Down the valley
by amnon

Comment:
Critique Club

This is a beautiful, very classical looking landscape photo, that is well composed, and nicely proportioned. The bottom part of the photo has some nice colors to it, and is nice and sharp and bright, however the haze takes away from the entire photo, the way it covers especially the upper left hand corner. I suggest for this trying a haze filter to cut out some of the haze, or if that doesn't work, maybe try a polarizing filter, which might bring out the blues more in the sky. I love the lines in this photo, especially the way that they come out of the corners, They all kind of come together on the bottom left hand corner, which gives you a good start for a focal point for the entire picture. Once again, I think your biggest problem here was the haze, and maybe shooting at a different time of day might have helped if that was possible.

Technically the only thing wrong with the photo seems to be your lighting and exposure. Otherwise the rest of it is very good. I think you fit the challenge well. This would be an awesome photo, if you have the chance to go shoot it again. Good luck in your next challenges!

Beach Stability
by arnit

Comment:
Critique Club

I see what you were trying to do with the composition here, however I personally don't care for it. I think it might have looked good if you had cropped off right below the second big rock, and I think that for a few reasons, 1) it would have shortened the picture some, not making it so upwards and narrow, 2) I think it would have showed a better balance between the beach, the sea and the sky, as you say it was a small beach, so I would expect to have less of the beach in the photo, to show the balance, this is just personal preference.

I love your use of color here, the sharpness between the beach and the water, and then the subtleness between the water and the sky is very soothing almost.

Your use of DOF is very interesting, I I like how the water and the sky aren't as sharp as the beach, but the bottom part of the beach sort of bothers me, to others this was a plus though, so I guess this is personal preference.

I like your angle here, I think it is very interesting, the way you have the rocks on the ground in the foreground, it really looks like you could walk out into the water :-) I'm not sure if I would classify this as a landscape however, yes there is some land on it, however I think it might have been better for the challenge is you had shot more horizontally instead of vertically.

I am not a big person for a lot of borders, and here I think you definitely overdid it some. It's not good when the border takes your eyes away from the photo, and the bright white of this border, seems to take my eyes, instead of what you want me to look at, the substance of the photo. If any border, I probably would have gone with black, though a good photo like yours shouldn't need an added border.

I think this was a very interesting picture, I think it didn't place as well as you would have liked due to the non-landscape nature of the photo, also the DOF probably was not excepted very well. This is however a beautiful picture in and of itself, and I think that its quite peaceful and lovely. I think you have a nice work of art here that I could easily see hanging on the wall of a beach house :-) Good luck in your next submissions!

-Talya

Seasons
by aurora

Comment:
Critique Club

This is an awesome photo! I love the contrasts between the green at the bottom and the snowy mountains at the top. Those mountains must go to some pretty high altitudes! :-) My favorite thing about this photo, is the sense that you can stay on the photo, and just circle around looking at it, and the closure that the clouds at the top give it. Your exposure here is excellent, you were able to catch the details both in the dark and the light parts of the photo which can be quite tough. Also the blue sky really adds some color to the overall photo, which is nice. Your focus here is perfect, and I like your use of DOF, allowing for everything to be in focus... which is very important for this particular photo. The fact that it looks like you went just at the right time of day is a big part of what makes this photo so nice, the light at that time was simply perfect for what you wanted. Although I'm not usually a big border fan, I like your use of borders here, the single pixel greenish border really adds to the photo, then encircled by the black border it finishes it off. I like your composition here, the whole photo seems to lead you to the upper right hand corner, and I like your layering as well...The one thing that bothers me is maybe how it looks just slightly tilted, but it's very hard with things that aren't straight. Overall you have one beautiful photo here! I hope you enjoyed that lovely walk in the Lake District as much as I've enjoyed looking at and analyzing your photo. GREAT job!

Japan
by KimInNB

Comment:
Critique Club

The layered effect you have here, and the choice to not have it in color, but just to have a blue tint to this made for a really neat looking photo! I love how you go from flat, plain white in the left hand corner, to some texture in the stream, to the trees, but they don't cover everything because they have no leaves, to the pine trees because they block out almost everything behind them. Your use of contrast here is very eye catching. The one thing that bothers me is how the top pine trees just slightly get cut off... thats not a very big problem though. Your composition here is beautiful, you can definately follow the lines, and your eyes wander over the whole photo, but know when to stop without running off the page. The lighting is almost perfect, except for in the upper left hand corner, it kind of turns into a dark blob and loses it's details, the rest is beautiful. Your exposure is excellent, especially in not having the bottom left hand corner too bright, it can be hard with snow. You did a wonderful job of meeting the challenge and you have a gorgeous photo here. Nice job of using your photographers eye to catch this lovely, peaceful site!

At the Park
by kandyj

Comment:
Critique Club

Hi Kandyj, wow! handheld at 1/8 shutter speed, not bad, not bad at all!

Your sepia here looks slightly pink to me, I think it kind of gives the photo an early morning look which I can't decide whether I like or not. Nice job on using your rule of thirds, and the flower, or plant sticking up in the upper left hand corner adds to the composition. I really think this was nicely composed. The foreground in the photo to me is slightly busy... besides in the upper left hand corner, on the nice calm water, I'm not sure where my eyes are supposed to be looking. The lighting looks pretty even here, and there are no drastic shadows that I can see, though there may have been in the original, hidden by the sepia. Personally I wouldn't really consider this to be a classical landscape, however it does fit the definition of landscape. The contrast in here looks rather dull, the entire picture seems to be almost the same color which is fairly bothersome, it's almost got a greyish pinkish film over the entire thing. Overall the photo leaves me wondering what the rest of the pond/lake/whatever looks like, and thinking that the ground isn't extremely interesting to me. Although I like the rocks, I think this wasn't a very exciting subject. I'd be interested in seeing more photos that you took during this outing. Good luck on your next challenges!

Uptown Park Blvd
by jab119

Comment:
This looks like Houston? just curious... it looks like you exposed for a little too long, and maybe should have used a tripod if you didn't.

Plowed Over
by connie

Comment:
I actually think red might have been cooler for this picture then black and white. I think this would have been an awesome pic, if you had made it color. It's really nice as it is, but it lacks pizzaz. Still a -9- though. Good luck.

"Snow" Outlet
by DougPaz

Comment:
This is beautiful! truly a great photo. I love this picture.. I think it is simple, yet imaginative, and I love the angle you shot it at. Solid 10. Good job! Good luck!

Low Flight at Night
by av8orboy

Comment:
Wow... excellent catch here! I would have liked a little more lighting on thee sign, but it's understandable why you couldn't get that. The horizon also isn't quite level, but that is a minor problem. Even though there are a couple of problems here, I give you a -9- great job! Good luck.

Last Stop in Life
by Gordon

Comment:
zooming while taking the photo? I did a photo similar to this for action, it was of a gravestone.... this is very well done, I love the glimpses of trees behind this, and it looks like the stop sign is glowing. Very nicely done... only thing I might say, is I would have tried to make the sign straight... it looks tilted... otherwise great job. Good luck!