A Storm Approaches
by VitaminB

Comment:
I really like the capture and the silhouetted mountains, but it almost feels like the subset is being cut off. The clouds are starting to look menacing, but don't quite convince me of a storm. Nonetheless, a nice image with good colours.

Crown of Thorns
by Quasimojo

Comment:
Very interesting capture, and a great job of contrasting the face to the rest of the image. The cut-off portion at the bottom is a bit distracting from the main subject, but overall a good shot.

Cold and Lonely
by bmartuch

Comment:
I like the strong focus on the tree. It's very intriguing emotionally. As a suggestion, it might look even better with a bit of the bottom cropped off and with a very slight bluish tint to the image.

The Canyon
by jerseyjim

Comment:
Nice colours, and almost a painted quality to it. It's a bit busy, but overall a nice capture.

Winter-Scene.jpg
by Ivory

Comment:
One of the best images in your portfolio. Every line is deliberate, every colour adds to the mood, and it is processed perfectly!

Very nice!

Peeled Off
by travis_cooper

Comment:
Hi from the Critique Club,

First of all, I like your take on the challenge. The "topless" orange in the background is a very clever idea. However, I'm a bit thrown by the purpose of the orange in the front. It adds another element, but isn't topless itself (or maybe it is?), and clearly isn't the part that was removed from the orange in the rear. This was mentioned by a few commenters below, although others liked the idea. It's your art, so I'm not implying what "should" have been done (only possible alternatives).

Contrast could be boosted in this image, and an increase in colour saturation might have helped (the orange isn't very vibrant). Composition and placement of the oranges is good, although there's nothing grabbing or keeping my attention. Perhaps some really hard light with well-defined shadows might have helped boost interest.

Overall, I'd take the comments you already received to heart. The general consensus is that it's undersaturated, underexposed, and lacking contrast. This type of image needs pop (either via contrast or strong colours) in order to grab the viewer's attention.

Geoff

The Sixth Sense
by gwe21

Comment:
Hi from the Critique Club,

I like your take on this image, although the emotion of the film doesn't really come across. I like the look on the boy's face, but it doesn't seem to be one of fear or worry. Instead, he looks more like a student waiting for a lesson.

Technically, the sharpness is good and in the right place. The background and composition are both good. As was already said, the lighting is a bit lacking on this shot. The entire left side of the image is underexposed, which wouldn't be bad if that didn't include part of his face. In the future, a reflector or fill light would correct this nicely.

Continuing with lighting, I think this image would have looked better with off-camera lighting; the catch lights in the eyes would be more engaging and the eyes wouldn't look as flat (with that in mind, the catch lights as they exist here are better than no catch lights at all).

Overall, I'd say that this boy would be a great model for you to use in future challenges. This image seems a bit forced for the challenge, and it seems to be reflected in your score. That said, there are many positive elements to this shot. I look forward to seeing your submissions in future challenges.

Regards,
Geoff

14.....Beginning of the End of My Little Girl.
by smardaz

Comment:
Hi from the Critique Club,

Jason, congratulations on your personal best and top 15 finish! It's really evident here that you've learned from your previous entries, and will continue to improve in the future.

The fact that you only have 4 votes under five clearly shows that your image has universal appeal. Your focus is bang-on in exactly the right place, and despite not having any lighting equipment you were able to light the scene well and create appealing catch lights in the eyes. As was already said, you've captured an expression that could evoke any of a thousand emotions.

For the most part, the shadows are good in this image. There was a second light acting partially as a fill light, which creates a distracting secondary "moustache" shadow under the nose. As well, the eyes (especially her right eye) appear a bit over processed. These are both fairly trivial complaints, as you have created an excellent image with few flaws.

Congratulations again! This is a great shot.

Regards,
Geoff

The Bloom Expands...
by 777STAN

Comment:
Hi from the Critique Club,

Second time I got one of your images in the same day!

I was a bit surprised at first to see that this image scored so low. However, considering the challenge it was entered in, I'm presuming that a lot of voters voted it down because they figured it did not meet the challenge. Your explanation above hints at your intention, but one might instead argue that the rose in full bloom is at the peak of its beauty.

With that said, you've done a great job of capturing a beautiful flower. The water droplets are certainly favourable, and you've done a great job of keeping all aspects of the image well exposed.

The tight crop is nice to see detail, but I might have suggested either a tighter crop or more negative green space around the flower. There is a bit of fringing around the edge of the flower, which seems to indicate either oversharpening or aberration. Some might like that fringe, and others might not have noticed. It's only a small nitpick that I wouldn't have voted down on in this case.

You've captured a nice subject; perhaps the voters would have liked a different or more interesting (i.e. better bokeh) background.

Regards,
Geoff

"Many Gather to Race For The Cure"
by 777STAN

Comment:
Hi from the Critique Club,

First of all, I have to agree that you've photographed a great cause here. This is definitely along the lines of the type of image one would expect to see in a newspaper. In a journalistic way, you've captured the mood and substance of the event without identifying anyone that was there; sometimes a facial expression really works, but in this case a nice wide angle works well.

As was mentioned, there is a slight red colour cast to the image (confirmed in Photoshop). This is something that could have been fixed in-camera, since this image doesn't rely too much on timing (I'm assuming you probably could have taken an image very similar to this over the course of at least 5 or 10 minutes). Despite this, you've done a great job of exposing this image; the sky looks great, and there's nothing blown or overly dark.

Agreed, a panorama would probably look much better. Based on the editing circumstances, however, you've done a great job of capturing the moment.

Regards,
Geoff