Silencio
by kiwiness

Comment:
I KNEW IT WAS YOU! CONGRATS!!! :)

Deannda

Old town
by imagine74

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

What a lovely old building and area of town! Looks like there would be a lot of history in this picture!

I see a couple of things in this shot that bother me though, first the overall composition is wanting, you have lines leading me all over the place but nothing is really keeping my attention, giving me something to focus in on. The rail in the front is very distracting and the different levels of the roofs is also very distracting. They are all fighting each other for my attention. THen you the blue dome in the middle pops up at me and yells, "HEY! OVER HERE!" Mayve if you had focused mostly on the blue dome and the spire on top of it, zoomed in over there. Then you would have a focus to your shot, someplace for people to concentrate on. Use the roof in the very front to lead me to the dome, cutting out the rail completely. Just my thoughts.

Also the lighting seems at high noon, very bright and over powering. Maybe a levels/curves or brightness/contrast adjustment could soften it up just a bit. Bring out the colors more. If you also used the Hue/saturation to diffuse the other colors and bring out the dome, again, giving the picture some focus.

Hope my comments help and good luck in future challenges!

Deannda

Yummy
by angela_packard

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

What an adorable little boy and the expression is wonderful! I love natural expressions in kids so much more than the cheesy smiles all the "professional" studios go for.

So why didn't this score better? Well, my personal opinion for what it's worth is first the background, it jumped right out at me, smacked me in the forehead and gave me a headache! LOL! Just kidding but it is extremely bright on my monitor and my monitor is calibrated. It's really competing with the boy's blond hair, it was mentioned before, a darker background would have really made a difference on this but then it would have darkened the whole mood of the shot, light, springtime and happy. So what's the solution? Maybe a gel light behind him to color the backdrop either yellow or light blue to match the eggs? Also the plain shirt would have not hurt, that big blue truck and the word are again competing for my attention.

I love the eggs, they really help the shot but the random placing leaves me wanting, it's slightly off balance to me and again, are competing for my attention. Either fewer eggs or organize them a bit more to help add to the composition of the overall shot?

But otherwise it's a great shot, a sure keeper, especially with that tongue sticking out, LOL! Well done!

Hope my comments help and Good Luck in future challenges!

Deannda

The Arrival of Spring
by Cyndane

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Hi! I thought this was such a cute portrait when I first saw it and still do! What a lovely young lady. I like the composition of the shot and the colors are wonderful.

But, as you've heard, most did not consider it a "Studio" portrait because it was taken outside, not the normal studio enviornment, though I myself think that anywhere can be a studio!

I like the idea of the soft focus on the dress and such but would have left her eyes sharper, maybe used the selecting tool and sharpen just them or erase the level of soft focus on the eyes so they would really come through, she has beautiful eyes.

To have made if fit this challenge more the crop could have been tighter, taking out a lot of the playground area, focusing on the head and shoulders and then people might have wondered if it was a backdrop or an outside shot.

But again, a lovely portrait, something your little sister will love for a long, long time.

I hope my comments help and good luck in future challenges.

Deannda

The Pleasure is All Mine
by Lora

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Hi! I see this is your first challenge and may I just say, WOW! I love the expression in this shot. I liked it when I first saw it and like it even more now that I get to see it again! Very nice.

I'm not sure how familier you are with some of the post processing you can do with a photo so if I say anything that seems over your head or under your abilities, remember I'm commenting blind here per say since you didn't put any notes in your comments.

As many noted, great shot, great expression but with advanced editing, this could have been a to 25 shot your first time out. A little post processing to really get the colors to pop and come out would have raise your score at least a .5 to start. Then the ability to clone out little imperfections and such is great in advance challenges, can't use it in basic but could have used it here, the healing tool or clone tool to take care of the small but noticable acne on his face would have probably gotten you another .5 in the score.

Last but not least, the focus, as most will tell you the focus in any good portrait should be in the eyes and his eyes are telling me a great story but they are hidden in the dark. Using your dodging, burning tools on a very light setting could really help bring them out and make them the main focus. Then you could use the Unsharp mask to really define the clarity in the shot and make it stand out.

I hope my comments help and I wish you well in future challenges. You have a nice natural ability to get the most out of your subject and I look forward to seeing more of your work! And if you do rework this shot I would love to see the results.

Deannda

La Fille en Couleur (the girl in color)
by fotodude

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Hello! This model has amazing eyes, they are so direct and look right through the camera and really make you notice her. Very nice capture on her face and the expression. I love the coloring on the face but as you go down the neck something happens, this orange blotch shows up and makes you step back a sec and say, "What the heck is that?" Not sure what happened there, if it's a lighting glitch or editing afterwards.

Also the background is a bit distracting and fighting for attention in both color and design, the orange, the purple, the line there is all drawing away from that lovely face. Perhaps a tighter crop on just the face would make this more dynamic?

Again, a lovely young lady and wonderful capture on her face. Hope my comments help and good luck in future challenges!

Deannda

Grandma's kitchen
by kiwiness

Comment:
Beautiful. Better watch out, your wife is starting to gain on you! ;)

Deannda

Anno 1870
by Anastasia

Comment:
Stunning, just stunning! And you beat your hubby! WTG! :) Now that you got the hang of this ribbon thing shouldn't take long to overtake him on that too! And congrats on advancing in the MS Tournament brackets! ;) I'm honored to have lost to such a wonderful picture!

Deannda

A Beautiful View
by idnic

Comment:
Hummmmm, wonder who's shot this is?

Nice idea but I'm not to sure about the white on white, the back of the veil disappears into the background and the framing around the model seems a bit off for some reason, the way the (her) left breast and shoulder are in the bottom frame with the bit of arm is a bit distracting to me. And the angle that her head is tilted at looks most uncomfortable, I know when I've put my daughter in this position her first complaint is that she can barely breath, but that might just be her complaining because I'm making her pose again, LOL. :) And her hands look so empty and almost akward to me, like she's not quite sure what to do with them. A bouquet would have done wonders for this, some white flowers to continue with the whole white theme.

Also there seems to be a dark shadow to the right of the model, possibly hers but I see no evidence of window frame shadow. And the condition of the frame compared to the bride really bothers me, maybe you were going for the something old idea with the frame compared to her but it's so dirty and icky looking compared to that pure white dress it just make me shudder a bit if it were to accidently touch the dress.

Nice job on the window hanging, can't see how it's holding up at all, well done there. It's a nice shot but the best I can offer at this point is a 5, maybe I'll be back to bump it up later.

Alone
by RolandB

Comment:
This is a wonderful shot, the look on the man's face is very intense but not over bearing, very nice. I like the window blinds coming across and while not your normal "framing" per say, very unique and thoughtful. When I ran through them last night at lightening speed I had this at a 7 but I'm raising it to a 9, well done.