Keep the home fires burning...........
by boyte1

Comment:
~~~~Critique Club Comment~~~~

Hmm, we meet again in this weeks round of CC comments. :-)
Don't know if you like it, if not, ask a second opinion in the announcement for this week's critiques (General Discussion).

Composition (content)
Nice capture of flames and glowing wood, I think it needs a stronger background and the glow on the wood looks unnatural (I have a fireplace, a bit too purple/pink.

Background
See composition. I wonder how you could achieve a better background, it doesn't have to be special as long as it says "fireplace". In my old house we had a nice engraved black iron backplate and in this house the back is made out of grey stone with black marks on them.
Perhaps a smaller aperture and longer shutter. I shall try that out this weekend I think, I have no experiences yet to advise what to do really.

Camera Work (Technical)
Focus is good, 1 stop smaller aperture + 1/125s wouldn't hurt. Sharpness ok.

Digital Processing (technical)
The picture looks as if it was brightened or gamma corrected. That could indicate underexposure compensation. Autocontrast in PS took that brightened look away. Background became truly black and enhanced the power of the flames.

My opinion
Nice, but no impact and could be better.

Earthbound Stars
by mjcecil

Comment:
~~~~Critique Club Comment~~~~

Composition (content)
Reasonable composition, subject fills the frame well and altough the space around the flowers is nice the flowers themselves are shot with center orientated framing. I'd like to see what a tighter crop does, or some rotation and cropping.
The best thing here is the contrast between the white subject and grey background, good choice to use B&W.
The pointy leaf at the upper left is a bit distracting. It is too much in the foreground and too bright. Getting rid of it would do the composition good.

Background
Good except for that leaf I talked about.

Camera Work (Technical)
Exposure is ok, altough I wonder what a third to two thirds less would do with the detail in the leafs at the upper right but that might darken the middle of the background to much, so I think it is ok.
Choice of aperture is ok, there was some room for a wider setting to blur the background leafs some more.
Good focus and sharpness.

Digital Processing (technical)
No comments.

My opinion
It is a nice picture, but the upper left leaf is a bit distracting, the flowers a bit centered (try a diagonal shot) and it doesn't appeal to me personally, I like bird shots more. :-)

Miner
by irae

Comment:
Found some gold yet?

Looking for the bad boy! that's my job. Policeman
by Francois

Comment:
Great motion picture also. Nice use of slow shutter, a bit of camera shake an the freezing effect of the flash. I also like the tight crop.

DeoxyribonucleicWHAT?! The Life of a Student
by Konador

Comment:
The best student shot in this challenge. The lighting and composition is just excellent. Nice colors, like time has stood still since the monks studying their bibles in their dark brown cells.

The Product of a Coffee Roaster
by bdshort

Comment:
Great depth, mouthwatering colors. I don't know if I want a cup of coffee or chocolate......... I think I'll have both. :-)
Good composition, nice lighting. It is also a good thing that the cup is not totally white, the texture adds flavor to the picture. :-)

Dream Job
by magnetic9999

Comment:
Great how the underexposure of the photographers details focus all attention on the legs at the right. Nice choice of color, good and interesting composition,.
Shame that there seems to be a wedding ring on that finger. :-)

Lime Kilns - Western Lime Corporation - Green Bay, Wisconsin
by mnast

Comment:
WOW! This is my winner for this week!
Great subject, very good composition, excellent exposure and depth. The reflection on the railway and the way they bend lead you into the picture.
Very good detail love the color, good choice of time for exposure, I think it doesn't look so nice in daylight. :-)

Motorway Motion
by Slimharpo

Comment:
~~~~Critique Club Comment~~~~

Composition (content)
It is a bit empty, there is nothing there that really grabs you. The only thing I really like about this, is the frozen shadow (because it moves at the same speed as the car) in front of a motion blurred rail.
On one hand it is nice that the car shadow is horizontally level, on the other hand does the eye expect the natural horizon to be level.
It is a pity that we cannot see more of the landscape beyond the rail, because it seems like a good view, it would have added something.
In the left corner there is a big reflection from the inside of the car, it distracts and isn't nice.

Background
See composition.

Camera Work (Technical)
Focus & exposure is good. Colors ok.

Digital Processing (technical)
Noth much to say. Try to save at the highest quality level, you have plenty of room.

My opinion
It might be a bit harsh, but there is simply not a grabbing subject, the wow-factor is very low. The idea is basically okay, try something trough the front windscreen, try to include a car in front of you for example that stays sharp because it remains at the same distance while the movement of both in the mean time motion blurs the surroundings.

Swish
by cykhansen

Comment:
~~~~Critique Club Comment~~~~

Composition (content)
The composition is basically okay. You've got a slope and overhanging tree that lead the eye, a nice background, a subject in motion and snow that gives the picture an extra 'winter' touch. Nothing wrong with that.
There are some things that could be improved:
Take the subject (boy on the sled) out of the center. You don't have all the control with a moving subject of course, but it would have come out best if it was just right of the tree with the rest of the frame the same I think.
I wonder what it would have looked like when you panned the subject and blurred the background with your own movement. It would give the image a great extra human touch that it now lacks.

The difference in color and intensity between the trees and the white slope is very good. And I really like the falling snow.

Background
Nice background, everything says winter. The background at the right, beyond the path woulde have been better when it was blurred by choosing a wider aperture, but I see from the settings that you needed that you needed the ISO 50 and small aperture to allow for a longer exposure time. The only solution to that is to try it at another time of day when there is less light.

Camera Work (Technical)
Can't say for shure, but it seems a 1/3th stop overexposed. Altough the detail in the trees doesn't want a shorther exposure. It is very hard with snow.
Was this on a tripod? If not, I admire your steady hand.
Whitebalance seems to be a bit off, a bit blue/purple in the snow.

Digital Processing (technical)
I loaded the picture in Photoshop and autolevels alone took away a lot of the purple/blue cast that was over the whole picture. I only saw it clearly when I took it away. The result is a more natural look of the trees and foreground shadows. A bit of fooling around with the white eye dropper in the snow took even the remaining blue cast out of the snow, but it enhanced an overexposed look of the snow.
I don't want to brag about PS, but I believe that PS Elements 2 and other cheaper imaging software have these capabilities too (ask in the forums, I am not shure). It can really enhance the quality of your picture. The difference for this one was stunning, especially when I added some unsharp mask too.

Don't forget to save at the highest quality level possible, your picture is 70kb and 150 is allowed. A higher jpeg quality keeps more detail in the trees for example, saves the sharpness of all edges and gives better color rendition. (In PS use Save for the Web)

My opinion
The corrected image looked very good, now a panned version and you would have a high ranked pic.

Message edited by author 2002-12-16 16:36:17.