Twilight of Idols
by magnetic9999

Comment:
Greek columns, I am partial to this being greek :) Your use of low saturation is very clever, and the lighting works. The shadow of the leaves on the column lets you imagine where they are situated, and your eyes are certainly drawn up to the top. Very good image, good DOF. 10 -Annida

A calm winter afternoon
by jjbeguin

Comment:
I love how your eyes are drawn toward the back of the photo by the bright light in the center, and the row of trees. Very clever shot. The front right is well done as well, as that curve also draws you in. Good take on the challenge. 10 -Annida

Luke
by connie

Comment:
My favorite of the challenge. Excellent depth of field, nice tight crop. I can see his feet, and his whole face seems perfectly in focus. Lovely 10 -Annida

Round
by albright1

Comment:
Excellent work, I like how your eye is drawn and you just want to go turn the corner to see what's there. The trees in the background make it even more interesting in my opinion, and give more perspective. Well done. 10 -Annida

When Roses Are Not In Bloom
by Ricky Cleave

Comment:
Good evening from the Critique Club!

My first impression of this image was wow! Then I sat and stared at it for a very long time. Then I sat and wondered whether it actually fit the challenge, and then I decided that it did, and thus it resulted in a high score from me :)

The Depth of field is excellent in this. I like how crisp the dead rose is. The dull light fits the mood of the shot very well. I'm impressed that you were able to pull this off. somebody said that it looked like some kind of alien, I agree :) It's got a very otherworldly feel to it.

Well done, and I hope to see more from you in the future!

Message edited by author 2003-02-14 05:46:06.

Dear FHM magazine ...
by d95vette

Comment:
Hello from the Critique Club

My first impression of this photo is that it is perfect technically. I think the pose is very appealing, and it meets the challenge well. I think what we should talk about, is something else :)

The subject matter needs to be appealing to both men and women, and as you said in the title, it was aimed at the guys :) They answered in droves as you can see in the comments! hehe..

From a female perspective, I'll tell you what I think of the general image, and the feeling I get from it. The girl looks a bit bored and frustrated, as if she's been in that pose forever (it may be the case that this isn't true). Personally it makes me feel bad about myself. She's a very beautiful model, and it's one of those "I wish I looked like that..." Imagine what happens when a photo doesn't make you feel good about yourself? I'm not saying that this would be a feeling from all women, but it is my opinion. I hope it explains a bit why although you had a technically perfect image, why you would have lost some points somewhere.

Good luck in future challenges :) Please Private Message me if you want to talk further about this :)

Cliclower
by redfig

Comment:
Good Afternoon from the Critique Club :)

My first impression of this shot was that the composition was superb, and very very well thought out. I also think to improve the composition a bit, you could have brought the center of the flower a tiny bit lower so we could see more of the pedals.

My impression is that the light was well placed, you can see the water droplets perfectly. The center of the flower is a tiny bit blurry, but I think that draws your eyes out to where the droplets are. There is not much that I can technically say about this photo other than the thing I said above.

What I think distracts me a bit from the subject of the photo, is unfortunately the border. I see the border first, and then the subject of the photo, whereas you have the border to just frame the subject. Maybe this is one of those instances when a border should have just not been there. I'm not sure. I like the subject, I like your composition, and that is all reflected in the high score I gave you, as well as many others :) Well done for a great photo.

baby's joy
by treme

Comment:
Hello from the Critique Club!

Heya treme,
My first impression of this photo was, "Cute! Very very very cute!" It definitely fits the challenge as a cliche photo!
I like the look of the baby, she looks very very joyful and happy, which is important to relay the message you are trying to give through the photo which you achieved well there. Other ways you could have achieved that, were by brightening up the photo a bit more. Perhaps making sure the letters at the bottom of the picture showed more "Thank heaven for _____(?) girls" The mess around her lips just adds to the beauty of the photo, in my opinion.

Technically, you could have added more natural light around the subject, and perhaps try putting half a finger in front of the flash to reduce the glare on the back left beside the baby's head. Another good thing would have been to not crop out the top of her head! More stuff you could have done was to put a soft coloured material behind her to make sure you catch the glare from the flash going off. The sparkle in her eyes is good, as it adds a lot of life to it! Try a bit of experimentation and messing around with levels, curves and the saturations in photoshop or whatever program you use, because that is a good way to learn.

She's very cute, and I'm sure she's the joy in your life, well done on your cliche shot, I hope to see more of your work in the future.

Message edited by author 2003-02-13 03:41:38.

Cute Pet Cliches ?
by Gordon

Comment:
Hello from the Critique Club:

First impressions:
Crikey! That's a big one! I wouldn't want to be the one to wrestle that one to the floor! - enough Stevo for the day. Honestly, this is a wowzer of a subject, I really like it. I want a pet snake, especially when I have an extra room to keep for him, and just him.

Technical stuff:
I agree with what GeneralE said, about moving back and giving us more of a feel for how large this python really is. It also seems to be under some huge yellow lights, which I don't think is his real colour? Unless it is, and you can slap me. The depth of field is superb, and you can see almost all the individual scales, which snakes tend to have. What is a bit iffy is around the actual eye and right behind it. I'm not sure if that's the glare from the light or the focus just isn't right but it doesn't feel right, maybe a little soft?

The background is the rest of the Python, which seems ok to me, and makes it obvious to me why these animals camouflage so well in the wild. The only other really nitpicky thing is the reflection in the eye, but well, you can't do anything about it because there's no spot editing in the challenges, so over all, you did very well in capturing this predator. (Well, I just learned about a term called "Catch Lighting" in portrait photography (thank you mr setzler) and I can see what you were doing now, and I think that is a preference which you are entitled to.) It is always hard to shoot an animal through glass, it helps when that said glass is clean, so bravo for that as well. The border suited the photograph, bravo!

Personally, I gave this photo high marks, as most everybody else did, and I enjoyed staring at it, so thank you for submitting it. Good luck in the coming challenges.

Message edited by author 2003-02-10 22:25:18.

Cereal Killers (Cannibal Corn)
by GeneralE

Comment:
OH! now I know what this is!
I feel so silly now:p
I get it! Very clever!

Message edited by author 2003-02-10 15:57:50.