My First Christmas Tree
by Sonifo

Comment:
I knew that this was the winner as soon as I saw it. It's simply brilliant! Congrats on a well deserved Blue!
TC

Late Fall flower freshness
by ajacoub

Comment:
From the Critique Club

This shot has a very pretty subject. I really like the different colors that are naturally inherent in these flowers.

The first thing that I noticed about this shot is it is very 'dull'. The colors are not very bright and the overall image is very flat. This imediately think that you need to play around with lighting. The biggest thing I believe that you could do with this shot would be to hold a reflector of some sort (as simple as a large white poster board) on the darker side of the shot. This will help to give depth to the shot. Also if you play around with levels, hue/saturation, you can help the colors a lot!

Compositionally, this shot is a bit 'busy' for a macro type shot. It needs to have less elements in it if it is going to be cropped this tightly. Conversely if you pulled back a little bit and brought in more of the elements around the flowers this also would help with the composition. I especially don't like how you cut the foreground flowers off at the bottom.

Flower shots are everywhere and because of this they need to be exceptional in some way to be truly appreciated by a mass audience. This shot though nice is not really exceptional which may explain the lower score. Please do not get discouraged though because I am looking forward to seeing more of your work in the future!
TC

... to drinkable water whenever I want it...
by kosmikkreeper

Comment:
On a personal level, I think that this is a little deep for the current challenge, but I don't know where you are from or what your culture does for this holiday if anything... I can't fault the image too much though. You have a couple of spots in the bakground above the right hand thumb. You managed to light it up nicely without getting hardly any overexposure (KUDOS for that alone. I'm trying to get through my lighting issues.) Cropping is a little tight (is this straight out of camera?) Your focus is damn near perfect without being over sharp and I LOVE your choice of a sepia style here. Nice! Gotta be top 5.
TC

A Perfect Child
by channeled

Comment:
The ONLY things I don't like here are: It's a touch grainy. I wish you woulda got the top of her precious little head. Compositionally It's a touch busy but I can live with this here! Nice 'snapshot'
TC

My Parents
by arnit

Comment:
This is my favorite of this speed challenge. The lighting is the bomb. The focus is perfect. The expressions (lack there-of) priceless. Negative space imperitive. I even like the border. If this ain't a ribbon...
TC

hands
by protector

Comment:
I don't see ANY connection with money here. There is nothing to 'focus' on because there is no focus. The frame is overbearing.
TC

Have and Have Not
by dehalan

Comment:
Great expression! Nice lighting, but you could use a touch of fill on his left shoulder. The kid looks like the 'not', but the 'have' ain't got enough to make this shot. Also I don't comment often on borders, but the triple one here IS distracting.
TC

Rebus
by jvanderau

Comment:
Funny! And tricky. Unfortunately you don't have anywhere near enough light. You are soft on focus, dull on color and flat. All can be fixed with LIGHT!
TC

Caviar dreams and Champagne wishes
by Jason

Comment:
Nice focus on the sign, but you are suffering terribly from under exposure. Way too dark for Vegas!
TC

75 cents unopened, 5 cents opened.
by faidoi

Comment:
Nice shot. Good colors. The DOF is a touch shallow for my taste for this type of shot. Also the multiple shadows detracts. Oh and I'm a coke drinker! :-P
TC