Autumn impasse
by nico_blue

Comment:
Busy.

The Fallen
by admart01

Comment:
Nice colours.

no place to go
by fotodude

Comment:
very nicely exposed and executed.

On The Road To Nowhere
by KitKat

Comment:
This image lacks a clear centre of interest. How is it a dead end if the road winds out of sight? More depth of field also would help. Nice colours though.

Coco
by Rikki

Comment:
This is a tough subject. From what I can see (unless there was extensive post processing done already) your highlights are overexposed while your cat is underexposed. that would tell me that the contrast range is just too much for the camera to handle. Just as film has a 3-5 stop range of exposure for negative and 1-3 stop range for positive films, digital also has a range...and you have surpassed it.

It appears that your lighting setup here has a large difference in exposure from the front of the cat to what is falling on the background. (and is largly backlit) You may want to try a more "flat" even lighting. I would also try shooting the cat (not literally!) on a more greyish background and see how you do.

Ernie

Delicate grain
by Ennil

Comment:
from the critique club

This is a a very strong image. I think the overall composition, focus and exposure are all excellent. I love the rather muted colours which give it a unique look. There is certainly some apparent grain here, so it fits the challenge.

I think the one part which distracts me is the leaf which covers part of her face. It is extra concerning because it comes so close to her right eye, and in portraits everyone is drawn to make eye to eye contact with the subject. I notice that the shot was taken with an slr camera at an aperture of f5.6. The lens is not mentioned. If the lens is a fast (has a wide aperture such as f2.8 or so) one, it can cause some problems like this. When viewing the image in the viewfinder you always see it at the wide open aperture, which of course has a smaller depth of field. I have had a great landscape shot ruined because there turned out to be a piece of grass which was not visible in the wide open aperture, but was definately there when the lens stopped down to take the picture. What I mean is that when you composed the shot the leaf may not have been nearly as noticable as it ended up being. That is one of the nice things about digital is being able to review the photo right away to pick up on this like that. (or checking the DOF preview if your model offers tha option) Of course it may not have been possible for you to retake the photo, as I do not know the circumstances.

One other minor point is the stray hair which crosses her left eye. I am not sure off hand if the grain challenge allowed minor retouching or not. If it did it might have been a good idea to clone this hair out.

Her brown eyes are piercing and definately help make this image. If it were not for the leaf, I am sure this would have placed even higher than the respectable 5.39 that it did. Bottom line is that this is a winner of a photo...minus the leaf.

Thanks for sharing this image. Are there others from this shoot? I am sure many of us would love to see them. :)

PT1
by lorimc1999

Comment:
critique club

Hi Lori, first let me say that you have picked a great subject for this photo! Just realizing that a photo opportunity exists is a skill in itself.

I think that you are correct, the grill does make a nice subject for a shot. My concern is that the grill and the hood (with the reflections) are fighting each other, trying to be the subject of interest, and as a result, neither of them end up appearing as powerful as they could. I think you actually have two very nice pictures here.

The grill which first attracted you to this, makes a great subject because of the curved lines and feeling of strength it gives. I would suggest cropping out the two pieces of bumper in the lower right and left of the frame though. The curves help lead you through the picture and helps it flow.

The Chrysler symbol and upwards also makes a nice photo, and it is likely the better of the two. (especially for this contest) Do you use Photoshop? With a small adjustment to exposure using either the "levels" or the "shadow and highlight" command to darken the highlights in the reflection it really brings out the details in the clouds and sells this picture. The highlights (especially on the Chrysler symbol) are a bit overexposed so they lack detail. It is a common problem when taking shots of metallic subjects, and one of the better ways to avoid this is to take the photo in a shaded area, instead of open sunlight. Is that your reflection just below the symbol? That is something to be careful of as well when taking reflective pictures.

When approaching a complex subject such as this it is a good idea to decide first on what the actual center of interest will be, (the grill or the reflections?) then try to eliminate any distractions that take away from it. Finally see if there are any techniques or angles which can help emphasize your subject. (if shooting the picture of the grill only would you want this same high viewpoint? or shoot it from a lower prespective and perhaps more to one side or the other tho help make the lines of the grill flow in an interesting way?) Or if shooting the reflection by itself, would you take a higher viewpoint and get more in? Or would you take a lower viewpoint so that the "wings" of the ornament float more into the trees and clouds?

I am looking forward to seeing more of your pictures in the future, and I hope you found my input helpful in some way.

Ernie

Angel
by heida

Comment:
Wow! I cannot even begin to describe how I feel about the power of this photograph. So, I won't. :)

Meditation
by Montague

Comment:
simple but beautiful.

A Classic Reflection
by strickerblue21

Comment:
Very well seen.