Nature's Last Course ... Snow Cakesby
lena0711Comment by duartix: Greetings from the Critique Club ;)
Artistic Merit
Pros:
* Very interesting subject.
* Great (mono)tones.
* Good detail.
Cons:
* A hard crop would make this work better. Closing in on the "cakes" would make them stand out a bit more from the background. Better yet if you shot it closer as it would help with isolation (see the DOF comment). That green background should never had made it to the final picture.
Technical Merit
Pros:
* Spot on exposure.
Cons:
* Not enough isolation. You could have used a much larger aperture. As a consequence of using F9, the background is just too busy. Perhaps you were trying to contrast the delicate subject serendipity with the harshness of the blizzard behind the subject but IMHO it's barely perceptible.
* Not enough resolution. As commented before you should use the maximum available resolution in you advantage. It could have brought up more details from the subject.
Emotional Merit
Pros:
* A good choice of subject. Definitely one of the pictures that best meet the challenge and a very rare sight (it's a first for me).
* Great constrast between warm tones (the "living" cup) with the cold snow.
Cons:
The small resolution image doesn't have the impact as potential bigger one does.
Result
You probably ended up with a score that was below your expectations but you have to factor in that the average score for this challenge was a monstruous 5.6 which means the entries were of extraordinary high quality. This was also your first and only entry so I urge you not to be disapointed by this as you are always bound to improve. :)
Your idea was great, you had a great subject but the technical aspects let the photo down. I'm sure you'll get better as you meet new weekly challenges.
All the best
Duarte Bruno
