Eye of the Machine
by yantski

Comment by KiwiShotz:
LOve it, really good use of zoom blur. How many comments have you had that it's OOF ... LOL

Eye of the Machine
by yantski

Comment by charales:
nice shot

Eye of the Machine
by yantski

Comment by kteach:
No idea what this is, but it really does look like an eye. Well done!

Micro Botany
by yantski

Comment by Neil:
I'm writing without reading the others so I give you my take. The shot has a nice feel to it, tone wise, being subdued and almost like a natural tritone. It looks nice and sharp to me.

I think your score suffered a bit because the subject is not strongly featured here, neither by composition or lighting. The light is actually nicely dramatic, but it would be much more dramatic if the light were mainly on the subject flowers.

Micro Botany
by yantski

Comment by taterbug:
This is a great choice for a subject I feel. I think the neutral tones could work well. Perhaps going for a different time of day, trying to get more of a raking light, could show off some texture. I agree about the focus, it does seem like it could be sharper. Depending on what editing software you have, maybe a little usm could help. There is good dof, blurring the background, but the main subject I think would be stronger if sharper. Also, in editing, some levels tweaking could strengthen the tonal range possibly. Centered compositions can work quite well with the right image, it isn't bad here, but I'm thinking it might be a stronger presentation by not centering the subject in this case?

Not totally terrible for a first entry :-), it could be a whole lot worse. You seem to have a good eye, you've isolated the subject well, and the shot seems to have purpose. It definitely doesn't come across as just a 'snapshot'. I'm sure you'll do well in the challenges, just keep shootin' and have fun!
:-)

Micro Botany
by yantski

Comment by Makka:
I have to agree with tryal15 here I'm afraid. The lack of sharpness in the photo is what grabs me first here. Maybe you could of used some slight dodging effects just to enhance the tonal range a little throughout the picture?

Micro Botany
by yantski

Comment by tryals15:
I rated this one low for 2 reasons. The first being the lack of sharp focus; the focus is soft, at best. Secondly, was the lack of tonal range. I realize this is a brown, bleak subject anyway, but there just isn't any *wow* factor to it... Hope this helps!

Eye of the Machine
by yantski

Comment by macrothing:
6 - wish it were bigger (640 x 640).

Micro Botany
by yantski

Comment by sfalice:
While I realize you are giving us the habitat of this seed pod/dried flower, I have a suspicion this image would do better if you had given it a very tight crop. You're on the right track though, as the lighting on the stem to the lower right is gorgeous.