minicucci

I agree with Vincenzo. I also think the shot is over-sharpened. And there is a white halo on the upper part of the hand (a maskng artifact?) As a composition, though, it is a great image. I'd try a redo, toning down the highlights, the overall contrast and easing up on sharpening.

 

One trick with animal photos is to pay extra attention to the eyes, using burn & dodge techniques to get rid of that milky opacity that using flash creates.

Nathan: Bubba looks like a great dog!. I'd recommend that you recrop the image. There is too much bland background that adds nothing to the visual center of the running dog. Attached is one suggestion, emphasizing Bubba and his shadow. I also rejiggered the channel mix (luminosity only) to give greater texture detail to bubba's coat.

Al; I think this is strong shot. I like the simplicity of it. It is graceful. And I like the muted reflection of the sky in the water. Nice composition.

Strong image. Composition/crop is superb. Tonal range is handled expertly and makes the guitar come alive.

A touching image. Well shot too. I would crop out the dark, upper left corner (or clone out the dark spot) to better balance the shot. Nice work.

Peter: Nice image. Have you thought about trying this one in B&W? Color seems to have little to offer here. The story is the light play and the frost structures and I sense that the muted colors detract from the key visual point. I'd also experiment with a tighter crop to really focus on the central concept.

Jenna; I think you've handled the technique issues very well. My comment is that I am not sure what I am looking at here. It's disorienting.

Sam:

It's a nice shot, but two things strike me. First, focus seems a bit off: the doll is sharper than the girl. Assuming this was not intentional, it is best to focus on the nearest eye of the portrait subject. Second, the blown highlights of the background are distracting and the bright yellows do not complement the "pink" attributes of the subject. I'd also brighten the subject's face

 

If you shot raw, you could try blending two raw conversions; one exposed for the background and the other for the subject.

Arresting image. Beautiful.

Powerful shot. And a great caption. I am embarrassed to admit it but it was the caption that made me see the reflected passers-by. You have captured the poignancy of the moment brilliantly.

Not too much space. I really like the crop. But maybe a bit too monochromatic for such a quiet subject. I really like this image but think it has not reached its full potential. Were you after a noise effect? Or is that just high ISO?

Certainly made me smile.

Beautiful shot. Outstanding capture of tones. And content is intriguing. What is she thinking? Strong work.

A very strong, bold image. I like it. Well seen. Well crafted.

Phil: My immediate reaction is that this shot captures a great moment but needs more contrast to bring it to life. I also wish the background clutter was not there. What is riveting is the dog's very expressive face.

Nice use of lighting. The limited depth of field complements the image. Nice work.

I appreciate the fine craft of your image. Superb tones.

Hi Todd:

I like everything about this image, except for one thing (and that may only be the JPG presentation). The focal point seems a bit out of focus and from an image standpoint, would seem better served by very sharp focus.

The composition, use of reflection and selectively blown highlights are all very well done and quite original.

My God. I love this image. If there is glory and grit in racing, this is it.

Wonderful light. Excellent craft.

Any comments appreciated.

I laughed out loud the instant I saw this shot. The expression (and milk chin) of the cat looking up is priceless but what makes the shot is the other cat's completion of the diagonal and the off center bowl of milk.

 

Nice lighting and color too. An interesting and fun shot.

Beautiful animal. I think the image would benefit from pushing up exposure and setting the black point back, especially to bring some life back to the eyes. I also would have cloned/healed out the debris on the bear's forehead.

Comments welcome.