Bouc
by jerom

Comment:
There's not many shots that work well from behind the animal, but this is one of those exceptions. Removing the face simplifies the shot and draws attention to those antlers/horns. I really like this shot.

G
by Art Roflmao

Comment:
If this was truly taken in the wild then you deserve bonus points for bravery - it's a great action shot and still well composed.

A Nice Red Shouldered Hawk
by jorr

Comment:
The composition is really good, but the image looks soft - perhaps a bit of camera shake from a slow shutter speed.

The Kaka. New Zealand's native Parrot. (a real show off)
by kiwinick

Comment:
Nice shot, but I would have used just a little less flash to make it look more natural. Other than that it's very good

Holiday Fun
by kari1

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

Technical Qualities
The shallow depth of field works well, and the main subjects are suitably sharp. This combines to separate them from the background nicely. The colour looks a little off - a bit too red looking at the eyes and teeth (good indicators) and the girls singlet, but it's only minor.

As someone already suggested, the eyes are a little dark - a more prominent catchlight from the camera flash would have put a little life into them and gave them a sparkle, but it would have to be subtle to not flatten the lighting of the shot.

Composition / Subject
Personally (after reading your existing comments) I kind of like the composition of this shot - it has a holiday photo kind of feel. The green background frames the children nicely and gives an idea of the location they are in - somewhere nice and lush.

The children make a great subject - the shot obviously would not work the same with adults - and they both look like they are really enjoying themselves. I like the fairly agressive cropping - it's so easy to always include plenty of background but cropping in close really involves the viewer in the photo.

Border and Title
I'm glad you didn't use a border - for this composition (objects and colours) I can't really imagine a border that would add any value to the shot. I like the title - it explains the shot (or at least the intention of the shot, based on your description), whilst being concise and simple.

Emotional and Challenge
In a nutshell - It's a "happy" shot, and I really like that. Reading the description of the challenge I guess you deviated from the subject slightly... Rather than use a burst of colour you used several bursts of colour, and in fact separated them from an already colourful background. Having said that, some of the highest scoring photos in this challenge also included lots of colours in a similar style. To me, the colours in your shot all sit well together - a similar saturation I guess.

Summary
I think this is a great shot, and it's high score reflects that. It's colourful and enjoyable and I'm sure their mother loves it. I would try removing a touch of red from the shot to see if that looks a little more natural, but it's difficult to say without actually trying it.

Conception
by o2bskating

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

Technical elements
Fireworks are obviously a difficult subject. I think you'd managed the exposure and shutter speed well, although it looks a little blurry. I would guess that the shutter speed was a bit slow given the focal length used.

Composition
The new fireworks rising, and the big bold firework centred within the darker one are really good - they convey the fireworks rising and exploding well. They are a bit isolated though - I would have liked to see some ground / buildings / people included to put the fireworks into context, although for this particular challenge it wouldn't have added anything valuable.

Border / Title
The title is brilliant - I can understand why some people feel you were using the title to fit the image into the challenge, and to a degree I agree, but it's also witty and simple. The image works well without a border, and doesn't really need one.

Personal / Emotional qualities
The image doesn't stir a lot of emotion in me - which is possibly why it didn't rate very well in the challenge. There isn't anything that holds your attention for a long time or makes you think.

Summary
Whilst there is nothing wrong with the image, it just doesn't have any real wow factor. Good luck with future challenges though - I really liked your City Life image and gave it a 7.

Mother of Three
by labuds

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club

Technical elements
The image is crisp and nicely saturated in colour. In general I really like the lighting - the darker background mushrooms are perfect, the lighting on the head of the main mushroom is great - my only negative is the overlit stalk of the main mushroom. Towards the base is becomes overexposed and loses its texture.

Composition
I like the composition - have a couple of background mushrooms disappearing out of frame works fine. The "three" baby mushroom are tucked a bit too far into the corner for my liking, particularly the one disappearing out of the bottom of frame since it's a key element of the image. The black background isolates the subject, but works well with the creative lighting chosen.

Border / Title
You haven't used any border - which is a fine decision for this image. With the black background there is no need for an additional border.

At first I had the feeling that you had used the title to force the image into fitting the challenge, but when I think about it more the odds of finding three "baby" mushrooms attached to one large one are pretty slim.

Personal / Emotional qualities
The image doesn't evoke a lot of emotion in me - it's almost humourous in a way... Choosing a mushroom as the subject of the "Mother" challenge. It is a very nice artist style shot though, and I don't have any issue when they don't evoke emotion - they still look great!

Summary
Well done on this shot. I noticed it didn't score as well as some of your other shots, and it's perhaps not quite as good as your DiscoMushroom11 shot, but it's still quite nice on it's own.

Welcome - Don't Park Here!
by sfalice

Comment:
It looks like you rotated the photo clockwise slightly but then didn't re-crop. Was this a conscious decision? It makes the photo feel crooked, even if it is now straight (hard to say).

New Years Eve 2005, Sydney
by jaysvette

Comment:
Not a bad fireworks shot. Personally I find the heavily blurred foreground distracting and would have cropped the lower edge close to the bottom edge of the gangway/walkway.

a long night
by dig-it

Comment:
I'm not sure what the focal point of this shot is, and I'm not sure what message it's trying to convey.