Key Notes
by susanh

Comment:
Nice reflections and lighting, but the overall composition seems a bit boring... perhaps a bit more of a tilt to the instrument?

Cool Joe
by FocusPoint

Comment:
Hello from the Critique Club!

Well, I'm one of only 4 people who commented on this one during the challenge, and I was randomly given this shot for the CC too. But, I guess feedback mostly from one person, is better than none at all!

As I said before, and someone else noted, I like the use of reflections here to help fill in the facial features. But, I think most people probably didn't take the time to look that closely. They probably saw cup of coffee with sunglasses on laptop... weren't really interested, and moved on.

I think you hit on two important points in your Photographer's Comments. Is this personification? I'm not sure. I wasn't when I voted either. There were a bunch of shots where items were placed together to look like a person, but really, a coffee mug has no personable qualitites to it. It's only when it's put all together that it makes a person.

Next, you mentioned the technical qualities of the photo. While I appreciate the setup with the neat reflections, it seems that it was almost a lucky fluke instead of a preplanned part of the shot. The rest of the shot is cluttered and not well planned. Had you put this against a solid black background, with a more dramatic lighting... people probably would have taken notice to the deliberate setup involved and (if it had been well done) voted it higher. The shot is also a little soft or even blurry?

So, all in all, I think you answered your own question about why this scored as low as it did. I've just given a bit more clarification to all of it.

If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me.

24/01/2007
by talj

Comment:
In doing my photo a week project, I posted a few shots that were puzzles... guess the photo. This shot is perfect for something like that! It's got great textures and lines. Very simple, yet very cool! Goes really well with the entire series!

Sheena - African Leopard
by talj

Comment:
This is stunning! The color, composition, dof, and sharpness are all right on target. This is going right into my favorites list!

Playful
by talj

Comment:
If THIS is playful, I'd really hate to see what attack mode is like! Great shot! :)

A Pigs Life
by talj

Comment:
I never thought I'd say "awwww" to a picture of some pigs, but... "awwww!" They look so peaceful, and I love the crinkled up little nose of the one on the left. Wonderful capture! :)

Charlotte
by Tranquil

Comment:
Adorable!!! Love what you've done compared to the original here. My two suggestions would be to maybe tone down the highlights on the nose a little, and maybe to brighten the eyes up with more of their natural color. It looks like they're brown in the original? Might help them to stand out more from the black fur. But wow, that's one cute pup! :)

Winter's Foliage
by CapeSail

Comment:
Wow, you're really lacking on comments on this one! :P Well, I like this one. I love all the fuzzy little plants you can find in the winter. They're a nice diversion from sticks and branches. The shallow dof is great here.

So, since I like this one, here are a few ideas... just food for thought.

You probably shot this at the 135mm end of the lens, which is why you were at f/5.6, but if you could have gotten closer and shot more towards the 18mm end, you could have pulled the aperture down to f/3.5 giving you an even shallower dof and a more blurred background. Would have isolated the plant even more. As far as composition, it's still pretty centered (seems like that is the way you're comfortable shooting or cropping) but moving it slightly off to the side might help?

In processing, adjusting the levels of just the red and blue channels would have given the shot a warmer brownish hue, and maybe just adjusting the hue/saturation could have done the same. Also, a slight USM might have brought out the individual fuzzies a little more (sorry I don't have a more technical term for them!)

Dawns Early Life
by CapeSail

Comment:
What a creative idea... this is just cool! :)

Old Money
by CapeSail

Comment:
Me again, back for more comments! :)

First off, I'm jealous.... I'm saving up for this lens! I've been completely amazed by the shots I've seen from it! If you want some examples of some great macro shots, click on the lens and check out ursula's portfolio... I think dax also has this lens, and she has some very nice work too with it.

I don't know what the setup was here, but it looks like you were aiming for a diffused light, which didn't leave a lot of harsh shadows and glare, which is good, but I think it's still a bit overexposed. Compositionally, I wish some of the pennies were turned over, maybe to see the dates? Also, I'm not sure what the background is, but you have little dimples of it showing through in the lower left corner.

I don't know how much of a crop this is out of the original, but it seems a bit soft. Were you using a tripod or was this hand held? You'll get much better results on a tripod, and also by using the self timer, or a remote to remove any chance of you jostling the camera while you push the button.

I did a few edits to boost the contrast and color, to sharpen it up, and to get rid of the distracting background in the corner, and listed the steps in the comments:


Message edited by author 2007-02-12 19:22:05.