Guinness, The Timeless Classic
by cutlassdude70

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!!

Congatulations on a fine score, and fine portrait!! I've looked through your portfolio and find your success with this shot to be at all "beginners luck". You have a fine eye and some great technical skill. Your interpretation of the challenge is spot on, you have made me thirsty!! Good job.

Within the constraints of the basic editing guidlines you were prohibited from reducing the glare on the glass, correcting her bloodshot left eye, or removing the digital noise spot from the flip near the end of her hair. But now that the hooplah has faded, I would revisit those issues in postproduction.

For me, the distacting element in the photo is in the cropping department. The model is clearly more interested in something out the window, or at least in the same direction as the light source than she is in the beer. I am left feeling "what's going on out there?". Leaving some imagination to the viewer is fine. In this case I'm thinking there is probobly some hunk at the bar.

With such a strong glare from the model into the same direction as the source of the glare on the glass, wouldn't it be nice to give us additional mystery by extending the cropping to include more negative space in the direction of the light source? With such strong visual lines, glare and gaze, I might have tried to extend those dynamics by using a wider crop to enhace where all of the energy of the frame is already headed.

Nice work. You get a 7 from me!!

russ

The Sunset
by goc

Comment:
Hello again gooc!

I dont recall ever being asked to review two photos by the same photographer back to back before. At least I have seen your technique of the strong forground subject against the distant background before! You have a strong eye for this particular type of presentation.

I like the way that you have used the fill flash to seperate the subject from the background and to bring out the colors. Nice work! Did you use a fill flash in the daisies on tires shot as well?

As you said in your comments, the birds don't work. I would clone them out. Did you experiment with darker and lighter skies? I am wondering if a solid black background might be very dynamic. And also wondering if a lighter sky might bring out the colors in the flowers even more.

Nice shot. I give you a 6!!

russ

The shadow makers
by IreneM

Comment:
This is a very strong composition, and I like it alot.

I might have tried three things differently. The strong diagonal lines that are created by both the negative roll and the shadow it casts are great. However, I might have cropped a little tighter on the right side. If you notice just a few milemeters of white space exists in the bottom left, as the negative roll fades out of the frame. In the top right, several milemiters of white space exist. I think that is throwing the composition out of whack, like the photo is too long for it's width.

I also might have rolled the marble a little more into the lower third. Cropping the right side would have moved the marble into a more dynamic position as well, but I think you would gain a seperation from the shadows cast by the film and the marble by creating some extra distance. Never underestimate the rule of thirds. Put that marble on the cross-hairs.

The last suggestion is to tone down or crop out the reflection on the film roll that is creating a sharp bright triangle just to the left of the marble. It definately draws my eye, and almost looks like the film is cut. I think without that competing distraction your unrelated subjects would contrast more.

Very nice work. You get a 7 from me!!

russ

Not Just Another Flower Picture
by Lorene

Comment:
A very clever idea and well composed shot.

I might have tried to strenthen it in two ways. I think that the reflection off of the vase is distracting. If I had thought of it, I might have pulled the drapes closed or in post production cloned it out.

The socond improvement that crosses my mind is that the blueish tint to the white background melts a little of the excitement. A glossy white background might just make your subject jump from the page. I might have tried white balance in camera, or in post production painted it.

It is a fun shot. You get a 7 from me!!

russ

Protected Nature
by goc

Comment:
A nice selective focus shot with enough "enrelatedness" to satisfy my very wide interpretations of theme. Nature vs. man, black vs. white, etc.

I am distracted by two elements of the shot. I might have cloned out or muted the bright green color blotch in the backgrounds center, as it distracts from the subjects, flowers vs. old tires. I also might have cropped a little tighter to avoid the edge of the tires left from causing a very nice diagonal line to kind of fall off. My eye keeps returning to both of these elements, and I find them distracting.

Very nice work though. You get a 7 from me.

russ

Dead man's hand
by keone

Comment:
my recollection of the dead man's hand is two pair.......aces and eights.....all black. could be wrong. just like most of my poker calls.

Nothing left to bite.
by bobdaveant

Comment:
Do people really eat their nails to this extent. I at least let them grow out until there is something to chew!!

My Daily Vice - Take 3 times a day with food
by C-town driver

Comment:
They are getting warm buddy!!!

Taking Out of Focus Pictures
by Wildpurple

Comment:
yo tambien

Time and Elements
by HRoxas

Comment:
greetings from the critique club!!

Congratulations on wonderful shot, and your high finish. It's always interesting to me how subjective photography is. In reading the comments of the others, opinions are very split about DOF, background color, lighting, etc. I would be tempted to spend some more time with this shot, now that the challenge is over, and you're not hampered by editing rules.

Here's what I'd do: Tone down the overexposure on the front high parts of the hanger. Clone out the digital spots and reflections on the inside of the loop and other miniscule places through out. My comment about the background is that it's too soft against and soft DOF. I would try to get a little more contrast. Add some texture or noise, or just ofset the color away from your subjects color a little more. On the right side background, where the plywood seem is evident, I would smooth out. Then I would put this shot up for sale on DCPrints. It is very nice. saludos, russ