Time Never Ages
by maranelloboy05

Comment:
The orange tone here is a little too string. I like the shallow DOF - could be better even shallower.

Using old ways for the new
by todbedy

Comment:
Lovely woodwork, and the silhouetted bars work well. I can't stop wishing the lighting was better, but I can't think what to suggest.

Untitled
by iskowjen

Comment:
Focus is not so good. While the lines are nice for the composition, I do think the 'garage-door' background detracts from the image.

MP3, the old way
by Camabs

Comment:
It took me a while to work out what this was. Scary to think the younger voters might never have seen one! Nice abstract, but perhaps a little too abstract to score well.

The Centennial Engine
by TommyMoe21

Comment:
The sepia colour is a bit too yellow. I think this photo would really benefit from somebody in period costume standing somewhere on the machine to show the scale - assuming it's not a really tiny model. :)

Thaipusam
by kloutit

Comment:
The subject is lost in the background. I'd like to see more light on the subject, and the background less exposed. Nice use of DOF.

Venus and Jupiter
by jmritz

Comment:
Nice surreal tree photos. You might want to clone out those hot pixels though. :) I don't think I'll be getting up early enough, so thanks for the photos.

burn bad boy
by markdon

Comment:
You did this in your bedroom? Didn't your parents teach you not to play with fire inside the house? Outside please. OUTSIDE!! :) Nice shot though.

burnt
by bvlindalou

Comment:
Great shot! The motion blur works really well with this subject to make a nice abstract. The super saturated colours are very nice too - very complementary. :)

I see snow in your future!
by justamistere

Comment:
Hi John. Nice work. I love the smoke.

Critique - The colours work well, with the contrast of the blue globe against the warmer hands, although the hands are a little too red. The blue is perfect. The green in the background, I'm not sure about. I'd probably desat it a little, because I hate the green tinge that comes out in some of my shots, but maybe it works OK as it is here. The hoodie works well for character clothing. I'd like to see more of the face here, perhaps closer, and perhaps more lighting from beneath. I'd lose the sunnies too, and just use the light positioning to sculpt the face and eyes how you want them.

I agree with the focus comment. Becky told me to shoot at f/8 for self-portraits, and that actually made a huge difference for me. I always shot wide open to try to blur the background, but never got good results. If you can get enough light for this shot, you could go even smaller, because the close hand will be hard to get in focus. The current focus is on the head, but it's more important on the front hand and the ball. Then use the DOF to control how out of focus you want the head, but I'd put both at the limits of the DOF if you can.

Posing is very hard for self-portraits, but you've done a great job here. I like the off-centre balance. The mirror is a great idea.