Bubbles
by bobdaveant

Comment:
Nice action capture and the expression is good. Profile works well even with the eyes closed.

There are some technical aspects to consider. The girls' face should have some front or side lighting from a refector or filler flash to make it brighter. As it is it is in shade and dark with respect to the brighter background. That will make her stand out more in the composition.

The image is low contrast and needs to have a proper black point set. You can tell because if you apply a simple autolevels adjustment the image will change a lot. There are many ways contrast improvement can be achieved. Most are better than just using autolevels.

The soft focused background appears grainy. That can be smoothed considerably with noise reduction and/or gaussian blur applied just to the selected background.

You might consider a standard 8 X 10 aspect but much closer cropped than it is right now. That will draw the attention to the blowing of the bubble which is the main theme of this image. The outer detail as it is does not add that much to the composition. In the new crop you would keep the girl on the right side of the frame. Then it appears she is blowing the bubble into the image and not out of the frame.

As is the focus is a little on the soft side. You can chose either a sharper focus or a more artistic softer focus. Either would work well with this image.

Old Fashioned Metal
by DeniseBernadette

Comment:
Color and rust make good contrasting elements in the composition. From this angle offseting the pump from center is all right.

The visible metallic components make this image clearly meet the challenge, but some reviewers will not think it a strong connection.

In general the image is OK but there are things to consider for improvement that involve technical quality, perspective and composition.

First, the near tubing and piping connected to the pump are closest to the camera and slightly out of focus compared with the wall behind on the right. That should not be. You shot this at f/3.2. If you reshoot with a tripod mounted camera at a higher f/stop then everything can be in focus. The colors are somewhat dull. You might consider bringing out more of the green and more of the rusty redness to highlight the metalic nature of this pump even more than it already is. Techniques of lighten and darken applied to the pump will give it depth and highlight its features.

Next, the image is taken from an uninspiring, eyelevel or 'snapshot' perspective. Looking at it from any steep angle either above or below eyelevel will add a lot of interest to the composition. Angled shots, if chosen, should always be exaggerated both for added viewer interest and to make plain that it is not an issue with the levelness of the horizon.

Lastly, the cement brick background adds little to the composition. You could try applying dodge and burn to add texturing to it but you probably should select a closeup shot of just the pump and crop out as much background as possible. This will enlarge and improve the quality of the detail on the pump itself. If the price of gas is readable where it says "COMPUTED AT" you might try to show that in the image. Viewers would find that VERY interesting.

Road to the Tetons
by postoakinversion

Comment:
Leading lines or curves generally have two purposes. One is to lead the viewer into the scene. The other is to lead you toward the main subject. It is most effective if they come in from the lower left because that is the natural direction humans visually scan a picture from so are easiest to pick up.

This B&W is a fundamentally perfect textbook example of leading lines in an exceptionally fine composition. It meets the challenge the best of all entries. The sweeping lines are a major element that supports and directs attention to the main subject in an eye catching way without overwhelming the main subject and taking over the composition.

Kudos to you for a great image!

"The Toolshed"
by bryanbrazil

Comment:
Leading lines or curves generally have two purposes. One is to lead the viewer into the scene. The other is to lead you toward the main subject. It is most effective if they come in from the lower left because that is the natural direction humans visually scan a picture from so are easiest to pick up.

Classic and fine example of a leading line. Congrats, you nailed the challenge topic perfectly.

Let's Go Fishin'
by smilebig4me1x

Comment:
Overall this is a fine image. Composition is good and B&W works well. General technical quality is well above average and tonal range especially good.

It is likely that some reviewers will not find as strong a connection to the challenge topic as they expect and will vote it lower.

Here are two technical items for your consideration...

The lure on the table is in the best focus and the reel in the foreground is soft focused. This image would benefit if everything in the frame is in sharp focus. There are two things you can do to accomplish this. One is to shoot at a higher f/stop and longer exposure time for greater depth of field with your camera mounted on a tripod. The other is to change the central focus from the lure to a point closer to the reel so that depth of field (DOF) on both sides of that point will include both reel and lure in sharp focus. Combining both works best.

The other item is lighting balance. The image is dark on the left side of the frame. That acts as a distraction that takes away from this fine composition. Reshooting with additional lighting in that area and/or fixing lighting in that area in post processing will better balance the image.

Message edited by author 2005-06-29 14:43:00.

Queen captures pawn, Checkmate!
by Jbchess1

Comment:
Leading lines or curves generally have two purposes. One is to lead the viewer into the scene. The other is to lead you toward the main subject. It is most effective if they come in from the lower left because that is the natural direction humans visually scan a picture from so are easiest to pick up.

Nice way you have used leading lines to direct attention to the queen checkmating the King. Would have been cool to put a pawn or something there to show the queen actually moved down that alley to checkmate the King. This way the queen could not have come down that diagonal.

Starting Line
by SeaSail

Comment:
Leading lines or curves generally have two purposes. One is to lead the viewer into the scene. The other is to lead you toward the main subject. It is most effective if they come in from the lower left because that is the natural direction humans visually scan a picture from so are easiest to pick up.

Great use of leading lines to direct the viewer toward the introspective world of the athlete thinking about the race.

Wykeham Walk
by bicray

Comment:
Leading lines or curves generally have two purposes. One is to lead the viewer into the scene. The other is to lead you toward the main subject. It is most effective if they come in from the lower left because that is the natural direction humans visually scan a picture from so are easiest to pick up.

Wonderful leading lines from the classic perspective drawing greater attention to the walking woman.

It's him! The guy in the tie
by Chez

Comment:
Leading lines or curves generally have two purposes. One is to lead the viewer into the scene. The other is to lead you toward the main subject. It is most effective if they come in from the lower left because that is the natural direction humans visually scan a picture from so are easiest to pick up.

One of the most interesting uses of leading lines in this challege. There are both vertical and diagonal lines and they very, very effectively draw attention to the walking man in the suit. You engage the viewer to speculate on your message.

"On the Road"
by tfarrell23

Comment:
Leading lines or curves generally have two purposes. One is to lead the viewer into the scene. The other is to lead you toward the main subject. It is most effective if they come in from the lower left because that is the natural direction humans visually scan a picture from so are easiest to pick up.

Classic use of a road to direct attention into the scene.