Ships III
by ellamay

Comment:
Excellent use of negative space for this challenge. Good job cropping, too. Sharp details of the clouds. At first, I didn't see three ships in the thumbnail but I was impressed when I actually saw the photo. Only thing I would change: make the ships a bit larger next time. Good job! 9

Shadows
by rickhd13

Comment:
Very nice architecture shot. Nice deep blue for the sky and vibrant tan color of the wall and excellent details of the stucco, as well. Only thing I would do is crop a smidge off the bottom and it would be perfect. 8

Hard Rock Cherries
by pmichaud

Comment:
Nice macro setup. Lighting is too direct from above causing uneven lighting along the bottom half of the cherries. The dark shadow in the lower left is distracting and should have been cropped out.

Three Sails
by ccasey

Comment:
Very impressive sunset background with vibrant colors. The sails appear to be a bit out of focus. I would like to have the bottom and left trees and such cropped out as they are distracting. Just the sails and the sunset would have been a very simple yet effective presentation. Not a fan of the border, either. Overall, good effort.

Fire extinguisher
by MrAkamai

Comment:
Thank you for your comments, Amanda! Sorry I didn't get around to reading them until now as I was out of town in New Orleans. I was busy there, however, taking over 130 photos and some of which are posted in my portfolio already.

The border color does look red here but I will try what you suggested and change the brush properties next time. While I made the border, I didn't think of the consequences of applying a highly opaque color against a white background. I know it's obvious but it just didn't click with me at the time.

I totally agree with you on the distortion of the bricks and that's a trait I cannot fix as it lies with the lens. I would LOVE to retake this with my 10D (and my new tripod) in the future and I hope to do it one day. The 718SH just isn't sturdy enough to hold the 10D in any sideways position.

As for the number of comments the photo received, I just hoped for a higher score based on what was said. But, personally, I am very happy with the photo despite its flaws and hopefully the one I take with the 10D will be much better.

Thanks again, Amanda!

Pomegranate flowers
by MrAkamai

Comment:
Wow, I really REALLY took a beating on this one, didn't I? Oh well, like everyone said in their comments, it wasn't centered despite both the flowers and pomegranate fruit occupying the center of the frame. I guess the subject needs to be very obvious and I admit I do deduct points for the photo not matching the challenge or if the title does not fully represent what the title implies.

Do any of you think you would have voted higher if you thought of both the flowers and the pomegranate as one single subject? I'm very curious. :)

Many thanks to those who voted 5 and higher (especially those two 8s)! :)

Lily
by melismatica

Comment:
I agree that the first attempt is much nicer in terms of lighting and focus. This is an interesting macro subject so keep exploring! :)

Peony Helpers
by dphillips

Comment:
Lighting is harsh and looks like it's oversharpened a bit. Good colors and saturation.

Wahini
by kaycee

Comment:
You might get points deducted for those who do not know what "wahine" means (not wahini). It's a Hawaiian word that means "woman." Lighting seems a bit bright and extra hazy. Focus seems a bit soft. Nice vibrant colors on the surfboard.

Mountain BlueBells
by dacrazyrn

Comment:
I would have liked to see the four flowers in full focus rather than just the one on top and the leaf. Background is a bit busy, too.