UP THE GUT
by tito79_98

Comment by Gordon:
You've gotten the motion here certainly. Seems like the camera/ ground is tilted though which you could have maybe fixed with a slight rotation - or it could just be because of the receeding fence line.

The main problem I have with this is I can't see where the ball is - I might be able to guess but it would be good to see the real 'play' that is happening here.

Also, you are quite far away from the action - maybe a tighter crop (either digitally, or actually being closer to what was going on, say if the play was closer to the sideline) would be more dramatic. Sports photography is hard, so you did well here.

UP THE GUT
by tito79_98

Comment by chrysalis:
This might have worked better as a day-time shot.

UP THE GUT
by tito79_98

Comment by Marklane:
Good colours and just the right amount of blur!

UP THE GUT
by tito79_98

Comment by vestanpance:
Would be better more closely focused on the action. The tree in the background is a little distracting.

UP THE GUT
by tito79_98

Comment by nards656:
Needs a little more zoom to eliminate some of the "sky" and show more motion. Eliminating the ref on the right might have helped too. Who won? :-)

JADE
by tito79_98

Comment by Azrifel:
~~~~Critique Club Comment~~~~

Composition (content)
The composition is a bit centered in the middle, not pleasing to the eye. I don't say that you should go with the rule of thirds, but some creativity with the stream of water would have been nice.
There are also some distractions, like the blown out spot in the upper left corner, the wiggly blue bits in the upper right and some excessive reflections from the ripples.
I like how the water behaves (shutterspeed) and one thing that I find stunning is that there seems to be a part of a face in the stream of water, just above the center.

Background
The blue/green/jade background has some damage that distracts a little bit. Again, try to get rid of that blown out spot in the corner.

Camera Work (Technical)
Good DOF, focus ok, sharpness ok, good choice of shutter. Might want to try a polarizing filter for the reflections. Exposure is good except for the bright spot (it is really that annoying).

Digital Processing (technical)
Looks ok. Remember that the limit for submissions is 150kb, your picture is 100kb. A higher jpeg quality means better detail sharpness and better color rendition.

My opinion
As it is, a bit boring. The face/eye in the stream of water is interesting.

JADE
by tito79_98

Comment by emorgan49:
I went with the crowd and gave your picture a 5. The color is nice and the focus is exceptionally fine. Perhaps it would have done better in the stopped motion challenge. Overall its not a very captivating picture. Obviously is it water but it is impossible to tell where the water is coming from and where it is going. The dry area on the upper left is particularly confusing since at first glance it looks like a deep pool that the stream is falling into. What is going on?

Composition wise this does not fit into the categories that the human brain seems to find pleasing. The main focus of the picture is the water, which is centered left right, and where it hits the pool is dead center. Perhaps if you had tried the rule of thirds. I would have put it in the upper left third and taken more advantage of the ripples that the water makes. Also my brain likes to follow the lines in a picture. An effective composition had some sort of pleasing flow. Here there is a strong sense of movement from the top to the center where it goes pffft. Again if it had been moved to the left and up a bit, I ould follow the water in from the left and the ripples out to the right. Of course, you don't HAVE to follow the "rules" and sometimes breaking the rules makes a striking image. I don't think your image is strong enough to stand as a rule breaker.

The glare on the upper left is distracting, was it a flash? Overall I think you should repeat the shot, Maybe you have an out take that is better? you have done a wonderful job of capturing flowing water and the color of the picture is just lovely. The picture could have been sooo much better if it had been framed differently and the ripple emphasized. Could have been a winner instead of falling dead center in the voting range.

UP THE GUT
by tito79_98

Comment by justine:
Nice, must of been a finals game. Good color, light and composition. Justine

JADE
by tito79_98

Comment by PTLParsons:
I'm sorry but I don't know what I'm looking at so I can't tell if it is a good photo of it or not. Almost looks like maybe something being pulled out of paint. Nothing eye catching or appealing. Sorry, but that's just my personal opinion. PTL 3

JADE
by tito79_98

Comment by HBunch:
The definition of Jade in my dictionary is "The green color of Jade". However, since this looks like kind of a greenish blue, It passes for the blue challenge. I'm not sure I like the blown out area near the upper left, but the flow of water, and the focus are both very nice. good luck in the challenge.