p e a r l s
by Ja-9

Comment by Barroness:
Delicate and beautiful

p e a r l s
by Ja-9

Comment by ArnaMarie:
Lovely! The nice mute colours work really well for this kind of subject. Perhaps a little bit of burning in some of the corners would draw my attention even more to the lovely drops. Or I might be wrong :) Best of luck!

BIG FISH
by Ja-9

Comment by Alicia:
This is so good, Janine! Congrats on the bling!

F O R E
by Ja-9

Comment by FromDaRock:
I never got an entry in, but this is exactly what I had in mind to do. Well done.

~ Wisteria ~
by Ja-9

Comment by cowboy221977:
Hello from the critique club...

Nice shot Janine. I'm sure in another challenge this would have done much better. As you know free studies are difficult. Not a bad score anyway. Nice colors and nice DOF. I do think your crop on top is a little tight. It looks like some of the flower is cut off. Happy shooting

s p r i n g • r a i n
by Ja-9

Comment by sidpixel:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

A vibrant image that could be found in a stock library, thus fulfilling the challenge

There's no doubt that flowers, complete with water drops, has been done many times before to the extent that it has become cliched but in the context of the challenge your approach is perfectly understandable. You have chosen a plant with some very colourful flowers and given us plenty to look at which is part of the problem for me.

Given the large aperture I feel we have too shallow DOF for the subject, there are several appealing petals that are too out of focus and those that are are not placed at the best points to increase its impact. The front plane of the flowers would work better together if they were all in focus with softness appearing in the darker background flowers. I think either you ought to have used a smaller aperture and increased the DOF for this image as it stands or gone in closer on a smaller portion of the flower again with a smaller aperture.

I tend to disagree with your sole commenter in that you are already verging on overexposure at the top of the image and in one or two drops, anything further in that direction would be to its detriment so I personally wouldn't recommend doing that.

Thanks for submitting, Sid

r i p p l e s
by Ja-9

Comment by sidpixel:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

A pleasing image that meets the challenge

Swans are always a popular choice and in the context of this challenge a very suitable one. I like the mono processing with a full range of tones. The ripples are very enticing though I think I would prefer a little more sharpness in the ripples behind. I assume you were at the 300mm end of your lens given the aperture/DOF result?

The composition is good using the upper third but this is not the most flattering timing and we are unable to see its eyes which, with a magnificent bird such as this, is disappointing. The one thing that lets the image down is the overexposure particularly on the bird but also in some areas of the water behind it. You have retained a lot of detail in the birds plumage but there are significant areas on its tail, back, wing and neck where there is no detail which unfortunately mars the end result.

Thanks for submitting, Sid

F O R E
by Ja-9

Comment by Abra:
Very impressive.

Au Natural
by Ja-9

Comment by annabc:
Beautifully sharp detail on the flower, and the soft echoes behind it are very effective. I'd be interested to see how it worked flipped horizontally, so that the eye could follow it in from the left.

BIG FISH
by Ja-9

Comment by Neat:
Hey two sets of bling, nice. Your grandson is getting to be popular around here.