Stretching towards the sun
by dogsandtrees

Comment by SaraR:
Hello from the Critique Club.

This is a bright and bold entry that certainly meets the challenge. Your entry scored a near perfect DPC average, and finished in the middle of the pack, and in the middle of your DPC entries to date.

Pros: Conforms to voters expectations of the challenge topic; bright and cheerful; good control of your background which appears even, and crucially doesn't have shadows - good use of your flash; focus is crisp.

Cons: A tighter framing of the daffodils might give more impact; 'cleaner' more perfect specimens would, I am sure, have helped your score more, as would better lighting on the stems, which appear rather dark and lacking the vibrancy of the rest of the image; I wonder if a more perfectly symmetrical image - either all three bolt up-right or else a sort of fan shape would help?

All in all a decent entry that, with minor tweaks, would probably have scored a half point higher and in to the top third of the entries.

Feel free to PM me if you want any clarification on any points I have raised - oh, and welcome to DPC!

Stretching towards the sun
by dogsandtrees

Comment by blindjustice:
All you need is a hand in their and you've got Picasso.

Stretching towards the sun
by dogsandtrees

Comment by Denielle:
A little off, in my opinion. The position of the flowers doesn't seem natural, the colors seem over saturated, or something, not exactly sure.
Also, the bright yellow background is a bit too bright. Just my thoughts on the shot.

Stretching towards the sun
by dogsandtrees

Comment by bubeltrubel:
I can imagine how was your idea. but, sorry, the composition is a little bit boring in my eyes. Although the background is very yellow, I miss a bit more wow-factor

Stretching towards the sun
by dogsandtrees

Comment by sophiawood:
Spring! nice shot

Stretching towards the sun
by dogsandtrees

Comment by EL-ROI:
With this shot, I think a portrait orientation would have been a little more powerful.

Whippet
by dogsandtrees

Comment by Gordon_1:
These are an amazing dogs i love watching them race.Nice composition and sharpness good processing ..Well done

Whippet
by dogsandtrees

Comment by Denielle:
Aww... cute. Nice shot

Acoustic
by dogsandtrees

Comment by snaffles:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Gave you a 6 in voting for the concept, but the execution needs a little more to make it pop. The lighting is quite good,looks like you bounced the flash off the ceiling, and black bgs eat light, so good choice. I see you shot fairly fast so I'm guessing handheld; surprised that at f8 you have such a shallow dof. You may want to invest in a tripod, they are worth it for shots like this.

For what it is, the composition is fine, but there just isn't enough of the guitar to see...if not for the title and hint of strings, I never would have guessed that they were tuners.

Please keep on shooting and entering, that's the only way to improve.

Feel free to PM me,

Susan

Whippet
by dogsandtrees

Comment by Melethia:
Whippets, to me, always look scared of their own shadow. Very nice portrait of one.