Cloudlife
by xertion

Comment:
Ooh, this is really nice. Great use of challenge topic, not only do the line emphasize your focal point, but the color contrasting with the neutral parts of the photo really are great. 10

Childhood Friends
by OneSweetSin

Comment:
Good use of challenge theme. Might have liked it better if all were in focus.

......j base
by undieyatch

Comment:
Intersting shot. Like the textures and colors. Focus looks really good as well as nice use of strong lighting. Good luck.

Three Horses
by timj351

Comment:
Great use of reflections to lead to your focal point, as well as shadows and the lines of the fences. Good luck.

Soft Light
by jimmyn4

Comment:
Very good use of the chcallenge theme. I liked that your subject wasn't a tiny image at the end of a road, etc. Don't know if I like the red shade or the tilting lamp, but it's certainly interesting.

In the Shadows
by tcherring

Comment:
Critique Club:

Meeting the Challenge: Very well done. Any mom (or parent) should appreciate this look of desparation, even though some of the voter's didn't.

Composition and technical: I think that this may be a little problematic.

The angle of the shot and the cropping makes her arm and body look really small in comparison to her head, and maybe her forehead a little proportionally large.

There is a little light spot in the upper left that is a bit distracting. A little rotation and tighter crop could have eliminated some of your problems. and intensified the subject.

I also like to see the eyes more at 2/3rds up the photo rather than in the middle, although I know this was definitely not a posed shot for this difficult challenge.

The B/W works well to add to the mood of this photo.

The angle of the shot and lighting makes the eyes look quite a bit different even though the lighting on either side of the face doesn't look that extremely different. I have this same problem with eyes when I take pictures of our cats (our kids are grown, so the cats are our 'babies'!).

Also, as noted below, the skin almost looks too flat, but it also looks like you used a flash for this shot. You might try softening the flash by putting something over it to soften it down a little. Sometimes I have used a nylon hose or a makeshift bounce from a card over mine to help spread it out. It would have helped with that shadow on her shoulder, which adds to the "smallness" of her body.

Overall: Excellent idea for the challenge, and good candid photo of this ill child. Needed a little technical improvement. HOpe I haven't been too critical, but also wanted to try to be helpful. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me. Kandice

Dear "John"
by teachme53

Comment:
Critique Club:

Meeting the Challenge: Does this well, the model and photograph "planner" did well illustrating this emotion at the focal point of the image.

Composition: Would have liked to see a tighter crop, eliminating the furniture, and cords behind the girl. I think it would have added some extra drama to the shot. I like the way the girls arm leads to the letter.

Technical Quality: I am not one that prefers graininess in any photos unless they are intended to be abstract (and as I said, that's my personal preference). There are a lot of jpg artifacts to the right of the girl, and by the desk, which are unattractive. I do like the darkness of the focal point, helping to emphasize the dark mood.

Creativity: I think you did well with this at the focal point. Even though the photo is staged, you put a lot of effort into all the details with the subject, good job.

Overall Conclusion: As noted above, a tighter crop and increased photo quality would have helped this shot a lot, although the message is right on.

If you have questions, feel free to email me!

Kandice Jones

Down the Sidewalk
by 3boyzMom

Comment:
Looks more appropriate for perspective than leading lines. Interesting shot anyway. You were brave to enter such a vertical shot for the challenge, but it works well for this image.

White Bridge
by DennisF

Comment:
Very nice, bet you wished all the ducks were swimming towards the bridge. Good use of b/w. Good luck, 8

Winter Reflections
by Niten

Comment:
This looks so much like something in my state of AR (Buffalo National River). Will be interested in seeing the info on this shot. Good use of the challenge with an great photo. I might have cropped out the rocks at the bottom left, as I think they distract more than add to the depth of the photo. Like the rest of the composition very well and the nice depth of field used exposing those pebbles in the foreground as well as the rock formation being fairly clear.