The Steel of the Night
by mariahdc

Comment by atupdate:
Hello from the Critique Club,

Obviously, from the comments you received, you know that the focus on this image was a little soft. A tripod would have helped considerably, as it is hard to get a sharp image when hand hold a camera at 1/6 of a second even with an IS lens. The soft focus on this image is by far the biggest reason your score was below 5.

Setting the focus issue aside, lets take a look at the composition. You were on the right track when you cropped the bottom of the pan at the bottom right corner. This is significantly more dramatic than if the whole pan was showing. However, some of that impact is lost with the handle being dead center in the composition. I often leave extra room around my subjects that I shoot for challenges so I can play with rotation and cropping. I would suggest you rotate this image about 35 degrees counterclockwise and crop it so the handle lands in the upper left corner and the pot in the lower right corner and see what you think (You will have some white areas in the opposite corners that will need to be filled in to get the full effect). An added benefit of the rotation and crop is that the large glare at the bottom right corner ends up getting cropped out. If you have trouble visualizing what I am suggesting, send my a PM with your email and I'll send you a quick edit over the weekend.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions regarding this critique.

Tim

Boy with mask.
by mariahdc

Comment by Doktor:
I don't really see how this fits the challenge.

The Steel of the Night
by mariahdc

Comment by mariahdc:
I really appreciate the comments - thanks! I think most of it was in focus but I turned up the contrast too high. I was not using a tripod which probably would've helped.

The Steel of the Night
by mariahdc

Comment by Simpa:
well done...

The Steel of the Night
by mariahdc

Comment by shutter22:
Very nice idea and composition, but it's a tad out of focus.

Boy with mask.
by mariahdc

Comment by JenniferDavidGA:
5

Boy with mask.
by mariahdc

Comment by stargazer05766:
Interesting..

Boy with mask.
by mariahdc

Comment by Rankles:
He's a little close to the edge of the frame.

The Steel of the Night
by mariahdc

Comment by pottersclay75:
Neat composition. Not very clear, though.