Patio Perfection
by bwalker1

Comment by posthumous:
this has good composition and color. you should really make your pictures bigger.

Patio Perfection
by bwalker1

Comment by avalanche1030:
Smoking and drinking do go hand in hand and I do like the processing but between the tiny bottle, empty pot and already smoked cigarettes I'm not quite sold

Patio Perfection
by bwalker1

Comment by Revecca:
Well, I'm sure you've gotten this comment already but why is the image so small? A bigger one would've allowed us to see a lot more detail. Aside from that, I wish the overall hue of the image wasn't so orange-y.

Patio Perfection
by bwalker1

Comment by capretta:
a little bit "snapshot" for me, in the absolut ads the bottle is a glowing focus of the shot, but here it is not sharp and a little lost on the table. you must drink hard though to drink from the "unbreakable" shot glasses!

Patio Perfection
by bwalker1

Comment by Neat:
Wish it was bigger, had potential, wish you left the cigarettes out though.

Patio Perfection
by bwalker1

Comment by dreambigxoxo:

Patio Perfection
by bwalker1

Comment by blindjustice:
I like the shambotic quality; and I get the vodka and sundrenched afternoon on a cedar wood patio, just before or after going to the local watering hole, but its a bit small and gritty.

Personal Melody
by bwalker1

Comment by duartix:
Greetings from the Critique Club ;)

Artistic Merit
Pros:
* Beautiful subject.
* Fantastic contrast and use of B&W.
* The hard shadows - something that most photographers try to avoid - are what really make this photo adding 3D depth to the subject and reinforcing the outlines.
* Great zone balancing even though there are little of them. Blowing her left harm worked very well going along with the shirt and contrasting with her hair.
Cons:
* Cropping. You took quite a beating in the comments for not cropping on the left and I was one of the offenders. I can understand how one sometimes focus on the subject and the background just vanishes. I see how you were drawn in to the "Thirds" Maelstrom leaving a lot of negative space on top. As it is, it's unbalanced and going by the Golden Mean would take it to another level.

Technical Merit
Pros:
* Excelent exposure with good choice of shutter speed. Even though this picture is mainly defined by flash exposure, you managed to freeze the moment avoiding motion blur. I suspect that you were also at the camera's flash synch limit.
* Good control of DOF. The subject is perfectly sharp and the shadows have the definition they need to help the photo, no more no less.
* Good lighting control. What could be seen as defects (hard shadows, blow areas) is used in favor of the picture and works very well.
* Great timing for shutter release. This is the moment!

Emotional Merit
Pros:
* This photo conveys energy by the truckloads putting every other entry to shame for that matter. This is DANCE.
Cons:
* The hair is great and it's the element that is carrying alone almost all the emotion on this picture. The other important element is the body pose especially the hands, but ALAS we can't see the right one. :(

Result
I guess the artistic merit really made you score, while the crop was the only real let down.
I voted you 7* (my equal 5th to 12th best vote) so IMHO this would be honourable mention/top #10 material and even ribbon if the crop was tighter.
So you got 16th place and a 5.9 from your first photo? This is commendable and nothing short of exciting, I wish my efforts were as good as yours.

Keep up this excellent work, I'm anxious to see your next pictures.

All the best
Duarte Bruno

Message edited by author 2010-03-05 07:35:53.

Personal Melody
by bwalker1

Comment by Pompouspete:
This was my favorite photo. You should have won!

Personal Melody
by bwalker1

Comment by Gelert:
LOVE IT! so fun!