puzzled
by nlghttrain

Comment by Bud:
10....

puzzled
by nlghttrain

Comment by roadrunner:
hey great idea.. good luck..

Breaking the Darkness
by nlghttrain

Comment by hdogg4u:
Critique Club Yahhoooooooo

Composition
I like the use of the horizontal line to create the major element of the composition but I do think that it intersects the center horizontally just a little too much. Lowering the overall horizon would have added the notion of space and inversely you would have been able to meter some of the background and eliminate the white casting of the candles and the metal rim of the dish.

Set-up & Camera
I̢۪m not sure what kind of lighting setup you used for this photograph but what ever the source of the lighting its needs to be either removed or drastically lowered so that the highlights aren̢۪t blown out. A general technique I follow with dark backgrounds and a light source within the photograph, candle in this case, is don̢۪t use lighting but rather compensate with shutter speed and aperture. This also means the use of a tripod as you would have to use a slow shutter speed. Another major thing to look at and understand is the Exposure Value of a set up like this. With the background being very dark and the foreground containing bright light the exposure value is very small in the 1 to 4 range. Thus with your current ISO/Shutter/Aperture your exposure value reads between 6 & 7. Well what does all this mean? You would need to change either the shutter speed or the aperture to attain the desired Exposure Value. In this case you could have changed the Shutter speed to 1/1sec or changed the aperture to F/10. This would remove the blown out highlights. I would have opted for the aperture as this could make for a wider DOF.

Post Processing
The histogram is very flat and this is due to the fact that the exposure is blown out. In this case there is not much that can be done to correct this as its more in the shot of the photograph then the edit. I also noticed it̢۪s a tad off horizontally. I try and use a piece of paper of something to simulate a level horizon. I place the paper against the monitor and see if everything matches on the line I want my horizon to be.

Opinion:
Overall this photograph meets the challenge very well. As far as my emotions go it took me little while and staring at the image to kind of realize what it is or the concept of the shot. Thus the time taken to figure out the concept makes it much harder to feel an emotion. The title on the other hand I like a lot as it hints the idea or concept very well. If I was to shoot this shot I would have really concentrated on the exposure so that it makes the effect of the shot more dramatic. If you have any questions regarding this critique please feel free to contact me.

Cheers,
Hiral Patel

Master is late
by nlghttrain

Comment by SandyP:
I think this is a beautiful photo. The dog is gorgeous. I love the lighting that gives him a blue tone. I think your score should have been at least what your commenters gave it!

Bad Hare Day
by nlghttrain

Comment by KiwiShotz:
So cute. Good pun, fun models. Your lighting has that nice dramatic look but the shadows make it really really difficult to actually see the plushies and to determine what the photo is. You can achieve fill light with a piece of polystyrene bouncing your primary light source back into the sadows. It woul have made the workld of difference.

Just another night for a video game fan
by nlghttrain

Comment by kyebosh:
I'd like to see a more balanced exposure. Who's playing the game, what about a face or something perhaps? If that's what that is, I honestly can't tell, i'd like to see more light, and detail there.

Bad Hare Day
by nlghttrain

Comment by dogz:
Creative. Just a little dark. Would be nice to have a little more light on the ax and the (I assume) victim.

Steamboat willy
by nlghttrain

Comment by GrayGhost:
Good arrangement, wish the highlights and reflections were toned down just a bit, but I like the image.

Steamboat willy
by nlghttrain

Comment by carpents:
Nicely framed. The reflections and subject matter are throwing me off.

Steamboat willy
by nlghttrain

Comment by saracat:
I like the unusual choice of subject, but the glare on the globe and the reflection of the rest of the things in the room is very distracting. Perhaps a reshoot under studio conditions would help with that.