The Arrival of Spring
by Cyndane

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Hi! I thought this was such a cute portrait when I first saw it and still do! What a lovely young lady. I like the composition of the shot and the colors are wonderful.

But, as you've heard, most did not consider it a "Studio" portrait because it was taken outside, not the normal studio enviornment, though I myself think that anywhere can be a studio!

I like the idea of the soft focus on the dress and such but would have left her eyes sharper, maybe used the selecting tool and sharpen just them or erase the level of soft focus on the eyes so they would really come through, she has beautiful eyes.

To have made if fit this challenge more the crop could have been tighter, taking out a lot of the playground area, focusing on the head and shoulders and then people might have wondered if it was a backdrop or an outside shot.

But again, a lovely portrait, something your little sister will love for a long, long time.

I hope my comments help and good luck in future challenges.

Deannda

Shahina
by teddls

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Hi! When I first saw this image during the challenge I thought it was a really big doll, so you succeeded in that concept. I see this is your first entry here to DPC, welcome!

I also thought to myself, it has a lot of color! It was a very interesting project and picture to look at but I had the many of the same concerns that were mentioned below for this to be considered the "classic" color portrait. The ultra white skin, the idea that it's more about you instead of the subject themselves.

But in itself it's lovely, classic in a painting sort of way and the model is beautiful. The composition is very nice, the lighting is well done and the colors are excellent. You did a wonderful job with this overall and if another type of challenge you probably would have scored a little higher.

Hope my comments help and good luck in future challenges!

Deannda

The Pleasure is All Mine
by Lora

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Hi! I see this is your first challenge and may I just say, WOW! I love the expression in this shot. I liked it when I first saw it and like it even more now that I get to see it again! Very nice.

I'm not sure how familier you are with some of the post processing you can do with a photo so if I say anything that seems over your head or under your abilities, remember I'm commenting blind here per say since you didn't put any notes in your comments.

As many noted, great shot, great expression but with advanced editing, this could have been a to 25 shot your first time out. A little post processing to really get the colors to pop and come out would have raise your score at least a .5 to start. Then the ability to clone out little imperfections and such is great in advance challenges, can't use it in basic but could have used it here, the healing tool or clone tool to take care of the small but noticable acne on his face would have probably gotten you another .5 in the score.

Last but not least, the focus, as most will tell you the focus in any good portrait should be in the eyes and his eyes are telling me a great story but they are hidden in the dark. Using your dodging, burning tools on a very light setting could really help bring them out and make them the main focus. Then you could use the Unsharp mask to really define the clarity in the shot and make it stand out.

I hope my comments help and I wish you well in future challenges. You have a nice natural ability to get the most out of your subject and I look forward to seeing more of your work! And if you do rework this shot I would love to see the results.

Deannda

La Fille en Couleur (the girl in color)
by fotodude

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Hello! This model has amazing eyes, they are so direct and look right through the camera and really make you notice her. Very nice capture on her face and the expression. I love the coloring on the face but as you go down the neck something happens, this orange blotch shows up and makes you step back a sec and say, "What the heck is that?" Not sure what happened there, if it's a lighting glitch or editing afterwards.

Also the background is a bit distracting and fighting for attention in both color and design, the orange, the purple, the line there is all drawing away from that lovely face. Perhaps a tighter crop on just the face would make this more dynamic?

Again, a lovely young lady and wonderful capture on her face. Hope my comments help and good luck in future challenges!

Deannda

Grandma's kitchen
by kiwiness

Comment:
Beautiful. Better watch out, your wife is starting to gain on you! ;)

Deannda

Anno 1870
by Anastasia

Comment:
Stunning, just stunning! And you beat your hubby! WTG! :) Now that you got the hang of this ribbon thing shouldn't take long to overtake him on that too! And congrats on advancing in the MS Tournament brackets! ;) I'm honored to have lost to such a wonderful picture!

Deannda

A Beautiful View
by idnic

Comment:
Hummmmm, wonder who's shot this is?

Nice idea but I'm not to sure about the white on white, the back of the veil disappears into the background and the framing around the model seems a bit off for some reason, the way the (her) left breast and shoulder are in the bottom frame with the bit of arm is a bit distracting to me. And the angle that her head is tilted at looks most uncomfortable, I know when I've put my daughter in this position her first complaint is that she can barely breath, but that might just be her complaining because I'm making her pose again, LOL. :) And her hands look so empty and almost akward to me, like she's not quite sure what to do with them. A bouquet would have done wonders for this, some white flowers to continue with the whole white theme.

Also there seems to be a dark shadow to the right of the model, possibly hers but I see no evidence of window frame shadow. And the condition of the frame compared to the bride really bothers me, maybe you were going for the something old idea with the frame compared to her but it's so dirty and icky looking compared to that pure white dress it just make me shudder a bit if it were to accidently touch the dress.

Nice job on the window hanging, can't see how it's holding up at all, well done there. It's a nice shot but the best I can offer at this point is a 5, maybe I'll be back to bump it up later.

Alone
by RolandB

Comment:
This is a wonderful shot, the look on the man's face is very intense but not over bearing, very nice. I like the window blinds coming across and while not your normal "framing" per say, very unique and thoughtful. When I ran through them last night at lightening speed I had this at a 7 but I'm raising it to a 9, well done.

A Moment to Herself
by sir_bazz

Comment:
This is a lovely image, a warm cup of coffee/tea, sitting, watching the rain, so relaxing and peaceful, almost makes me sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeepy, oh, sorry, started to doze off there, LOL :)

A very lovely image overall, the cropping threw me off just a bit leaving that extra over on the left but the more I look at it the more I like it. First glance I threw a 7 on this, raising to an 8, could use just a touch, a very tiny touch more contrast to me personally. But overall, well done

Hardwick Old Hall, Derbyshire
by alpharich

Comment:
It's a window and it's framing a view and that's about all I see here. It's a lovely view, very beautiful country and the use of the old style window is very nice but it's really bland overall. No depth, no contrast, no life in the shot. Perhaps a curves adjustment, maybe a little dodging or burning to add more to the shot itself? The light is a bit harsh also, a levels adjustment to possibly soften that up a bit? I think this shot has great potential with a little bit more editing and maybe even a little more cropping, take some off the left and bring it more to a rule of thirds instead of so centered. A 6