s p i r i t • c r e a t u r e s
by Ja-9

Comment by mariuca:
Seen so many times in pictures but this one is really masterly done. The composition is excellent.

s p i r i t • c r e a t u r e s
by Ja-9

Comment by armando_m:
every time I see an image like this makes me wish I was there shooting this kind of shots

excellent processing ! wonderful IQ
8

c u r l s
by Ja-9

Comment by JakeKurdsjuk:
Love the colors, but this is one of those shots where I either want you to soften the OOF areas, or give me all 3. 7

c u r l s
by Ja-9

Comment by MadMan2k:
I like this, very attractive arrangement, well lit and perfect amount of depth of field.

c u r l s
by Ja-9

Comment by MaryO:
Pretty shapes and nice composition.

c u r l s
by Ja-9

Comment by Zita:
Exquisite.

E P C O T
by Ja-9

Comment by Dr.Confuser:
Under-rated!

s e c r e t s • o f • t h e • s e a
by Ja-9

Comment by JakeKurdsjuk:
Critique Club Comment:

Ah, Ja-9, we meet again.

As I said already, I really love this photo and how any reasonable human being could give this a 1 or 2 is beyond me. Up front, I gave it an 8. The capture is wonderful and the processing, while perhaps a little heavy handed on the noise reduction(?), really enhances it. It's got great contrast and details throughout and you nailed the symmetry between the footings.

What keeps this from being a really great photo for me is the intrusion of the next set of footings in the upper corners. While the walkway to the left offsets the symmetry it's not nearly as distracting as the little bit of dark on the edges. And as mentioned, there are some dark artifacts from the processing that could/should have been dealt with.

My suggestion would have been to:

1) Do your work in DFine 2.0 before going into your other tools as eliminating noise up front is much easier and better than to do it after boosting structure and contrast in Viveza and other tools as once you get the structure in the noise you have to overcompensate to eliminate it (my "heavy handed" note).

2) Use the Perspective adjustment in Free Transform (PsCC) to stretch the top of the photo a bit to get the extra footings out of the frame. Yes, the change is noticeable, but only if you knew what it looked like before.

3) Use the Dodge tool, or some other method, to lighten up the dark spots left from structuring and detail enhancement.

As for the familiarity of your subject, I suppose I haven't been around long enough to notice it, but I guess the people of the forum are sending you a message. :)

Nice work, nonetheless.

s w i r l s
by Ja-9

Comment by sfalice:
greetings from the critique club!

Edges, indeed! A plethora of them and all in focus and all nicely composed to make a good image.

You received a good score, but not a 'great' score. Why?

Well, except for the voting gods, who know all, I'll hazard one guess.

Where is the point of interest? If there happened to be one large, transparently gorgeous water drop, would that have made folks stop and look at these deep and glorious reds? Or in other words, something to set off these
delightful patterns and hues would have made the voter/viewer say "oh, look at this!" and up the score would go.
(Maybe)

Always fun to look, in depth, at one of your images, Janine. Keep 'em coming.

s e c r e t s • o f • t h e • s e a
by Ja-9

Comment by JakeKurdsjuk:
I love everything but the stuff that pops into the frame in the upper corners. Without them it's a 9 or 10 for me. Perhaps a little free transform perspective warp to stretch them out of frame?