Ivy
by ahjenny

Comment by roz:
such a beautiful cat and such an excellent shot .. those eyes are huge ..:)

Lorikeet
by ahjenny

Comment by JulietNN:
Hello from the Critique Club,

You asked for your shot to be critiqued by a member of the Club.

This is a great shot, it is almost right in focus and for this particular challenge would have worked better if the bird was slightly more out of focus. Your colours are strong and rich, sharpness is excellent.

Dahkota said everything you really need to know about this shot.

Aww geez, Daddy!
by ahjenny

Comment by ardyer:
Such a sweet pic!

Aww geez, Daddy!
by ahjenny

Comment by dahkota:
This image will be marked down just because it is smaller than necessary (444X481). You should start with the largest frame possible - 640px on one side. DPC viewers vote smaller images down just as a matter of course. It could also use a basic sharpening and maybe a slight curves adjustment. This is a really cute picture and you captured a moment in time very well. the background is controlled and the lighting is good - natural with no sign of flash. I think this image would be better in black and white so the colors don't over power the message. IN DPC voting, it probably won't fair well as DPCers will tend to consider it a snapshot. there is no reverence for snapshots on DPC unless they look planned (don't ask, I don't get it either). Personally, I like it. I like the spur of the momentness it holds, I like the expression on the kids face, I like the pose. The composition isn't strong, but it works. I think you have a good eye for capturing the moment - don't let DPC discourage you with the scores.

Lorikeet
by ahjenny

Comment by dahkota:
this is strictly my opinion. For this challenge, the image works - focus on the bird was missed but the bird definitely is the subject. As far as images go, this is a good snap, but the interest doesn't go beyond that. Its a good capture of a moment in time and interesting to glance at, but it has no lasting impact on a viewer. there is nothing to keep one here looking for more than a moment. For DPC in general, the voters are going to mark you down with the indea that the background is too busy. DPC prefers empty backgrounds and likes images simple (just check the majority of challenge winners). For a DPC challenge, if I had been shooting, I would have tried to get much tighter in on the bird, by moving, zooming, and cropping, so there is much less for the viewer to remark upon. You also might hear that you need to straighten your horizon - the vertical lines in the back of the image are slanted to the left. DPC voters hate that. I don't think you'll get the brown - there are many images in the challenge that aren't half as good as this but I don't think you'll score in the top 30 either. In the end, it is a good capture of what you captured, it just doesn't have much value outside the challenge to keep viewer interest.

Lorikeet
by ahjenny

Comment by Ter:
looks too close to focus nice capture tho

Aww geez, Daddy!
by ahjenny

Comment by ctownsen357:
meets challenge:2
lighting/exposure: 1
composition:1
overall draw/appeal: 1
wow factor: 0
Total : 5

Aww geez, Daddy!
by ahjenny

Comment by Yo_Spiff:
Though cute and endearing, this appears to be a snapshot to me, I'm afraid. There is also excessive JPEG compression used, and the result is a lack of clarity and highly visible compression artifacts around the boy's mouth and teeth. Compression kills detail. Always use the least compression you can get away with and still come in under challenge limits. (This entry is 43k and the challenge limit is 150k) Most image editors have that ability to adjust compression somewhere in the file save dialog.

Aww geez, Daddy!
by ahjenny

Comment by Blackbox:
Obviously, a great challenge for parents. I think some better lighting and a tighter crop would have helped some. That's just me though...

Lorikeet
by ahjenny

Comment by Yo_Spiff:
I see motion blur on the parakeet, but the focus on him is nice and sharp. I can't see any way that the OOF background is intended as the subject.