Miniature Moose Migrationby
zencowComment by FrankRobinson: Hi Zencow, you asked for a Critique, so here it is!
Overall, this is a very pleasant shot, with a fairly abstract look which I find appealing. Most of the High Key entries are BW, but the pastel colours in this give it a lovely dreamy feel so colour was (IMHO) the right choice here.
Technically: Where you have focussed, it is good and sharp, but the DOF is very limited. You have used f5.6 while either very close, or using quite a long focal length and as a result both foreground and background are OOF. While I get that you may have been going for this, it makes letting the photo 'lead' my eyes tricky since there is no obvious start point. The exposure is perfect, but for a high key challenge I would have been tempted to boost it a little.
Artistically: This is completely subjective, and obviously my opinion only! The composition is spot on, with all of the major points of interest hitting that rule of thirds. It only lacks the leading lines to be textbook stuff.
PP: There are some tweaks I would have made to make this stand out from the crowd a little more. Again, personal choice. I would have boosted the exposure at RAW conversion (if applicable) to give the high key look, and then used some more curves to boost the contrast and show off those exciting 'leaf' edges. If I was being cynical, I would have also sharpened it a little (or a little more?)
after resizing for DPC again to show off the edges and the detail of the tiny hairs which you have captured. I might also have reduced the saturation on the green selectively to get rid of the green blob in the low middle - its a bit distracting.
In summary, its a lovely shot which I reckon just needs a little more 'pop'. Not being really obviously 'high key', and not being of a pretty flower or DPC friendly child probably killed your score, but that happens to so many great shots here that I wouldn't let it put you off. The voters are fickle!
Photographer found comment helpful.
