Welcome Home, Dear
by levyj413

Comment:
Greetings from the Critic's Club :

FIRST IMPRESSION The premise of this photo is quite funny and the photo conveys that sense of fun.

COMPOSTION: The use of diagonal lines works marvelously: the diagonal line connecting the lines of sight of the subjects and the diagonal line of blue light. The setup does raise the question about whether Mr Ducky is really welcome, the door seems to be closed - perhaps Mr. Ducky will have to climb in through the window? Somehow, it looks like a long way up and there are no steps. Good thing Mr. Ducky can fly!

LIGHTING; The lighting is very interesting, but it is easy to be of two minds about it. I find the bright strip of light interesting, and I find its reflection on the Ducky Home to be quite attractive. On the other hand, when reflecting off Mr & Mrs. it looks a little eerie and menacing. I also find the Mr Ducky's tail is lit much better than Mrs Ducky's face, and that bothers me. There is a nice balance between well-lit subjects and shadow spaces which makes the subjects pop out.

PHOTOGRAPHIC TECHNIQUE: The image is fairly crisp and clear without noise. The camera angle is effective. There is just about enough DOF, although Mrs Ducky is noticably more fuzzy than Mr. Ducky.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: It is a humorous photo, carefully taken. The novel use of light adds interest, but there are some possibilities for improvement in lighting and focus.

Good Luck.
Steve Brubaker

Evil Bath
by Megaweapon

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club :

FIRST IMPRESSION: I love the bright colors, especially the red, glowing bathtub. And I find the evil ducky to be very funny.

COMPOSITION: The composition captures my attention and conveys the message quickly. I find that it fails to keep my interest once I get the joke. The wide black margin is effective in drawing our eye to the red bathtub, but there is a way in which the subject is plopped in the middle of the photo, that creates a bit of a static feel to the photo. The glowing orange light around the head works well to delineate ducky from his background very effectively, which is great. The head-on lighting, though, augments the static feel of the photo.

LIGHTING: Mostly, I find the lighting effective. There are lots pf places where the glowing qualities really make the photo shine. There is, however, a white strip around ducky's neck that appears to be a reflection and I find it distracting.

PHOTOGRAPHIC TECHNIQUE: The photo is crisp and clear, free of obvious flaws. I can't help but wonder whether the treatment might have been improved with a longer lens and a shorter DOF. This would further help the eye distinguish ducky from bath. I also wonder whether a lower camera angle might have helped to make ducky a little more menacing. Any ducky who looks like that deserves to be taken seriously!

EDITING: Burning to remove a distracting toilet bowl proved a wise choice. So did hiking up the saturation. Did you consider cloning out the flecks of lilac light in the water in front of ducky?

OVERALL: It is an effective, humorous shot for this competition.

enlightenment
by tigerhaven

Comment:
For some time I imagined the photo to be ironically titled. I like the moody, grainy sense and the glowing bits from the light. I don't find the placement of the light in the photo to work well for me, and I kind of wish I could see a little less of the BG.

Dogwood: Frame of fall leaves painted by light
by 64viking

Comment:
I love the color & texture. I also like the balance between forground and background.

Another Day in Paradise
by Jutilda

Comment:
I love this photo, especially the relationahip between the expression and the droll title. Great Job!

Final Flight of the Alarms
by Sebi

Comment:
Ha Ha! very funny.

From a Distance
by briantammy

Comment:
Stunning.

As the sun rises in the fog
by fstopopen

Comment:
This is an amazing shot! You started with two completely unremarkable trees and some rather normal grass, and with a rather major miracle of lighting ended up with a very extraordinary composition in green and gold that is at once completely natural and highly abstract.

Not Quite Ready to Face the World
by Rebecca

Comment:
I love it! The glamor girl on the cup, the face cream, the reflected eyes stairing at us plaintivlely through the mirror, and the shroud of face cream make this quite interesting.

Clearing Storm, Wychmere Harbor
by Bear_Music

Comment:
High pixel unsharp mask appears to have been used here and the unnatural cast of shadow it makes around bright spots in clouds I find distracting. From the trees on downwards, it is a nice shot: I am especially fond of the grass ad the wooden pier as lit by the warm morning light.