cracking!
by idemaerschalk

Comment:
A spoon and fork in ice? A little difficult to see. The lighting in the center is harsh, with some blown out areas creating quite a distraction. Looks like you may have tried to tone it down a bit post processing, but instead, it kind of gave it a greyish look. Not sure how to recover from that, other than try different lighting. I wonder, if this were frozen in ice, would a backlighting have made an interesting effect? ~Heather~

Colorful Spoons
by NstiG8tr

Comment:
I'm so happy to see the colors in the 'right' order. So often we see created 'rainbows' and they're all mixed up. Blame it on my OCD to like seeing these in order. The colors are great. Nice vivid and bright. Focus appears to be good as well. Wish we could have this bigger, but I realize the size limit restricts this, and the crop makes it just that much smaller. I think this would look great as a huge image hanging up somewhere.
Lighting is good, I don't see any distractions except the darkish dye to the left of the photo near the purple spoon. Otherwise, a fun image. ~Heather~

Spoonful of Family Love
by Sonifo

Comment:
Deffinately different. That's a whole lot of reflection for something so small. The pink around the edge is a bit of distraction to me. It's not so bad on the girls sweatshirt, but around the edge of the spoon, it's a bit much. Is this a spoon or a scoop? I'm thinking it's a scoop, but oh well, they serve the same purpose I guess. Focus is good, background is good as well, nothing distracting there. Fun photo. ~Heather~

Mirrowed Flower
by AlanBes

Comment:
Don't you hate it when you forget to check your title only to find out after the challenge starts that you have terribly screwed it up. ;)
As for the photo itself, I can't imaging why there would ever be a flower on a fork. Seems way out of place to me. the reflection is ok. i wish the background were just a bit darker. There is a shadow from the flower in the background just above the fork, and a bit of texture in the blackness in the lower left corner. Focus is alright on the fork and the flower. ~Heather~

Not Odd
by wavelength

Comment:
*Critique Club*

Without photographer's comments, I'm not really sure what you were trying to achieve here, so my advice will be based on my own personal opinion.
The first thing I notice here is the over orangish hand. Looks like maybe some lowish lighting, which you might have needed to keep reflections off the shiny board. However, the skin tones look unnatural and it's a bit of a distraction.
I like the concept, maybe just a bit TOO set up, but otherwise a neat idea for the challenge. There are a lot of 'Odds' in this pic as well. 3 fingers, triple words scores, the word odd, the very many 1's in the photo. So really, it COULD have been used for either challenge, but probably more fitting here since the words are based on being even.
Lighting seems a little dull. Would like to see the colors punch a bit more, and would like to see the lighting on the hand be a bit different, maybe softer.
Focus and clarity are really good. Nothing distracting there. The background (board) is quite appropriate. Really, my only complaint is the hand and lighting.
Otherwise, nice shot. ~Heather~

________
by TheLittleIsland

Comment:
*Critique Club*

There are a few things about this shot that stand out to me right away. First, the yellowness of the shot. Makes it appear to be bad lighting or the yellow balance is off or something. It kind of looks like a result of the low lighting though. This also gives the entire image a softer focus than I would like to see. Obviously, you were going for the soft focus on the person on the right, but the person on the left, and the background are also a bit soft. Not TOO soft, but I would like to see just a bit more focus throughout.
I'm not really sure I see the importance of the dollar sign. Is this something you added? Was it already there? Does it have a meaning to the photo? Without a meaning, I find it very distracting, as it's so dark and 'in your face' that I tend to just stare at the dollar sign. If it has a menaing, then I think that it's not obvious enough to me to really add anything to the photo.
The white glare in the dead center of the photo is also distracting. It creates a break in the photo. If our eyes wanted to flow through the photo, they would stop and focus on the large white spot in the center and the dollar sign.
I think the concept is interesting. One person looking at another person in the photo who doesn't come out looking like he does. Like 'what are you doing?' or 'what the heck?'. This does give me the sense of odd.
~Heather~

Sky versus earth
by sz1_

Comment:
*Critique Club*

I think I may be in the minority here. While the photo is lovely, technically well done, and I do think that it gives a sense of even, I'm not particularily drawn into the photo. There really isn't anything drawing me in and holding me there.
Focus and clarity appear really great. Nice details in both the sky and the ground.
The little bush adds something to the shot that makes this a little more than just another seascape shot.
I like the contrast. Nice whites, and nice darks.
The one suggestion I could make would be to straighten up the horizon line which appears to have a slight lean to the right.
Otherwise, you did a very good job with this photo, congrats on your placing.
~Heather~

Flag Art
by woodsey

Comment:
Oh wow...Haven't seen this before. With all the regrets Setz had about submitting this almost identical shot years ago, and all the snotty emails he got and rude comments about patriotism, you would think that someone wouldn't want to go through that, but some people are a glutton for punnishment, I guess. I think this shot is pleasing to look at every time I see it (I know it's different, but also very similar). I think my only suggestion would be that the blue here looks almost black. Otherwise, nice focus and lighting. the wrinkle in the bottom right might be a bit of a distraction/flaw. Definately looks like a fun shot, and while we have seen it a zillion times, it's going to be new to someone, so that's what counts. (despite the zillion comments you get that say 'unoriginal'.)

Even Gardening Can Feel the Shadow of Prayer
by olddj

Comment:
Oddly enough, they don't look like they are praying, they look like they are hugging. So, even without the title, I think this fits the challenge nicely.
As for the photo itself, where to start? How about the background. Very sloppily done in my opinion. The upper right corner being angled like that is not only creating a dark distraction on a white background, it is also making the photo look like a quick shot that wasn't appreciated by the photographer enough to clean it up. If you meant for it to be there, then it's not working either way.
Also regarding the background, it appears that it's suposed to be white. However, there is blue and yellow tint to it. This may be caused by the white balance being off, however, I feel that it is due to poor lighting.
Despite what you title implies, I think the shadow is distracting. Especially on the background that appears that it is suposed to be white.
Focus. It's difficult to say for sure if you have crisp focus. It looks ok in some places, and soft in others. The pattern on the gloves, which is clashing with the texture of the gloves, really makes the gloves themselves hard to look at. See how there is kind of a vertical pattern in the material of the gloves? That being over top of the flowers really makes it difficult to pick out one pattern over the other, and they kind of just mesh together.
I think that I would also prefer this with a bit more even lighting. Looks like you have 2 light sources. Maybe a lamp coming from the right and then the flash? See the very dark shadows behind the fingers of the gloves? Those look like maybe flash? Then there is the large blue shadow on the background. Also, there is a lot of noise in the photo. It's mostly apparent in the background, but still looks to be the results of poor lighting.
The subject is not personally appealing to me, however, they are presented in an interesting manner, to which fits the challenge.
I would say that the idea is good, but appears to have been a quick shot to get something into the challenge.
Try centering the subject more on the background, which would eliminate distracting upper right hand corners, less harsh lighting. maybe try natural lighting. Set this up near a window or outside even.
That's the best opinion and suggestions I have. Hope this helps in some way.
~Heather~

Bee Trap
by cycomerlin14

Comment:
*Critique Club*

Definately a different perspective here. I think this is very effective in making what could be an ordinary photo neat by using perspective.
That being said, it's a bit hard to tell what were really looking at at first, but if you really study it, it's pretty obvious.
Focus does seem a bit soft, the grain doesn't add anything to the photo in my opinion and I can only wonder what this would look like in color. may be easier to tell what it is we're looking at.
I really like this though, the idea is spot on what I would expect to see in a perspective challenge.
~Heather~