Katie, 4th of July 2014
by boocowski

Comment by snaffles:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

This is a lovely image, it looks like it should be in a fashion magazine. Your cousin is lovely and the warm tones of her hair and skin offset the coolness of the bg perfectly. The fact that you can't see her eyes adds some mystique. If the sparkler had been doing its thing (those things are impossible to get going at times) this could have been on the front page.

Onto the technicals. Lighting is decent and although high ISOs are not Nikon's thing, the image isn't noisy. The vignette here looks more like an exposure matter than done in post. Composition is straightforward but for an image like this you don't need to get fancy. You just need to get it, and you did. Wish this image had scored higher but that's life here on DPC.

Hope this has been helpful, please continue shooting and entering!

Susan

Fames Promise
by boocowski

Comment by snaffles:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Hehe, funny to see that I am also the only post-challenge commenter here. I am a retired horse trainer with a background in eventing, which includes dressage. Love, love, love everything about the horse and rider: great light on them, love the lines, the fantastic exposure, I think you were wise to desat. But the oof bg details are distracting which weakens the impact of what you have. Burning the bejeezus out of the bg may have worked best especially on the fencing at the end of the arena, where it meets the horse's eye.

I am very impressed that you got this detail at f2.8, I'm guessing a 70-200mm? Anyway, you got a magnificent capture here, and to be honest I never would have guessed an Arabian as this is not the sort of discipline you tend to see them in.

Great work, please keep it up and continue entering!

Susan

Frostbite caused by extreme cold.
by boocowski

Comment by sidpixel:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

A pleasing portrait that contributes to the open challenge.

Brr… you look cold! You have got nice sharp focus on the eyes and although your eyes are a lovely blue they add to the sense of cold! You must have been cold, you have captured the snowflakes on your skin before they had chance to melt!

Your expressionless face sort of adds to the overall coolness you are trying to create but perhaps more of a grimace would have helped inject a bit more emphasis of the freezing conditions you wanted to convey. The background helps convey the snowy surroundings without being blown there is still a little detail there, well done.

Nicely done, thanks for your submission and apologies for the delayed critique, as they say, 'better late than never', or at least I hope it is, Sid

Andrea in the garden
by boocowski

Comment by sidpixel:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

A lovely portrait of a lovely model

You have certainly isolated her well from the soft focus background with good focus on her face which is essential for any portrait where the eyes must be sharp. I wish your model had just a hint more of a smile to make it even more appealing.

As you say, the lighting is good and uniform enabling you to bring out all of the essential detail. Lovely colours throughout, nice blues and greens.

I like the idea of having a fern across her shoulder the way you have but perhaps a little less positioned a little lower would have made it a little less distracting and rather intrusive. She has lovely skin tones but I am a little bothered by the paler region nearer her chin which though not too obvious mars the end result just a little.

I'm glad to see you using the 50mm f1.8 lens it is a great and inexpensive though often underrated lens, well done Sid

Alex, Chimney Bluffs, 2015
by boocowski

Comment by grahamgator:
A rather unique pose and very mysterious.

Alex, Chimney Bluffs, 2015
by boocowski

Comment by illini75:
Interesting persepective

Alex, Chimney Bluffs, 2015
by boocowski

Comment by mitalapo:
nicely placed out of context

Alex, Chimney Bluffs, 2015
by boocowski

Comment by lei_73:
Very cool, looks like a shot from the adventure movie!

Andrea in the garden
by boocowski

Comment by Melethia:
A lovely portrait!

Alex, Chimney Bluffs, 2015
by boocowski

Comment by Mike:
5