Poison Dart Frog
by Kelli

Comment:
Great color and sharp focus so we get to see all the lovely details of this Dart Poison Frog! Your lighting is excellent too - much better than my attempt for I did not get good eye color like you did. Again great capture - these little buggers don't stay still long enough for one to focus on them before they hop off (they are constantly moving).

Arabian Stallion
by sfmorris

Comment:
LIghting is fabulous! Love how the light shines and picks up all the highlights in the horse's rich reddish brown coat. This horse gets proper grooming and his coat just gleams. That rich red/brown tone is beautiful and the lighting plays it up well. Composition is good for it captures the main subject well and is a well done portrait style that showcases this beautiful animal. Nice DOF with the backdrop of greens blurred such that the horse can visually pop off of it's environment. Focus is nice and sharp on the main subject so that the viewer can fully appreciate all the lovely details of this horse. Well done.

Ó sole mio
by Structor

Comment:
LIghting is fabulous! Love how the light shines and picks up all the highlights in the pony's mane and rich color variations of red/gold/brown in the hide. Composition is good for it captures the main subject well and also plays up that pose of the pony in full 'singing' form. Colors are wonderful. Well done; 9.

Full Speed Ahead!
by smjbmw

Comment:
Nice capture of this horse galloping! Love how you captured the tail and mane being blown back by the speed of the wind as this horse runs full gallop. An above average shot but there are a few points of improvement that would push this composition score higher. First, showing the horse's environment sometimes can compliment the subject but here it does not and there is too much. The main action is the horse at full gallop - show us more of that and less of the barn and hedge. Bringing us closer to the action will greatly increase the visual interest. The two ways to do this is to either zoom in closer to have your subject fill the frame as much as possible when capturing a fast moving object OR crop so that your main subject fills the frame. Crop out the top 1/4 of the photo to rid the composition of the barn that is not doing anything to compliment the photo. What you are then left with is a composition that is akin to a widescreen view that shows us the running horse and the space it runs in. You still might want to crop a tad from behind the horse and a tad in front of the horse to bring us even closer to the running horse. But be careful to not crop too much that you box the horse in! Leaving space before your moving object shows the viewer where your subject is moving to and gives the photo a feeling of open space for the action to happen rather than it being close cropped that would project the idea of cramped space with nowhere to move. Lastly the zoom or closer crop not only would show us the action of this horse but it would increase the visual interest because the viewer would then be able to make out more details in the face and the body.

why the long face?
by skewsme

Comment:
Holy cow! Er or rather Holy Horse! First reaction is to jump back when the image came up because the way the composition is composed that mouth & nose of the horse seems to be coming right at you. Very different and unique composition that draws the viewer in because the main subject appears to be coming at them. Nice details and lighting is wonderful. Color tones are spot on. Backdrop compliments the subject and shows us this horse's natural environment (when we can get past that face that is:-)!) I keep coming back to the horse's head that dominates the scene - a good thing. I will also add that you also captured a look in the eyes of this horse that looks (at least to me) concerned when it asks the question "Why the long face?" Good title as well that perfectly compliments the scene. Bumping up to an 8.

Portrait of a Horse
by tfarrell23

Comment:
Wow, lovely deep tones here especially in the rich red-brown tones of the horse. The lighting is superb with the horse illuminated wonderfully so that we can look at all the lovely details of this beautiful animal. Love the sharp details you can see and appreciate from hairs in the mane to the hairs by the mouth to the horses nose and mouth. The backdrop is also rich in color and it compliments PERFECTLY your main subject. This horse is in it's natural surroundings which has rich greens in the grass and lovely trees for shade. Plus you have wooden fences in the backdrop which also play into the horse's natural surroundings of him/her being raised and kept on a well tended and largely open ranch. Well composed and well done portrait of a horse; 8.

Against An Angry Sky
by LadyK

Comment:
Love this dark moody composition. The clouds are dark and somber which creates a mood of foreboding or darkness to come. But light seems to act as a halo that gathers around the silhouette of the cowboy and to a lesser degree the horse. That gathering of light invokes the idea that out from the plains comes a 'knight in shining armor' (or in a cowboy's case - a knight in leather & denim )to fight the darkness/evil. Ironically we think of the man dressed in black as evil while the one in white is the hero. Here in your composition the dark horse and rider through that ideal out the door because of the way you composed your shot to have the light gather around them acting as angelic halos. Love the silhouettes of the horse and rider. The pose of the horse seems to me as one that is scanning the horizon for danger while the rider turns to his faithful friend to inquire as to what irks him/her. The pose and ease of the cowboy's stance next to the horse speaks to me of a strong comradeship. Strong composition, strong mood and dynamic tones; 9

I breathe the wind
by alexjack

Comment:
I really love the B&W tones here. In some areas the shadows and highlights are a tad harsh but for the feel & mood of this shot it works. It gives it a ol' tyme feel and calls the eyes attention the cock of the head and the windswept hair. In some aspects it takes on the feel & mood of a painting. The pose of the horse's head and the windblown mane really play up a feel for the horse's majesty and projects an image of the horse galloping at full speed. Even though we do not see the rest of the body, we really do breathe the wind with this horse because of that pose and way you captured him/her in this composition. The crop of the photo is nice and tight; keeping the attention focused on your main subject. My critique on the shot is that while tightly focused on your main subject you cropped it a bit too much. You cropped out a bit of the horse's mouth and ear; that I feel is a flaw because to show the full horse's head would further strengthen the beauty and majesty of this lovely animal.

Horses ...little girls' delight
by tamatama

Comment:
Love how the fish-eye lens works in this composition. It really makes the horse visually pop out the viewer. Colors are vivid and details are nice and sharp. Shot is taken at a slight angle too which gives the gives the appearance of the main subject appearing on the diagonal. Not sure if that is a good or bad thing but it does add some visual interest. Now onto areas where I think that this image needs some improvement. First, expressions can really give a composition that added 'omph' to make it more eye-catching. I see a bit of the horse's eye and his/her expression a bit but not the rider. For the image to be more visually appealing AND play into the title you need to show us the girl's face. Show us her joy and delight at riding the horse. Help us make a connection. Not doing so I feel is the major weakness of the composition. Had you captured a joyful expression by showing the little girl's face it would have moved the score from a just above average shot into the stellar category. A minor flaw is that there is an odd shadow that appears over the chest of the horse. Personally, I would have loved to have seen more of this horse's beautiful coloration.

Waiting for the tourists...
by hajeka

Comment:
Not a typically expected horse shot but the objects within the composition is still a horse. These Dala Horses are lined up to the effect that they appear like real horses waiting in line for riders to come. The colors are bold. The classic red of the dala horses really pops visually off of the black backdrop. While it is a strength of the the composition that the horses are lined up in such a way as a leading line to the vanishing point it is also a weakness of the composition. For it to truly lead the eye as a leading line off to the horizon (vanishing point) the last horse should have been placed more to the back. As it is here it is lined up next to the third horse. Placement of the horses on a leading line would have really strengthened the visual interest. Next the angle & crop could have played that up the leading line theme as well as increased the visual interest of the composition. The horse in the forefront has it's legs appearing to be hanging in midair while there is a lot of empty negative space where the horse in the back is. A lower angle instead of a straight & level shot could have had the horse in the forefront dominating the scene while the line of horses leading to the back might have been captured at a greater diagonal angle. The crop, either in composing it while shooting or after in post-processing, should be that the legs in the forefront horse touchs the lower left corner. The horse in the far back would be (or close to being depending on how well the angle of the shot worked) in the upper right corner. The crop in this way it would seem to have the dala horses travel in a diagonal line from front to back across the composition.