Curves
by sns

Comment:
Awesome abstract. Warm, engaging colors, nice shape and form. I like it! Great work.

The slow pace of time
by srugolo

Comment:
Outstanding work. This is photography. An instant fav.

fairy-edit.jpg
by Mark-A

Comment:
Very nice! Sweet photo, and very fitting edit. Looks great :-)

Woody in Pyjama Pants Salutes the Morning
by vlado

Comment:
Took me a moment to fully get this one, but Wowsers! Hilarious. Very funny shot, and well done! :-)

Allllmost got it...
by Shutter-For-Hire

Comment:
Very clever! :-) Good idea. Good execution.

Time Keeps on Ticking
by benolsen

Comment:
Great concept, and a very good execution of the idea. Nice job!

from darkness rises a silent prayer
by dragonballzfsr

Comment:
First off, I think the concept for this shot is pretty good, and the composition is great! You've kept the shot very simple and clean, and that is important. I like the idea of the lighting from below, and the lighting is ok, but could be better IMO. You see how the one large petal is quite dark, and kind of ends up as a dark blob? Possibly using a reflector (which could be as simple as a white piece of paper or poster board) above the flower could help here, to allow detail on the top to come through. Maybe even gently trying to push that petal down some, or if possible, being very picky about what specific flower you choose to shoot. Now, I think the biggest weakness here is the lack of sharpness. It doesn't appear that you were going for a 'soft' look, and I don't think soft would work well with this type of shot anyway. It's the super tack sharpness that helps make an image like this 'Pop', IMO. There are several factors that could be affecting this. For one, you can use a tripod (if you aren't) or even set your cam on a stool, or stack of books or something. I notice your aperture was f/22? This seems kind of small for this shot. A smaller aperture will give a greater dof, which for this shot, you probably don't need. This small of aperture also gave you a fairly long shutter speed (5) and the longer the shutter is open, all the more time for camera shake, wind or any kind of motion to add blur and/or throw focus slightly off. Perhaps you were going for a slower speed to get some 'silkyness' with the smoke, if so, all the more important to ensure absolute steadiness of camera and subject, and play with your light (strength, position, etc) to get a good balance of speed, aperture etc. Finally, although it won't 'save' a shot that is out of focus to begin with, sharpening in post processing can really help. Especially with dslr's, they tend to be a little on the soft side, to allow for the photog to sharpen to taste in post. If this is something new to you, there are tutorials in abundance (some on the site in the 'Learn' section) on sharpening. It will depend on what software you use, but 'smart sharpen', or 'Unsharp Mask' (USM) are the standard tools. Another nice touch to shots like this, (when everything is spot on) :-) , is to spray the flower down with some water mist before shooting.

This shot shows a good eye for concept, composition and subject. It is a good idea, and I really like the lighting from below and the added smoke. I even like the title. :-) It's the attention to the details that can make ok shots great.

Solar Rider
by AP

Comment:
Congrats! Very cool image. A good example of a shot where going 'heavy handed' in PP is very fitting, and yields a great result, IMO. Nice job. :-)

White Hat in B&W
by jgrieco

Comment:
Great lighting! Nice portrait. Well done.

Li'l Buckaroo
by lauraodom

Comment:
Nice lighting, and good job on the background. I am thinking though, that maybe you got a little too many props going on. I find myself thinking the shot is starting to get a little busy, and the framing/composition of the shot seems geared more towards the props, and less about the boy, who should be the main point of the shot, obviously. It just seems like too much of my attention is being drawn away from him.