Surreal fire on ice
by json

Comment:
CRITIQUE CLUB COMMENT:

A visually arresting photograph! The moment I opened the photo it had high score written all over it.

POST PROCESSING

The colors are incredible, great choice to adjust the hue and saturation in RAW. In a "Fire" challenge the obvious colors are reds and yellows and your choice of purple tones really sets this apart. It's a gamble for you to do this but it really paid off. Excellent use of dodge and burn..it really makes the colors pop.

IMAGE QUALITY

The image quality is sharp and crisp...very clean. I love it.

COMPOSITION

The composition of the photo is good. The dark space above is ALMOST a bit too much in my opinion but in this case I think it's fine. I'm a little distracted by the lower left corner with the bright spot on the ground. My eye keeps going there to try and figure out what it is and that's bothering me.

SUBJECT CHOICE

My biggest gripe, if any, is that I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking at and that distracts me. The colors are incredible and standing back I have to say I like the image but then I keep getting bothered by "what is it?" The other drawback is that I'm not sure this picture demonstrates "fire" all that well. Because I can't tell what I'm really looking at I'm having a hard time seeing the "fire" aspect. You could have lost some points in the voting from those who thought you weren't really meeting the challenge. Obviously this didn't hurt you a lot as you scored very high.

Over all an outstanding shot. Congratulations.

Enchanted cottage?
by imagine74

Comment:
Not a particularly strong photo. The lighting is a little off and it doesn't really portray magic and mystery for me.

Fun with Physics!
by Ecce_Signum

Comment:
Interesting photo...a little dark without a particular reason for it. In other words I don't know how the dark or green cast really helps the photo.

Wally - The Magician
by gsal

Comment:
Very solid photo...good use of shallow depth of field...great composition. Unfortunately he doesn't appear to be doing a magic act of any kind so it feels like a good photo trying to be passed off in a challenge that it doesn't really fit. I'll still give you the benefit of the doubt and an above average score.

The Magic and Mystery of Lightening
by philup

Comment:
Nice sharp image with very dramatic colors. Oustanding photo worth being proud of. Not a lot of magic and mystery though in my opinion. Too bad, in another challenge this could be ar eal contender.

where will his path lead? (mommy's mystery)
by aimeethetoo

Comment:
Doesn't seem to meet the challenge. If this is a picture of your own child keep in mind that every mother (parent for that matter) tends to think every picture of their child is interesting but for the rest of us they are usually average photos without a lot of interest.

The Power of Illusion
by BrianR

Comment:
Interesting effect. Not sure I could have pulled it off..but it's not a particularly strong shot. I think you might have been going for some effect like the doll is walking through the picture but you didn't quite capture what you were going for. Don't get discouraged. Keep trying.

The Magic Tree
by Elvis_L

Comment:
I don't really feel the magic and mystery in this shot unfortunately.

Ghoul from the lagoon
by russi

Comment:
Meets the challenge dead on! Very intriquing photo. Nice use of dodge and burn (if I detect it correctly).

Nature's Magic Wand
by JPR

Comment:
I don't think I get it. Interesting colors but I don't feel it's a strong shot