A River Runs Through IT
by Frank Beckman

Comment:
I realize this is not a members challenge, but it too bad you could not do something about the power lines. The flare does not bother me, but the lines do.

Pine Cone
by Judith Polakoff

Comment:
I really like this photo on many levels.... bokeh, composition, lighting, all excellent

hekobokeh
by LevT

Comment:
This is a fine example of perfect bokeh

After the rain
by Pixelstate

Comment:
Perfect bokeh

"Veuve Clicquot", when you want to see Bubbles...
by doctornick

Comment:
My choice for the blue ribbon and one of only 2 tens i gave on this challenge

Broadening Paperclips
by Simonkasprzak

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club.

Composition: The composition of the photograph is very interesting, if I squint my eyes I can almost make out letters in the shadows of the paper clips. I have read some of your previous comments and have to agree that a diagonal composition would have strengthened the photo. Also by cropping out the dark corners you would have led the viewers eye more clearly to the subject.

Colors:You soft muted colors are very pleasing to the eye, much like a late afternoon shot would.

Lighting:The direction of your lightening lead to the great shadows, and prevents this from being a flat photograph. I like the interplay of light with the paper clips, very interesting

Overall: Overall this is a nice picture but not overly interesting. It does not hold my interest for too long. A tighter crop would help by removing too much empty space. Good luck in subsequent challenges.

Barbara

Empty eyes
by saurabhs

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club.

Composition: This has a nice composition, very balancde. I like how the coils fade into the background.

Colors:Black and white was aa very nice choice for this photo, although I suspect the original was close to black and white.

Lighting: The lighting seems a little harsh in the upper left, where it reflects off of the top of the coil. I like what you did with the contrast, but it may be a little over the edge for most of the voters.

Meeting Challenge: This photo definitely meets the challenge, and its a subject we all see everyday without really looking at it.

Border / Title: Your title maybe the best part of the photograph. I like the comparison to eyes.

Overall: Overall this is a good photograph, but it does not hold my interest for too long as there does not seem to be a very defined subject. My eyes tend to wander over the entire photograph without finding a place to land.

The Hunt
by Travis99

Comment:
Composition: The composition on this shot is very strong. You have placed the subject in the best possible location and added bit of other interest (duck call, rifle, little bit of straw) to add visual appeal and to give a feel of place.

Colors:You have done a great job on the color palette you chose to use for this photograph. Its much visually appealing with a sepia feel than it would be in natural color.

Lighting:Your lighting is rather flat, but I suppose under the shooting conditions you did not have much option. At least you did not use on-camera flash :-)

Technical Quality: The subject of the photograph is a little out of focus and my eye tends to stray from him because of that. The overall feeling is a bit too soft for my taste. I am thinking that you might have used a slow shutter speed, If I am right, you might try increasing the ISO so that the available light will give you the chance for a faster shutter speed.

Meeting Challenge: I am not sure how well this meets the challenge, it definitely has that �set-up� feeling. I think the subject was definitely aware that he was being shot (haha pun intended).

Border / Title: Your title is very appropriate, not too long and not cutsey. You have not used a border, which for this photograph is very appropriate.

Overall: Overall this is a very pleasing photograph, but one that may feel more at home in the family album.

No Indoor Plumbing
by Bear_Music

Comment:
Composition: The composition of this shot follows all of the rules of composition i.e. The Rule of Thirds. The lines of the fence do a good job of framing the dog in action.

Colors: You have managed to keep your whites bright without any visible signs of blowout, and at the same time the black of the dog is rich, This is sometimes a difficult thing to do. The red of the color adds the little something extra, without it this might as well have been a black and white photo.

Lighting:Your lighting seems just a little flat, although I am sure the atmospheric conditions did not help in any way. At least you did not have any harsh shadows.

Technical Quality: This photo seems to have a little bit of a �snapshot� feel to it.

Meeting Challenge: I would say that this does meet the very strictest of the challenge definitions, but many of the voters on DPC might disagree with this. Usually candids are considered shots of people that do not know they are being photographed. Unfortunately I believe this is the reason for the score you got. Sometimes thinking outside the box has its own drawbacks.

Border / Title: The title is the very best thing about this photograph, Its nice to see humor being used in creative ways, and you certainly gave me a smile.

Overall: Overall this is a pleasant enough photograph but definitely has a snapshot feel to it. I know with candids there is not much time to fire off a shot, but a photo of a pet or child needs just that something extra to move it out of the family album and onto an art site.

Walk Him Every Day
by Konador

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club. This is one of the most beautiful pet portraits I have seen on this site. The focus is spot on, his eyes are clear and sharp and the focus fades from there. His entire fur coat is soft focus, which relates directly to how soft it must feel in real life.

I love that his eyes are at diagonals from each other, this adds to the "tension" of the photo (for lack of a better word, I mean that it adds visual appeal). His eyes look a little sad, which is very appealing as well.

I love your use of black and white for this lovely portrait. Without the distraction of color, the entire focus of the photo are on the lovely eyes.

I am sorry that I can not give much critisism here, this portrait is close to perfect. The one, very small, distraction to me is the flop of hair over his right eye. If you would have cloned out just the very tip if it, I would have no further critisisms. Great job Ben.

Barbara