Sweet Toothby
BMIIVJComment by ericwoo: Hey there from the Critique Club
First of all, welcome to the challenges!! I see it took about a year, but welcome nonetheless.
Camera Work/Technical: The tones you captured are very true-to-life and the coloring is nice. I do agree with Sandra that your focus could have been a bit sharper. In addition, I'd like to see your depth of field a good deal more shallow...or shallower...no, no, more shallow. You'd definitely add interest to the subject of the image if you blurred that background more.
Lighting: The lighting isn't bad, though I'd prefer a touch more contrast. That is strictly opinion, though. I do like the catch lights that you caught in the eyes, and sharper focus on the face would have accentuated these even more.
Composition/Content: Your composition adds interest to the image, though I'd like to see a bit more of mom's arm. I think that your idea of having the kids fight over the candy would have worked a little better. As this one is shot, the arm tends to lead my eye out of the frame rather than in and toward the child. With more of a leading line, read more of the arm's length, I think would have served better to draw the eye in.
My Opinion: I agree with your assessment in that this one is a stretch for the challenge. I understand that these entries are sometimes crazy-difficult, but the voters tend to hit images that they feel fall short of the spirit of the challenge the hardest. While it is a low score, it is also a fine place to start. You entered the challenge and got a feel for what the voters want to see (though that changes from minute to minute around here). 4.1 is a fairly accurate score for an image that most of your commenters felt was a bit of a shoehorn.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide a critique on your entry,
Eric
Photographer found comment helpful.