Crooked Houses
by KarenNfld

Comment:
Clever illusion...

Plain
by mitalapo

Comment:
Wicked! ;)
Congratulations.

Fixing the human body
by sarampo

Comment:
Fantastic toning. Great idea too.
Remove the those red wall stickers and sell it as stock because it has potential.

Personal Melody
by bwalker1

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club ;)

Artistic Merit
Pros:
* Beautiful subject.
* Fantastic contrast and use of B&W.
* The hard shadows - something that most photographers try to avoid - are what really make this photo adding 3D depth to the subject and reinforcing the outlines.
* Great zone balancing even though there are little of them. Blowing her left harm worked very well going along with the shirt and contrasting with her hair.
Cons:
* Cropping. You took quite a beating in the comments for not cropping on the left and I was one of the offenders. I can understand how one sometimes focus on the subject and the background just vanishes. I see how you were drawn in to the "Thirds" Maelstrom leaving a lot of negative space on top. As it is, it's unbalanced and going by the Golden Mean would take it to another level.

Technical Merit
Pros:
* Excelent exposure with good choice of shutter speed. Even though this picture is mainly defined by flash exposure, you managed to freeze the moment avoiding motion blur. I suspect that you were also at the camera's flash synch limit.
* Good control of DOF. The subject is perfectly sharp and the shadows have the definition they need to help the photo, no more no less.
* Good lighting control. What could be seen as defects (hard shadows, blow areas) is used in favor of the picture and works very well.
* Great timing for shutter release. This is the moment!

Emotional Merit
Pros:
* This photo conveys energy by the truckloads putting every other entry to shame for that matter. This is DANCE.
Cons:
* The hair is great and it's the element that is carrying alone almost all the emotion on this picture. The other important element is the body pose especially the hands, but ALAS we can't see the right one. :(

Result
I guess the artistic merit really made you score, while the crop was the only real let down.
I voted you 7* (my equal 5th to 12th best vote) so IMHO this would be honourable mention/top #10 material and even ribbon if the crop was tighter.
So you got 16th place and a 5.9 from your first photo? This is commendable and nothing short of exciting, I wish my efforts were as good as yours.

Keep up this excellent work, I'm anxious to see your next pictures.

All the best
Duarte Bruno

Message edited by author 2010-03-05 07:35:53.

Bride and Groom
by m3snow

Comment:
Is selective decoloring permited in Basic Editing?

my grandmother's sewing eggs
by mjfdias

Comment:
This shot has some unnecessary tension due to the bigger egg on top of the composition. The inverted position adds even more tension. The thimbles could also use a more careful placement.

FORE!
by Aarthek

Comment:
I WOULD so like to see a hit SO MUCH!

UnEGGspected
by daevans

Comment:
I'm giving you 7 points for technique artistic value and originality.
The missing 3 points (deducted from 10) are for lack of originality if this makes sense to you.

Little princess Freestyle
by Miep

Comment:
Sorry for the late comment.
This was my favorite for the whole challenge, I'm glad to see that at least it ended up in Top #10.
Beautifully toned, great energy and movement, beautiful model and composition.
10* and faved.

Capitol Gardens
by JimiRose

Comment:
Interesting photo but doesn't look like basic editing. There is just too much DR for one capture. The ghosted birds are a dead giveaway.
5*