Fire, Earth, Air - Primitive Copperware Fabrication
by JEM

Comment:
motion blur on the hand kind of detracts.

Hot Tap
by stickylizard

Comment:
neat effect. would have been perfect, if you could have got all of the background a solid black.

One of Earth's Seed
by kim100878

Comment:
A rather uninteresting subject. Some things I would have done differently that may have made it more appealing:

Instead of shooting down on top of the pine cone come at it more straight on (slight angle) from one end. Also, being in color, the yellow background is really bright and takes away from your subject. Because of the very shallow DOF, it is hard to tell where your actual point of focus is.

in a glass
by bluview

Comment:
lighting is very harsh. the shallow DOF doesn't work well here either, IMHO.

Rearranging earth.......
by tolovemoon

Comment:
very pixelated. Not sure what happened here.

The First Element - Earth
by jonpink

Comment:
the rays of light coming through the dark ominous clouds is great. Your choice of B&W works well here too.

"Silent Observation"
by autool

Comment:
the composition, clear focus and wonderful colers make this a great shot.

Sea of tranquillity
by geewhy

Comment:
The negative space works very well here. With the slight haze and the great reflections off the water, everything blends together so there is no real horizon, which is a nice effect. Nice work. - 9

Mittens
by amsmyth

Comment:
**Critique Club**

Hi Anne!

Positives:
The lighting seems to be fairly good, and you have the mittens focused well.

Possible Improvements:
I have to agree with the other comments below that the background just does not work here. I would have used some sort of a solid background that was a lighter shade, to give more contrast. The crop does not seem to be uniform. Also, the top left corner is a distraction.

Overall just an unintersting subject, I'm sorry to say. Good luck in your future entries.

Regards,
-Chris

Spilled Black
by Mick

Comment:
**Critique Club**

Hello Michael! Congrats on your top 10 placing, on only your third entry.

Positives:
I really like the composition with the model paint bottle in the top left, running down and forming the word "Black". The focus on the bottle and initial spill area is good as well.

Possible Improvements:
I'm going to say the shallow DOF detracts a bit. Personally, I like the way it is, but I think I agree with the other comments that it may be even better if it was entirely in focus. As someone mentioned below, the right side of the cap is blown out and blends into the white background.

Overall a unique take on the challenge that was done very well.

-Chris