Beach Snail
by Zoomdak

Comment by lakritstroll:
animals were harmed during the production of this shot though, right?

Beach Snail
by Zoomdak

Comment by LENWOODBLUZ:
good quality pic.

Fine Gardening
by Zoomdak

Comment by goinskiing:
*From the Critique Club*

I am looking forward to critiquing this shot. It may be hard though because this is quite a good shot. ;)

Composition:

This is generally the area where I am most picky, but I would have to agree with what Rasai said in the fact that the crop was a bit tight, that was the first thing that came to my mind when I saw the shot. It is not a bad thing, but it is one of those things that can make a difference between an extremely good shot and a WOW shot. One other real nit-picky thing is I feel the flower is a tad bit centered in the shot (The direction of the petals saves this from being to big of a problem because they lead the eyes quite well, also, another thing that saves that is the yellow area which is nicely placed). Now, I am not saying these things to make you feel bad about the composition; I am just saying things that I think would help make this shot stellar.There are a lot of good compostional things in this photo, and like I mentioned before they are the petals and the yellow center of the trillium. Oh, and more more thin, I was NOT a stickler about the format of these shots, but you made a wise decision to make it vertical because that's what the voters were looking for apparently.

Color and Lighting:

I really like the lighting in this shot, probably the strongest element in the shot. You highlighted the petals and yellow center just right to ad extra emphasis on the flower. The colors work really well because the sharp yellow and white area of the flower contrast real nicely with the duller green background.

Focus and Depth of Field:

The focus here quite good. I see that you have used NeatImage on this shot. It is nice to see that you spent time to get the desired effect without losing too much quality, like at all, I appreciate that a lot! I do feel that the DOF field could be slighly more shallow to add even more emphasis to your trillium. The sharpness of the one green leaf slightly detracts.

Other Thoughts:

Overall, very nicely done. There was just a few minor things that kind of held you back from being a STELLAR WOW kind of shot. Good clarity, lighting, and color play a huge role in your 6 score.

~Matthew Dykman (goinskiing)

If you have any comments questions or concerns, feel free to PM me at any time.

Dune Jumping
by Zoomdak

Comment by visitor:
A classic type of shot well executed 7

Dune Jumping
by Zoomdak

Comment by daisy77:
hahaha. this is really fun. i hope the landing was soft!! your horizon is a bit tilted (this is a distraction that tends to bug me more than others) but the motion blur is nice. might have been enhanced more if you had caught one body part still (unrealistic but worth a mention). great shot.

Dune Jumping
by Zoomdak

Comment by beclo:
One of the best. The stillness of the background contrasts brilliantly with the movement of the person. Well done

Dune Jumping
by Zoomdak

Comment by Mona:
I love it.10

Dune Jumping
by Zoomdak

Comment by admart01:
really like the motion here - adds to the composition. looks like you took your time to get the right frams, foreground and background. One of my ribbon picks.

Dune Jumping
by Zoomdak

Comment by Sammie:
This is a nice picture. I think you might have gotten some of the motion blur from editing as the water doesn't seem to show much blur.

Dune Jumping
by Zoomdak

Comment by Kavey:
Superbly composed - I love the sweeping corner of the dune and grass as well as the beautiful distant coastal rocks in the distance. This is a really strong image.