In The Florida Sun.....
by Ja-9

Comment by Dennisheckman:
Even though this has very lovely colors, I prefer a little more detail in the clouds. Still a high score from me.

Winds of Innovation
by Ja-9

Comment by cowboy221977:
Hello from the critique club:

Very difficult challenge to enter. I do not agree with the comment below about not seeing "wind". It is an implied wind with the windmill. Nicely done in my opinion.

Being that this appears to be a fairly old windmill, the antique look of this pic really works together. Infact, my only negative comment (and it's not really negative) I probably would have liked to see less grain.

Happy shooting

In The Florida Sun.....
by Ja-9

Comment by wbanning:
Wow. Absolutely gorgeous! One of my top scoring picks.

Route 420
by Ja-9

Comment by wbanning:
Critique Club Comment

Hi Janine,

I like this shot for lots of reasons. It makes a strong first impression and immediately connects to the theme; the color toning is really attractive as well. The diagonal perspective leads attention through the image well and takes you right to the 420 sign. The detail is good without being over sharpened. The only wish I have is for a bit more detail in the shadows. I want to know more about what's inside. Nicely done.

Edited typo in first line - changed shop to shot

Message edited by author 2014-09-07 16:28:40.

Where Dreams Come True....
by Ja-9

Comment by wbanning:
Critique Club Review

A wonderful subject for the challenge, well composed and definitely suitable to the square crop. The composition is really well balanced with spires to the left and right and the castle providing the perfect backdrop. Lines from the tracks and the background tableau lead nicely to the foreground subject. The tonal values are good (a bit dark in the shadows and a bit over-saturated for my taste).

What really stops this from being more appealing for me is the overall busyness of the midline background. I know there's no way to avoid people at Disney World, but in this case the background directly behind the car and its passengers keeps the main subject from really standing out. I keep looking at the headlights and the tires, because they are more isolated from the background. It seems from your notes that you know your way around some good post-processing tools - you might consider looking at some selective exposure control to help make the main subject pop out of the background. A Camera Raw radial filter on the car or a overall exposure reduction with a Viveza control point to brighten the car might be an interesting option.

All that said, I like the image a lot. My suggestions are based only on that one minor issue I see - a wish to isolate the subject from the busy background at mid-frame. Excellent work overall - especially in the context of the challenge.

The Mothership
by Ja-9

Comment by kiwinick:
oil and water perhaps ?

The Mothership
by Ja-9

Comment by jgirl57:
lolol The title makes me laugh..
I really like the background and with the bubbles it gives a fun playful effect on things. I like how some bubbles give off some patterns on the inside of things

The Adventure
by Ja-9

Comment by ambaker:
Critique Club Review:

Color Saturation and Hue: colors are nicely saturated. The hues seem to border on a slight green ting, at least on my monitor. The white balloons seem to have a faint greenish cast, but could be a reflection, or again, my monitor.

Brightness and Contrast: highlights have been held well, avoiding burnout. However details sem to have been lost in the darker shadows. The white balloons could also be brighter. As this is an advanced challenge there was room for these adjustments.

Focus and Depth of Field: the subject is rendered sharply, as is fitting. The background is soft as would be warranted to keep the attention on the subject. If anything, even a bit softer in the background could be a plus.

Subjective: how does one suggest improvements to an image that already finished in the top five? About the only thing I see here is that the darkness of the path ahead, gives me a bit of a negative feeling, like the child is headed for something not as pleasant as where he is. That, and the bright foliage over the path distracts a tiny bit. Both of these are very minor nit picks. As this is an overall excellent image. Congratulations on your top five finish.

Where Dreams Come True....
by Ja-9

Comment by chalice:
A good reason for anyone to want to revisit the planet.

Where Dreams Come True....
by Ja-9

Comment by jomari:
This is my pick for blue. This could only be earth and it shows us at our best - peaceful, fun-loving and capable of gorgeous creation.