Red Red Rose
by KatPsen

Comment by snaffles:
Greetings from the Critique Club

A very pretty image of a rose dappled with raindrops, so it certainly meets the challenge requirements :-) Despite the centredness of the heart of the rose, I like the offset angle that you shot it with, and the light is that nice soft post-rain diffuse light. The detail we can see is quite lovely.

However I agree with the commenter in that I wish more of the flower was in focus. It's such a great subject, why stop at just the middle of it? Going by your settings, I am guessing that you used a tripod. Shutting down your aperture to, say f.13 or beyond may well have been worth it. Add to that an exposure of a second or so (provided that your subject isn't moving). Also, curious as to why such a high ISO? The colour is almost a little washy as opposed to the deep full red that I feel is truly there. Try these suggestions and see what you get.

All in all a very good effort, please keep up the good work and I look forward to seeing more of it. Feel free to PM me with any comments or questions. Susan

Anyone Home?
by KatPsen

Comment by snaffles:
Greetings from the Critique Club.

All right...ants are not domesticated critters, so technically this is a wildlife shot. But it simply isn't a strong entry, and here's why: it's a rather boring shot of an ant poised above the entrance to its nest, shot from overhead. I believe harvester ants are a good size, so why not get down to its level or even below it, and shoot up to make the ant look huge and imposing? Doing so may well have helped improve this image's chances tremendously.

In terms of composition, the lighting is flat and washy (why such a high ISO and fast shutter speed? both nullify the deep dof) the out-of-focus nest entryway doesn't give us much to look at apart from a blurry ant body.The main ant is in focus but that's about it.

All I can really do to suggest improving on shots like these, if ants are going to be *your thing*....go out there every single day and take 500 pics of those ants...and make sure every single one is different. Not just in number of ants but changes in composition, lighting, angle, lens which you use, anything and everything.

Hope this critique has been of help. Feel free to PM me. Susan.

Red Red Rose
by KatPsen

Comment by Lustre:
I think I would have liked just a little more of the flower to be in focus

Anyone Home?
by KatPsen

Comment by Lydia:
I think an ant is an insect... and they're not included in the challenge topic, I think.

Not sure what to do about this... I'll vote later after I decide.

Anyone Home?
by KatPsen

Comment by GeorgesBogaert:
Has the hole been blurred in PP? Nice wildlife shot, an 8 from me

Anyone Home?
by KatPsen

Comment by Phocal:
I am sorry, but for me the definition of wildlife doesn't include insects.

Anyone Home?
by KatPsen

Comment by ubique:
Well done for trying something different. It's a bilious-looking picture, but better that than another colourful duck. Thank you.

Grafiti Train
by KatPsen

Comment by tjbel05:
I like this.