.
