lucy in sink .JPG
by cmangis

Comment by BAMartin:
Very humorous, and so like a cat! You have captured his/her personality!

Maui lemon sunset
by cmangis

Comment by debgoff:
Beautiful shot Carol! This should be on a calendar or in a Travel Log or something. Wonderful!

Natural Harmony
by cmangis

Comment by train:
Hello Carol From the Critique Club

I really like your image and your choice for B/W
very good detail, focus is sharp and I think this says 'balance' you could try and tone down the middle tones to make it a bit darker as suggested in one of your comments but I like the way it is.

In the critiques Iv'e done so far I am finding that the 'nature' images didn't do so well in this 'Balance' challenge if you look at the top 10 images they are all objects balancing with the exception of one.

So in my opinion there is nothing I can see that is obviously wrong with your image it's just a matter of the voters went for the objects

In my own nature Balance entry I did very badly but I thought the Weta was in harmonious surroundings creating a balance but the voters didnt see that.

So we live and learn, I guess.

I liked the winners image very sharp and cleverly done but I'd rather look at an image like yours anyday so I find it very hard to say anything objective ( if I am real picky maybe the white on the stem on the top left flower is a bit harsh near the top and could be cloned out)

You had an average score for an image that will be liked by a whole lot of people myself included.
But for D P C ribbon winners, I think, they just have an edge somehow
I'd like to know how they do it!

I hope that you enjoy your photography. Good luck in the future challenges. I hope my comments help and if you have any questions please feel free to P M me
Regards
Sally

Natural Harmony
by cmangis

Comment by emorgan49:
i think you need some true blacks, tones are very flat. What is it about the composition that you like? I like the top half alot and don't think the bottom half adds anything.

Natural Harmony
by cmangis

Comment by Stagolee:
Nice image that works well in B/W and has a well balanced composition.

Natural Harmony
by cmangis

Comment by Faye Pekas:
Ahhh wish you had left the colors in this one. I don't get a real sense of balance in this which I'm sure you are hearing a lot. I think the idea was not that the photo was balanced but that the object was balanced.. but then I might be wrong heh.

Edit.. ok reread the rules and I was wrong. Readjusted your score :)

Natural Harmony
by cmangis

Comment by adine:
I really enjoy this. I like the multiple levels created by the flowers floating above the dark depths of the leaves. Very sharp, nice range of grays. 8

Natural Harmony
by cmangis

Comment by justine:
Clean, crisp shot. Good luck.

purple symmetry
by cmangis

Comment by hughletheren:
Hello Carol from the Critique Club,

Composition
This was shot from below, giving a nice backdrop of the sky. The use of the sun to light the back of the flower as well as part of the front is atractive. The tree in the background is a bit distracting and the buds don't really add to the image. A different camera angle might improve the composition (moving further to the right?) and putting the main subject in the top right 1/3 corner might help but you might lose the backlit petal.

Focus
The shallow depth of field aids the composition and the primary subject is nicely in focus. The sharpening you applied looks just right.

Exposure
The exposure was well handled, the highlights are just clipped but there is no loss of important detail, the same is true for the blacks.

Challenge
One could grumble about what purple is - your image is perhaps a little blue for me but that is nitpicking!

Overall
This image has potential - it could possibly have been impoved a little by trying out some alternative camera angles but the combination of front and backlighting look great.

Hugh
Any comments or reactions, feel free to contact me.

purple symmetry
by cmangis

Comment by Stagolee:
Great light and contrast.