Inner Demon
by JPR

Comment:
THIS is a really cool shot!

Zen Candle
by KevinSLR

Comment:
In response to your request for comments on this picture and what you can do to improve on your photography in general, I offer the following: Getting good and correctly exposed of any shot that includes a bright light source such as a flame is very difficult, but you have managed to get pretty good exposure here. My immediate reaction to this image, however, is that I want to see more. I think that this is too close of a shot and would have been better not cropped so closely and maybe it would have been better taken at a lower angle. The top leaf exiting the frame bothers me and it would frame the image nicely if the whole leaf was included. The container is there and at the same time it isn̢۪t which makes me wonder, again, what exactly it is. As the picture stands right now it is boring (sorry for being blunt).

As for your other request, how to improve your photography: You̢۪re doing it. Keep entering challenges and ask for critiques if you don̢۪t get them. Keep in mind, though, that this challenge had a ton of entries due to the DPL. There weren̢۪t enough comments to go around and the lower scoring shots don̢۪t usually get comments that help much if they get any comments at all.

Peruse other images and see what did well and what scored poorly (start with the top and bottom 20%) and read the comments to understand why they placed where they did. Read up on the principles of composition and exposure and learn them well. Also, understand and learn how to use your camera in manual mode, or at least aperture and shutter priority.

I could keep going but I̢۪ll let you get started here and let someone else pick up where I left off. Good luck and keep entering challenges.

Is it me, or is it breezy in here???
by NikonJeb

Comment:
Congratulations on the nice score Jeb.

Color, Shape, Line & Texture ---- (modern art - abstract expressionism movement) {minimal edit}
by Cory

Comment:
I think that this needs to be explained a little bit more. Sorry for the sarcasm, but I really don't like to be told what to think by the title. While titles often add a lot to the art, I think that the image should mostly speak for itself.

The Taxman Cometh
by hahn23

Comment:
I don't care for the choice to go with the purple duotone processing. There also appears to be a lot of haloing as a result of heavy post processing around the wing on the left and ghosting, especially around the foliage and stems on the bottom of the image. On a positive note, you did a great job catching this bird in flight while maintaining a lot of sharp detail.

circles
by yiannis723

Comment:
The unlevel horizon, the far right end of the sculpture terminating on the horizon, and most especially the filthy sensor and/or lens really hurt the score on this entry.

Cheetah
by sfmorris

Comment:
I hope that you post the original color version in the photog's comments. I'd love to see it and I wonder if it would have scored better.

Mothers Touch
by karenk

Comment:
Nice control of exposure. I hope that you post the original color version in the photog's comments. I'd love to see it and I wonder if it would have scored better.

Abstract
by AllenP

Comment:
Arrggh! This garnered one of my highest votes. I wish that you had understood the rules about text. Don't let it discourage you from entering future challenges.

fishtown2.jpg
by Hipychik

Comment:
Very nice job, especially for one of your first Photomatix processed shots. For my taste, this is the furthest that I like to see HDR pushed. Unlike you however, I like your version better than Trumpeteer4's version. I like your choice to keep the earth tones warmer.