Falling Up
by kscarff

Comment:
Hey there from the Critique Club

Camera Work/Technical: Nice focus on the most important areas of the subject, but a deeper depth of field would have helped.

Lighting: You did a pretty good job with a harshly backlit situation. You did lose some detail in the bright sky, and that spot really pulls the viewer's eye down toward it.

Composition/Content: I think that you didn't score well because the composition feels very tense. It's almost like I am holding the model up in my mind, and, oddly enough, that makes me want to pass by the photo quickly. I'd also like to see more of the face, especially that eye that is covered by your nose.

My Opinion: I do not believe that this is a sub-5 photograph. If I were scoring this, I would give it a 5 and expect it to finish in the low 5 range. You have a very interesting idea, but the execution could use some improvement. Softer backlight and a bit less shadow would have improved this one a good deal.

007
by smyk

Comment:
Hey there from the Critique Club

Camera Work/Technical: Very nice focus and spot on white balance. Overall, nice exposure, and the settings you selected yielded fine results.

Lighting: The lighting here is lacking a little. It looks like too much spot light, whereas a diffused source would have given much more appealing results.

Composition/Content: I do like the composition here, but I would recommend cropping off some of the negative space at the top and bottom of the frame. While the eye moves from the face, down the shirt, and over to the hand and gun, it stops and gets fixed on the top and bottom negative space.

My Opinion: Nice job meeting the challenge, and I think that this one scored appropriately. I like this capture, but the voters were apparently looking for something a little different. I think by removing the some of the negative space and diffusing that lighting a bit, this one would have scored a bit higher.

The Source
by Tej

Comment:
Hey there from the Critique Club

Camera Work/Technical: The main feature here is the beautiful silhouette that you were able to create against an amazing sunrise/set. The tree silhouette looks nicely focused, and the exposure was excellent for the look you were after.

Lighting: Great exposure work with lighting as your subject. AS was mentioned earlier, I really like the graduated color from top to bottom, and it's even more appealing knowing that there was only slight post-processing.

Composition/Content: The scene you composed to share with us is very, very appealing. The change that I would suggest was already suggested in your comments. Those branches on the right are a bit distracting, and I think they should have been cropped out.

My Opinion: While a very nice and wonderfully appealing photograph, I don't really feel like this one portrays heat. I think that it scored at its potential.

Bringin' the Heat
by jenesis

Comment:
Now I'm jealous. Way to go Jen!!!

Time to go!
by LaMerry

Comment:
Hey there from the Critique Club

Camera Work/Technical: Everything technical about this photograph is dead on, in my opinion. Great focus that yielded tremendous detail (right down to the finger prints), great WB and exposure control and very nice depth of field use.

Lighting: Also very nice. Again, everything technical about this image is near flawless.

Composition/Content: This may be what hurt the score. While you have produced a very nice image from a technical standpoint, the subject struggles to hold the viewer's interest for very long. I'd also like to see the rest of that top finger included in the frame. It really pulls the eye up and out of the frame, and away from the main subject.

My Opinion: You met the challenge perfectly, and you did it with an image that was near flawless technically. With a subject that provided a bit more interest, this one would have scored a great deal higher.

Gossip
by yjoshi

Comment:
Hey there from the Critique Club

Camera Work/Technical: I think that the biggest issue here is the focus that looks too soft. I can see that the toys are indeed in focus, but the haze persists. I think that a slight levels adjustment and an s-curve adjustment to a curves layer would have helped this one tremendously.

Lighting: While not bad overall, it seems a little more harsh on the right side. Shifting your light source, or better yet, adding another light from the left would have also helped.

Composition/Content: Great composition and nice, colorful content. The only change I think that I'd make it so shift the content down a bit so that Mickey's ear isn't so close to the top of the frame.

My Opinion: You met the challenge, and did so without using the typical 'fruit & flowers' type of composition. Making the image a little more crisp and moving the content down a bit would have surely drawn a much better score.

Part of the Heaven
by payamb

Comment:
Hey there from the Critique Club

Camera Work/Technical: Nice focus and great depth of field use. The chosen WB give a great warmth to the photograph, and the waterfall looks crisp while also appealingly soft.

Lighting: Great time of day to catch beautiful color and great details in every area of the image. The water may be just a little overexposed, but not so much that it would cost the photograph much from the voters.

Composition/Content: Good rule of thirds use making for a very interesting photograph. The nearly still water works very well to dray the viewer's eye into the photograph and the vegetation works well to keep the eye interested.

My Opinion: You've already heard it, but there is no lens cap to be seen anywhere inside the frame. Rule number one around here is meet the challenge parameters. If not, as you see now, you will be eaten alive by the voters. You produced a nice photograph, but it was way off the challenge. I believe that it met its full scoring potential for this particular challenge.

firehand
by Kronus

Comment:
Hey there from the Critique Club

Camera Work/Technical: Great focus and very interesting depth of field. I can also tell that ht WB is spot on for this scene. Really nice exposure control, keeping the details in the highlights as well as the dark areas.

Lighting: The lighting here is a little distracting. The eye of the viewer is initially drawn to the bright area beyond the hand. Cropping that out would have improved this photograph tremendously.

Composition/Content: Your subject is a bit small and too centered for my personal taste. I'd like to see the bright wall cropped out, and that would make the composition even more interesting. I do like the busted window that you chose for the natural framing of the shot.

My Opinion: While it loosely fits the challenge, it is not what I had in mind for an environmental portrait. My opinion of an environmental portrait is a person immersed in their work or play environment, looking at the camera with some sort of expression that is noticeable. Perhaps the firefighter standing at the window, or close to it, with his arms crossed and a dirty face. Even with that opinion, I think that this one would have scored higher with a little tighter composition. Overall, nice work, and being a long time paramedic, I always appreciate nice photos of public safety.

Trapped and happy ?!?!
by Apee

Comment:
Hey there from the Critique Club

Camera Work/Technical: The flash is a little harsh, dumping some bothersome shadows across the bird's head and body. The focus is spot on, and your depth of field use is very nice.

Lighting: Again, a little harsh with the flash. Also, the window in the background is a little too bright for the subject.

Composition/Content: Very busy. The cage probably hurt this one as much as voters' opinions that this didn't meet the challenge. Pulling the bird out of the cage would have surely helped it out.

My Opinion: It is not what I had in mind for an environmental portrait. My opinion of an environmental portrait is a person immersed in their work or play environment, looking at the camera with some sort of expression. While it is a portrait of a pet, it just doesn't fit into my personal framework.

~Me~
by HBunch

Comment:
Beautiful! Everything is so nice about this photo, and you look wonderful in it. Great lighting, especially with a single flash, nice post-processing that isn't overdone and great expression. Congrats on a well-deserved finish. Welcome to my small list of favorite photographs. This one is really nice!