Snow Glowby
ahazeComment by dr rick: Greetings from the Critique Club!
The message
This charming image conveys a clear message to me: Let your light shine! Even a small light can do much good. Of course, this is just my interpretation with my Christian background. It may convey something different to other people, whether telling a story about a light melting the snow or just the beauty of the light surrounded by snow. That's a hallmark of a good picture.
Creative choices
The lighting is perfect here: mostly the subject but the red-lit background adds nice color, and very importantly, the ambient light shows the surrounding snow and sets the white level for the photo to a nice cool white; the white of the subject would not be nearly so warm without it.
The shallow depth of field is appropriate, preventing the background visible through the hole from being too apparent. The sharpness of the focused areas is great, showing the interesting textures of snow, ice, and glass.
The composition isn't bad. The left-to-right centering is formal and appropriate, but I think some extra space at the top would work better. Maybe even a vertical format. I'm glad the red light is hidden, but its socket, even though out of focus, is still a bit distracting (although there isn't much you could do about that).
Technical aspects
Exposure, focus, and color balance are all great. Just the right amount of USM.
Photographer found comment helpful.