And you thought that was just a story...
by PeterPic

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Okay, first I had to say I had NO IDEA what you were talking about. The first thing that came to mind was hair loss because of the type of hair in the hand and the way it's arranged.

Then I read some of the comments and thought, "I never heard it that way!" :)

So, now that I know what you are going for...........

The lighting and tone set in this shot is very well done and expresses the setting that you were going for very nicely. But honestly the shoulder in the lower left corner? Very distracting and at first glance I couldn't tell what it was, shoulder, breast......? But bringing the shoulder back so it's not taking up so much of the shot might help quite a bit. I realize we risk showing something else when we do that but if you change the angle of the shot just a touch you could still get the message across while improving the overall composition of the shot. I tried just cropping it out but that leaves the shot very unbalanced.

Also the direction of the hand, it the fingers were pointing more towards the corner, offering a line through the shot it, again might help with the overall feel of the shot.

Now, the "hair". As mentioned previously, it just doesn't look realistic. You could have gone with some glue and some short hair or even string set up to make it look more like your leg or arm hair and this would have really sent the message across without any question.

Again, very nice tones and the setting is clear as a bell. I hope my comments help and Good Luck in Future Challenges.

Deannda

A bird...I think
by irishblue

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

This is a very cool shot. I like the lines, the curves, the overall feel. There are a few things that stand out to me though. First teh green reflection or dot on the glass object itself. Very distracting, not sure what it is but it keeps yelling, "LOOK AT ME" to me.

Second is the shadow on the right side, very slight but again, there and a bit distracting to me. Being a basic challenge there really isn't much you could do about either of them, but now that the challenge is over you could redo it and fix those two things I noticed.

I see this is your fourth challenge, welcome! Back to the picture now. I'm looking at the glass and there is nothing that really stands out other than the light green circle. It blends in with the background, doesn't stand out from it and the angle of the shot seems a bit off for some reason. I understand coming from under for a different perespective but maybe if you moved to left and did a true profile shot?

The DOF also doesn't really seem to work for me on this shot. For the size of the object it seems it should all be in focus yet the tail is fuzzy. I like that the foreground grass is out of focus, bringing you into the bird but then the bird isn't all in focus.

REading your notes I love that you did this in a store! Do you work there? I would be way to chicken to start arranging a shoot in a store, LOL!

Looking at your other shots, you have an eye for the pictures, now comes the fun part, fine tuning it. I hope my comments help and Good Luck In Future Challenges.

Deannda

Abandoned
by liltritter

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

What a wonderful shot. Such emotion and such wonderful composition. I love the B&W treatment as well.

The first thing I did think when I saw it was someone's little girl after she was done playing and they caught her rubbing her eyes, perfect! Then I read your comments and I was close! ;) I use my children a lot as well.

I love the feel of this shot, the dirty little girl, the feeling of being alone and lost, the dirty dress everything. The only things that give me just a touch of concern are one, the focus. Could be just a touch, a tiny smidge sharper to really bring out the edges of the shot and two the lack of definate black/white spots, it seems to be a lot of gray, and some of them are really blending. Either adjusting the levels just a touch or adding a bit of brightness/contrast to make it pop just a touch more would really put this one over the top for me. I didn't get a chance to vote in this challenge, but if I had this would have gotten a 7 or 8 from me, with the adjustments a 9 or 10.

If you take my suggestions and rework this shot I would love to see the results.

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

Deannda

Desolated on the inside (4CJE)
by justamistere

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

This is a shot that is wonderfully tought out in it's composition and feel as stated from your comments. I love the desolated feeling, it worked and fit perfectly in the challenge.

Two things though jumped out at me right away that bothered me a bit though. First was the lines, wonderful lines, leading me in and around and very intresting but they all seem a bit tilte to the right. A slight rotation to balance them out might not give me the slight feeling of vertigo I feel when I do look at it for too long.

Second was the brightness of the shot. You mention that you cropped out some of the brighter areas, maybe by switching this to b/w or sepia and a bit of burning to take some of the edge of the windows on the left would really bring out the desolate feeling in this shot. Or even adjusting the levels in the color version to help darken some of the areas.

If you rework this shot or try anything else with it I would love to see the results, it's got great potential!

Good luck in future challenges and I hope my comments help!

Deannda

...It's all gone...All alone...
by lifternessjt

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

What a beautiful shot, I immediately got the feeling of lonliness and sadness which translate very well to desolation when I first glanced at this shot.

Your model did a very well in that aspect and seeing your comments below I understand how. A few things jumped out at me though. First was the pink/blue sky. Very upbeat and contrasting to the mood you seem to be trying to set and what is accomplished or conveyed. Perhaps if this was taken to a sepia or b/w tone to remove the colors or even adjust just the reds/blues to make them moodier or to better help convey the feeling.

I like the overall composition of the shot, the model in the third right and the way the line of the horizon comes down to her and then starts to rise again behind her. Very nicely done.

Sharpness was mentioned in the earlier comments and it is a small issue here in that with your model just out of focus but the rest in, it takes away from the overall feel again.

And one more tiny thing that is bothering me, is the pocket line on her skirt. That line where the wind has pushed the skirt against her body and outlines the pocket underneath. I think it's a pocket line, can't really tell but the color difference between it and the rest of the garment is a bit distracting, a tiny thing but something I noticed.

Again, wonderful work, good luck in future challenges! Hope my comments help!

Deannda

criss-cross_reflect.jpg
by wavelength

Comment:
This is a wonderful picture in that when you glance at the thumbnail you get the feeling that it will be a sharp as a tack shot but when you open the file it's got the impressionist feel as well as the sharpness, but not to sharp in the grass on the left.

The framing and composition on this is very nice with the intersection of the branches happening in the center but not quite dead center. The petals from the flowers make it look like the tree is still budding and adds a very surreal feel to the whole shot.

The refelcting branch or leaves in the upper off center right is a bit distracting though. It keeps wanting me to look up there but I would rather focus on the intersecting branches and petals.

The grassy bank in the upper left ands the touch of reality that works very well with this shot, it's clear but still has a soft feel to it so it's not fighting with the water reflection for attention. It draws you in to follow the branches and back out the lower right.

Overall, very nice, if I were to vote on this it would get an 8 from me, 9 or 10 if the dark branch was cloned out. :)

Deannda

DSC_9013.jpg
by wavelength

Comment:
Okay, this is extremely interesting in that I can't quite figure out what it is, LOL :)

In the thumbnail I thought it was a pig snout and now I'm still not sure! It almost looks like a skull with no nose or mouth but yet still has the pig snout aura going for it. But it's fasinating all the same! I love the water droplets on it and the DOF is wonderful.

DSC_7839.jpg
by wavelength

Comment:
OH and is that red on the tree form some parasite they are having trouble with? I like the color it adds to the trees but sadly it's killing them :(

DSC_7839.jpg
by wavelength

Comment:
Okay, this one caught my eye in the thumbnails because of the leaning trees, I'm guessing a fisheye now that I see it closer?

I love the colors and the overall composition of the shot but the curve in the middle, by the rocks is a bit disconcerting, is that a word? It makes me a touch dizzy, LOL :) The shadow in the middle is also a bit distracting, maybe dodge it just a touch so it's not so dark? But otherwise, this is a wonderful shot! :)

T h e D r o u g h t
by SDW

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Hello Sir! Are we about ready for the WPL 2? I know my team is, LOL!

But this is about this stunning shot here. I love this. I didn't get a chance to vote in this challenge but had I this would have easily gotten an 8 from me. But I see it finished around a 5.8? What is wrong with these people?

Well, upon further investigation and looking three things jump out at me and really talk to me.

One is the noise in the lower right corner, not sure if it's the texture of the rock in that area or what but it looks very noise in there and that is a bit of a distraction.

Second was the dark area in the upper left corner. Almost looks like it started being a vingette but then stopped. Can't tell if it's the sky or burning in the PP. Again, a bit distrating.

And third was the over sharpening of the tree outline to the sky. It looks almost cut and pasted, not sure exactly why.

I think you succeeded in the Ansel Adams style of photography with the exception of the three little things I mentioned. Again. Great shot!

Good luck in future challenges and I hope my comments help!

Deannda