Straight Out Of Camera Competition (SOOCC)

Score: 39.75

exposure: 5 -
focus: 5 -
composition: 5 -
lighting: 5 -
subject score: 18 - This is wonderful for a commercial shot. Good composition, lighting, the only thing it lacks is a "center of interest" It seems to be waiting for the subject, or patient. You have really done a good job on th e roomand equipment. I like it being sharp all the way.
bonus: 4

exposure: 4 - good exposure, white balance seems too blue to be normal, can't tell if it is intentional or not.
focus: 5 -
composition: 5 - like the composition, even in a very busy place, my eye keeps returning the the operating table.
lighting: 5 - A little more light on the table would be nice, however it wasn't needed so much to pull it down to a 4.
subject score: 18 - Color balance aside, this image deserves a good score.
bonus: 3

exposure: 5 - Excellent exposure good exposure in the blacks and all through out the image.
focus: 5 - Nice depth of field, this image requires depth of field through out the image and it has that. My compliments on using the correct depth of field for the situation.
composition: 5 - Nice placement of the subject and each article in the image.
lighting: 4 - only one lighting comment. The bright spot of light on the plug in arm is unexplained and draws you eye to it because it is the brightest area in the entire print.
subject score: 18 - This is a very nice image. There is only a few things possibly out of place in the image. The belts that hold the arms in place are around the arm rests. The belt that holds the body is dangling to the floor also the cords on the floor in the background and on the bed running back to the equipment do not look neat like you would expect a surgical room to look.

These two items I have mentioned here are very pickey but if you are going for perfection these things could count off a little.
bonus: 4

exposure: 5 - I'm going to blame the hot spots on the table on lighting, not exposure.
focus: 5 - This scene requires a lot of DOF, and it's there.
composition: 5 - Maybe crop a little off the right side
lighting: 4 - Nice use of blue gels on walls. Good form and shape on structure above table. Hot spots on table are an issue. Cast shadows on the wall need to be removed.
subject score: 15 - A very nice glamorization of a dull subject. Nice use of color contrast. When in post, clean up the cords on the floor (back right) and the light stand (front right.)
bonus: 2

Score: 39.25

exposure: 3 - I think we need more detail in the highlights, it may be there and not showing on my computer
focus: 4 -
composition: 5 -
lighting: 3 - I am not seeing any direction of light on the birds, again, it may be my computer.
subject score: 0 - The shadow of the bird has an unreal look to it. It seems to me that the reflection would not be as sharp as the subject,
bonus: 0

exposure: 4 - WOW, this image has so much potential, however it does appear to be over exposed about a full stop. It's close enough that it can be corected in Light Room or other programs.
focus: 5 - Great job on a moving subject
composition: 4 - Would be stronger if it were a little lower (or higher) in the image, great job on the vertical third.
lighting: 5 -
subject score: 17 - The image is great, but it appears something needs adjusted in your camera. There is a noticable lack of contrast and saturation
bonus: 1

exposure: 5 - Exposure is right on especially for a white bird on a dark background.
focus: 5 - Focus is excellent considering you had to catch the bird on the move and the wings are very nice. Depth of field is also very good isolating on the bird.
composition: 5 - Composition is very nice and getting the bird while the wings are moving and in the down position is very nice and adds to the interest of the image.
lighting: 5 - good lighting is provided and captured .
subject score: 20 - My compliments to the maker on this image, for an out of camera image I would say this is as good as it gets. There are several things I would do in post camera such as remove all the spots in the water as well as crop to remove the log in the top left corner. At that I would even say this could do well in competition however I won't go there as it is to hard to predict what will score well these days:).
bonus: 5

exposure: 4 - Oh, so close. Top of bird is blown out. (checked it in two different viewers.) Dang program setting!
focus: 5 - This is remarkable. the details are held amazingly well for a bird in flight.
composition: 5 - Our goal here is to give tips for improvement, so I have to get really picky and say it should be slightly tighter to eliminate junk in upper left corner. And I would like to see the bird positioned lower more towards the third.
lighting: 5 - Shows texture and shape.
subject score: 19 - Everything here can be fixed in post production. For a raw shot, this is so close to perfect it is amazing.
bonus: 5

Score: 35.5

exposure: 5 -
focus: 5 -
composition: 3 - There is a lot of area there that does not have anything of strong interest. The upper half seems to have the visual impact.
lighting: 4 - I would like some detail in the tree, seems to have no separation of light in shadow areas.
subject score: 0 - The branches at the very bottom are distracting and there seems to be a differece in the bottom 4th and the rest of the image. I like the top half, sky is lovely.
bonus: 0

exposure: 5 - Nicely done.............
focus: 4 - The bushes a little distracting in a larger print. (forground is a little to soft )
composition: 5 - Really like the composition, it pulls you right into the image.
lighting: 4 - The only thing holding this from a 5 is the tree is so dark. It's hard to tell but appears the light is coming from the back side of the tree causeing it to be dark.
subject score: 18 - very nice image, but does need a better defined center of interest for a subject.

Great job over all......
bonus: 3

exposure: 5 - Exposure is very good, holding the blue in the sky as well as the detail in the dark area of the rocks is impressive.
focus: 5 - Depth of field carries very well through out the image and in this image is a very good thing.
composition: 4 - Composition is good but it is hard to figure out what is ment to be the subject. The water in the foreground demands attention as well as does the mountain in the background and my eye tends to drift from one to the other. I like all the texture in the rocks in the left side of the image but then I get lost on the right side with all the broken rocks
lighting: 3 - Lighting for thsi images is somewhat flat. If the sun was out there would be some strong shadows giving the image even more depth and texture.
subject score: 15 - This is a nice image but I feel like it has competing subjects and has very flat lighting Causing the image to loose some impact. If possible going back on a sunny day either late evening or early morning and getting down low on the left side of this image and following the ridges into the image will give this image great impact. It is always important to watch lighting and look at an image like this from several different angels.
bonus: 0

exposure: 5 - Every so slight blow out in the clouds and a very small amount of blocked up blacks in the tree. You could not have picked a better exposure.
focus: 5 - For a scenic like this, the long DOF is very good
composition: 4 - Cut the tree on the left in half turning it into a frame, crop the bottom proportionately. Makes the lines of the water much stronger.
lighting: 5 - Nice choice of time of day.
subject score: 16 - I like this image a lot. It could be stronger and these items would be fixed in final.
bonus: 3

Score: 37.25

exposure: 4 - Red eyedropper on skin tone would suggest image is slightly underexposed. Eye dropper on gray shirt suggests that color balance is blueish - though I am going to say it is intentional
focus: 5 - Eyes and facial hair are sharp while the shirt starts to drop off.
composition: 5 - Nice placement of subject in the frame. Nice tip to create movement.
lighting: 5 - Score the big one.
subject score: 18 - Color harmony for the win! Expression, background, lighting, posing, it all works!
bonus: 4

exposure: 5 - Shadow under hoody go to near zero, but I would expect that. great skin tone...
focus: 5 - Great Shallow DOF! I can zoom in and count the pours on his face, yet the fibers on the hoody go soft on the shoulders.
composition: 5 - great diagonals and placement of subject.
lighting: 4 - near perfect, would suggest a skrim or gobo to block some of the light on top of the hood. (being picky now )
subject score: 19 - The only reason I didn't score 20 here is stuff that may not be in your control. Love the hoody but the text on it does distract from the subject as an after thought so does the dragon around his neck. Or is it an eagle?
bonus: 4

exposure: 5 - Very nice use of exposure, lighting through out the image is well done.
focus: 5 - Nice use of focus, eyes and face are very sharp while the background falls off to a soft suttle color, also a nce use of color harmony
composition: 4 - Composition and angle are nice, if the boys face were a little more to our left it would be more dramatic. It would take the boy a little more away from center. but nicely done.
lighting: 4 - Lighting is nice and for a senior portrait would be very sellable. If you want to give the image a little more punch increase the ratio and build more shadows on our right of him. Pull the light around to the left a little to create a more dramatic look. This will only create a different look and this coupled with moving him futher to our left would make a very high impact print.
subject score: 14 - Here is the one problem with this image. His chin is very low but his eyes are looking up at the camera which causes him to wrinkle his forehead and the whites under his eyes really stand out. It would change the mood but having him look down would solve all of these problems with the eyes and forehead. This coupled with the lighting and composition mentioned above would make this print not only sell able but a wow print. If he is going to look into the camera have him lift his chin. Darker lighting on the face creating more shadows would also help with the image as it stands.
bonus: 0

exposure: 5 -
focus: 5 -
composition: 4 - Would like to see shoulders out, a little more base for head.Particularly on his right arm.
lighting: 4 - could be a little bit more dramatic for this kind of shot,
subject score: 16 - I would like this printed deeper with the background picking up some of the same blue. Broadening the base would give more strength to the guy and a stronger base to head. Also the upper righthand corner needs to be brought down. Try taking the background way down, and tone down highlights on shoulders, particularly the right one.
bonus: 0

Score: 37

exposure: 5 - maintained detail in highlights and shadows
focus: 5 - background drops out of focus. A little softer bg would be nice
composition: 5 - Really, I think the author did a good job breaking some rules here. Faces are nicely in thirds even though you have a strong vertical line bisecting the image. Girl on left is nicely framed by the ivy.
lighting: 4 - Can I do 4.5? Both subjects are well masked. Good job. The sharpness of the cast shadows of the ivy is distracting to me.
subject score: 16 - This is a very interesting image. I like the contrasts, the lighting on the faces is very well done. This is a neat image. I just don't completely understand the story or the author's intent, and that is the only thing that keeps me from giving a better score.
bonus: 3

exposure: 4 - good exposure needs just a little more to make it pop! White balance seems a little to be a little to much green / yellow.
focus: 5 - very nice
composition: 4 - good use of thirds, but the girls are not connected, like differant images.... Which may be what the maker intended. (see treatment of subject)
lighting: 5 - nicely done.
subject score: 18 - My opinion this could have been much stronger, just by swithching the clothes on the girls. Bringing out the contrast in the skin colors. And maybe looking down over their shoulders slightly toward each other would give them a connection, yet played upon the contrast that society still sees today......... There is a good story here just needs brought out more!
bonus: 3

exposure: 5 - The exposure is very nice especially since there is black and white in the image. Holding the white to no blown out areas is a very good accomplishment.
focus: 3 - Focus for the children is good however if you look at this photo there is a lot going on and your eye tends to travel especially to the bushes in front they are in very sharp focus, if they were blurred a little your eye would stay on the children a little better and it would blur the background a little to.
composition: 3 - Composition is a little static even though the girls are not dead center the tree is leaving a static feeling while vewing the image. If placement were off to one side a little it would give a since welcomeness to the image.
lighting: 4 - Lighting is good both girls faces are lit well while holding the exposure for the black and white outfits.
subject score: 15 - Oops hit the enter key so if you get this twice here is the rest of it. Ok I didn't know were else to put this so here it goes. The image technically looks good but the girls expressions are like they are in time out. The is no life to the image, girls of this age should be happy and playing possibly looking around tree at each other or otherwise doing something.
If this is the kind of image they were going for then I guess it worked but I think most parents would want to see their children in a more playful mood.
bonus: 0

exposure: 5 -
focus: 5 -
composition: 4 -
lighting: 5 -
subject score: 18 - I love this! I think you have a real winner. Some suggestions, remember this is only my opinion. The tree is way too big, takes attention away from the girls, they need to be closer together, also in color it (tree) is too light. Girl in white needs more density to match other girl. Fence showing through is distracting, Clone in some ivy. I liked this so much I played with it, Just a suggestion, try it in black & white. I did, it was beautiful! good luck with this.
bonus: 4

score: 30.75

exposure: 5 - Detail maintained in the sky, in the water, in the boat and even slightly in the far shore.
focus: 4 - Sharp from end to end, but it has to be that way.
composition: 4 - Boat is slightly outside of third. It is moving into the frame, good job. Just enough color behind the boat to separate it from the darker water. When you go final, crop off some of the top.
lighting: 4 - Not much to be said for lighting a silhouette
subject score: 12 - Clean up the midground some if you ever print this. Maybe punch up the color some.
bonus: 0

exposure: 4 - Nicely done in very dificult lighting conditions
focus: 5 -
composition: 4 - Nice placement of subject, one suggestion is to raise or lower the horizion line so it isn't centered in the image.
lighting: 4 - letting the sun set a little lower may evenout the lighting with the trees on shore and the rest of the image.
subject score: 15 - Very nice image.......
bonus: 0

exposure: 5 - I gave this a perfect score because the maker held the exposure with the sun and still retained detail in the shadows. Even though it is close the detail can still be brought out in the trees and the important thing is the sun still has detail.
focus: 3 - The boat which is the subject is pretty soft It looks possibly like the lens backfocused which is very common in todays digital cameras. The depth of field is good as it carried through the entire subject and is reasonably sharp
composition: 5 - I really like the composition on this image is very nice I like the placement of the boat and horizon line the log coming up behind the boat I find a bit distracting but that is the thing about scenics you take what you can get.
lighting: 5 - This is an excellent time of day for this image, I really like this image for color and lighting on the water. This is probably the perfect time of day for this type of image.
subject score: 17 - This is a very nice image, very nice color harmony nice contrast. I like where the horizon line falls in the image. For a final print I would like to see the log behind the boat removed and the sky cropped to about a half inch above the sun.
bonus: 3

exposure: 3 - I think this is somewhat underexposed. Not a deep rich black, but also no detail.
focus: 4 -
composition: 4 - The dark sky withno detail distracts me. Try cropping down to just above the clouds. also maybe some off the bottom to make more of a slim line.
lighting: 5 - Light is lovely, you have daught just the right moment.
subject score: 12 - I feel that you have to have either a silhouett or show some detail in blacks. The driftwood around the boat is interesting but the square object that is dead center is very distracting. the composition and light is lovely.
bonus: 0

Score: 30

exposure: 5 - kept the detail in the dress, nice neutral color on the dress
focus: 5 - Kept all the dress sharp
composition: 4 - Very centered. I would like to see some sort of movement, maybe move the bride to upper right third and use the stairs as leading lines.
lighting: 4 - Light source is nice, a little flat. Bride is broad lit.
subject score: 12 - The pose is static. The bride needs to lean toward camera more. Change where she is looking to move her into a short light instead of a broad light.
bonus: 0

exposure: 5 - I think you nailed it, great skintones.
focus: 4 - I would like to see a shallow DOF, but with the space confinements your not going to get that with a wide angle, and yet she is a little soft when looked at closely...
composition: 3 - Sorry, I don't think the bulls eye works in this case, I would like to see her on the right hand third, then all those leading lines from the steps woul pull your eye toward the subject...
lighting: 3 - Wonderful...except it is lit from the wrong side, the light should be to cameras left, which would make it short lighting...
subject score: 15 - pretty hands, but would like to see the wrist bent a little, elbow is a little stiff...
overall very nice image
bonus: 0

exposure: 5 - Exposure is very nice, good skin tones and holding detail from the whitest white to the blacks.
focus: 3 - Focus appears to be a bit in front the dress is tack sharp and the face is a little soft. A good way to foucs is to zoom into the face then zoom back out ot take the exposure. Depth of field is a little bit in excess but was probably done with a wide lens so elements appear sharper since they are not compressed.
composition: 3 - Compssition is dead center and usually it is better to place the subject just off center a little. In this case moving around and looking down the steps would have created even more leading lines and created more interest to the subject.
lighting: 4 - Lighting is nice and holding all the detail is a big plus with all the white in this image.
subject score: 14 - Overall this image is very nice however it appears to be somewhat flat. Moving the camera around to look acrossed the steps would create more interest and lead you into the bride, also moving the bride to one side of the stairs would help with this to.
bonus: 0

Score: 31

exposure: 4 - eye dropper on bride's dress says 225, so I'm going to say your about .5 stop under. Nice color balance. Maybe slow your shutter speed down a little to get that background in a little better.
focus: 4 - Couple is nice and sharp. I could use a little less sharpness in the background.
composition: 5 - Nice use of leading lines. Nice use of frames
lighting: 5 - Nice use of selective lighting. Makes couple pop off nicely.
subject score: 11 - Bride is caught between 2/3 and profile. Move her more into 2/3. Cover bride's lead arm with veil to reduce the size.
bonus: 0

exposure: 4 - Needs a custom WB (seems way to warm), something around 5100 is much better.
focus: 4 - Everything is in focus! Would like a softer background and you need a longer lens to get that.
composition: 5 - Like it, love the repitition of design........
lighting: 4 - Like the lighting patterens on the dress and groom. Not so much on the brides face, but it's "OK", What holds this one back is the harshness of the light. Needs to have a larger source or move closer to the couple if possible. Just a note on the back light, it could be tilted up a little, it's to strong on the floor.
subject score: 17 - Really like this image, but it could be SO MUCH stronger with a little tweaking of the lights and WB.
bonus: 0

exposure: 4 - Very nice. Blending the exposure of flash with the ambiant light is very nice also a very nice contrast holding all detail.
focus: 3 - Focus on the people is good but depth of field is a little to great. The back wall is almost as sharp as the couple, I would really like to see less detail in the background.
composition: 4 - Composotion is nice and the only improvement would be to move the bride and grooms head closer togather, the groom appears to be leaning away from the bride. Sometimes this my require taking your hand in the middle of their backs and pressing them togather gently of course.
lighting: 4 - LIghting is nice agin blending of all the light is very nice.
subject score: 15 - This image has a very nice feel and probably the only things I would change is how close the couple is standing and the depth of field. By blurring the background a little more you will stay focused on the couple and it will make the image feel more warm and fuzzy.
bonus: 0

Score: 31

exposure: 4 - Color balance is off. Too cold. Nice match of added light to ambient light.
focus: 4 - I would like to see a narrower DOF. Plant in the foreground (upper left) is very sharp and doesn't need to be. I like the softness of the background.
composition: 5 - Very nice use of frames and leading lines and thirds.
lighting: 5 - Nice use of added light.
subject score: 12 - I would like to see more movement in the pose. Change the groom's hands so that they are not around the waste of the bride - especially the detached right hand. Turn bride's head more left to move into true profile and tip her head left so that bottom of nostrils are not showing. Move lead hands of the couple together and lower.
bonus: 0

exposure: 4 - great exposure, white balance seems a bit cool.
focus: 5 -
composition: 5 - Like it....
lighting: 3 - This is the weakest part of the image and is really holding it back. The lighting is rather harsh, and she is broad lit with very little definition to thee face. Solve that by Later in the day or useing a translucent material to soften the light. Then the bride needs to be turned away from the light (her left) so there would be some modeling on her face.
subject score: 14 - Only 2 things bother me about this image. One is the lighting , already addressed. Two is more minor, but the dead or dieing vegitation to the camera left is a little distracting as is the water hose in the background, but to a lesser degree.
A very nice image , just needs a little tweaking in the camera.
bonus: 0

exposure: 5 - Very nice, the whites are held very well and detail in the background is nice.
focus: 4 - Focus is good but depth of field is very strong. I would like to see less detail in the background. In this image it appears like everything is sharpe from near to far. Reducing the apreture will narrow the depth of field especially in longer lenses such as 200 mm.
composition: 4 - Composotion is nice very will placed off center the only problem here is the grooms eyes. He is looking too much out of the corners of his eyes so it appears he dosen't have any puples only white. This is very easily corrected, simply lean him into the bride and move his eyes toward the ground or at the red flowers to the bottom left of the image. Leaning her head into his shoulder and turning him a little would solve many problems, it would also allow her to bring her arm up the back of his arm and would make a softer looking pose. Hear they tend ot look like they are hanging on to each other instead of caring for each other.
lighting: 5 - The lighting is beautiful I would not change anything about the lighting.
subject score: 14 - This is a very nice location, lighting is wonderful and the only things I would change are the depth of field and the pose.
bonus: 0

Score 34.25

exposure: 5 - Exposure is very good especially when blending flash with natural light.
focus: 2 - Image is soft or out of focus especially on the face. There appears to be movement, I believe this to be the case insetad of lens focus. When using natural light with slow shutter speeds always use a tripod and cable release for the camera and if you are using a long lens laying something on the lens to weight it will help keep the lens from moving when the shutter goes off.
composition: 4 - Composition is good except it wasn't followed through. The dress needs to be layed so the train is going down the stairs creating a nice flow around the bride. In this image the train is pulled to straight out behind the bride and pulls your eye away from the flow around the bride. Since you are shooting down it would be better if the dress flowed down and not even touched the step above the bride. Think of the dress as fluid or water and let the train flow down and around the lower part of the bride.
lighting: 5 - LIghting is very good as the flash blends very well with the natural light. This is sometimes hard to do and the maker has done a very good job with blending.
subject score: 0 - This is a very nice subject and a beautiful location. Move the camera a little more to the front of the bride and turn her left shoulder a little more away from the camera then straighten her arm just a little more towards the front. This will create a rim light all the way down the arm and give a perfect lead in to the face. Moving the train and vail down around the bride will create depth and interest to the image keeping the viewers eye on the bride.
bonus: 0

exposure: 4 - What a georgous image, needs the exposure tweaked a little, it appears bit under
focus: 3 - Oh , so close! Her face is soft, mabe stop down to f5.6 or f8 (I assume this to be on a tripod)
composition: 5 - I'm liking it....
lighting: 5 - Lighting is handled well
subject score: 18 - Mostly the softness held this image back, it could use some more contrast also
bonus: 2

exposure: 5 -
focus: 5 -
composition: 4 -
lighting: 5 -
subject score: 18 - The bottom half of this photograph is unnecessary, try cropping below the dress. the lighting is wonderful and I like the flicker of light in the top half.
bonus: 3

exposure: 5 - I originally thought it was under exposed, but eyedropper on the brightest part of dress is 240
focus: 4 - I would like to see a narrower DOF to separate her from the background
composition: 4 - Subject's head nicely in a third. I wish the subject was one stair higher so that the last stair line did not go through the head.
lighting: 5 - Nice mask on the profile pose
subject score: 12 - I would love to see the bride contained within the stairs. I find the floor past the stairs, particularly the hot spots, distracting. Nice concept.
bonus: 0

Score 26.75

exposure: 4 - Very close, exposure looks about 1/10 stop to dark but very close.
focus: 5 - Focus is good in the fact there is a small area to keep in focus. The black has no difination for focus. I think the image would be better if you could show something for depth in other words have a foreground, middleground and background.
composition: 4 - Composition is good, however being on black it tends to make the baby look like it is floating with no position in the frame. The angle from which the image was taken is a little high and to far to the right of the baby. This angle makes the bow appear to big and is the doninate area of the image.
lighting: 3 - Lighting needs to be placed more towards the the babys head giving the face more light and less light falling on the bow. This would also keep some of the light off of the babys back giving even more emphisis to the babys face.
subject score: 12 - I would first take away the black, a black background makes thing appear cold and harsh. A warm background is always great for baby's, it makes the viewer feel warm and cozy. Keeping the view on the face is always the objective of the portrait photographer. Downsizing the bow and moving it to the center of the baby's back still covering all the critical parts would further enhance the overall portrait, also moving the camera around towards the baby's face would also benefit. This is a very nice idea and will be a special portrait to the parents.
bonus: 0

exposure: 4 - The black is so strong that the baby appers to be floating.
focus: 5 -
composition: 4 - The baby is almost centered horizontally, try croping to just below the gift card.
lighting: 3 - A softer more directional light would would give the baby more roundness and the strong highlights on the ribbon are very distracting.
subject score: 15 - The black background seems harsh for such a soft and lovely subject. A softer color background would be more in key with the subject.
bonus: 0

exposure: 5 - Looks a little red to me but I know babies are red sometimes.
focus: 3 - The baby is soft while the bow and card are really sharp. Next time be sure the focus is on the baby.
composition: 4 - Would be stronger if the child was placed closer to one of the thirds......
lighting: 4 - good on the subject, but on my moitor all the background and whatever the baby is laying on is total black, making it appear you have a floating baby.
subject score: 10 - Nice image and I would like to have gone higher but the focusissue and the black areas gone totally black held me back.
bonus: 0


exposure: 4 - 1/2 stop under exposed (red eyedropper is 200 - should be around 235)
focus: 5 - Don't see any problems. A shallower DOF would not hurt.
composition: 3 - I would like see the baby's face in a third. It is off center, which is a good start. Lower the camera and look into the baby's face more.
lighting: 3 - Lower the light and get more in the baby's face. Baby's back is too bright - draws attention away from the face. I would like to see a separation light.
subject score: 7 - The concept is good. The bow is way too large and way to bright. Your eye will always be drawn to the brightest object in the image. This should be your subject. The bow is dominating the image. Next time, get a real small bow (preferably less specular) so we can see the cute little baby butt!

Score 33.5

exposure: 5 - Very nice exposure.
focus: 3 - The people are a little soft I believe from camera focus. The depth of field is to great looks to be about f 11 or possible f 8 needs to be no higher than 5.6.
composition: 3 - Composition is nice however the pose is a little uncomfortable. The gentleman is reaching for the girls hand and the girls hand is bent to far and looks uncomfortable however for an image where sponinatity is involved it is very acceptable. Depth of field is too deep the items in the background appear as sharp as the couple taking your eye off of them.
lighting: 4 - The main emphisis is on the girl because she is the one who is lit however the pose lends to a very nice interaction between the couple. Another possiblitiy is to have both the guy and girl looking the same direction as if looking at something in the distance. This is just an idea for posing but if you put the guys right hand around here waist and her left hand up on his chin it gives a very warm interaction and show affection between the couple.
subject score: 14 - Narrowing the depth of field here is I feel the most important thing in this image. The interaction of the couple cures a lot of pitfalls from a posed image. Sometimes the spontaneity is more important to an image than all the rules and this image has very nice story telling appeal.
bonus: 0


exposure: 4 - Love this image! Later in the day could have made it stronger and needs about 1/2 stop more expousure to really make it pop.
focus: 5 - Every thing is in focus that should be.
composition: 4 - Here is where the image could really be helped, by moving the camera position to the right say 10 feet,, it would have made the leading line become even stronger as a diagonal and I think it's S-curved shape would be even more affective. Also keeping the couple in the same position it would have created some horizontial distance between them and the barn.
lighting: 4 - I think the lighting is handled very well for the time of day.
subject score: 18 - Love the pose but
I would suggest a darker shirt for him to go with her dress, the white is a little distracting from the faces.
bonus: 3

exposure: 5 -
focus: 5 -
composition: 4 -
lighting: 4 - am hour later would give some depth and texture to the flowers and a softer light on the faces.
subject score: 17 - try croping this to a slim line, the sky and foreground do not add to the over all impact. I think this is very nice, but would change the white shirt, as it draws toomuch attention.
bonus: 2

exposure: 4 - If his shirt is white, the color balance is off. (R250.G235.B209). Neutralizing the shirt cleans up the sky, but author may have intended a "warm" look
focus: 4 - I want less DOF. I want the foreground flowers and the barn softer. Shooting at ISO 100 instead of 400 would help as would shooting at less than f14
composition: 3 - So close, and yet so far. Nice leading line with the trail. Horizon splits the frame. Barn is in center. Barn is distracting, get some space between barn and couple. Get farther back and use a longer lens which will reduce your DOF and allow you to put the barn on the right side of the frame. Lower camera perspective to frame them against the sky (or higher and frame them against the ground). That will allow you to get the horizon into a third and them into a third.
lighting: 5 - I like the lighting on her a lot. Very nice
subject score: 14 - A lot of this image can be redeemed in post production. He demands more attention because of his lighter shirt. Match their clothes next time.
bonus: 0

Average Score 31.25

exposure: 5 - Exposure is very nice
focus: 4 - Focus is nice except the depth of field is to great, the trees in the background should be out of focus. This is some of the limitations of flash when used outdoors with slr cameras you are forced to use a slower shutter so the f stop has to increase.
composition: 4 - Image is pretty much dead center, moving around the car just a little would create depth and give more interest to the image.
lighting: 4 - Lighting is good with blending for the sky.
subject score: 15 - Moving the subject would make a big improvement, by shooting directly into the back of the car makes the image look flat without to much depth. Moving around the side of the car where you can see down the side of the car would add interest and depth.
bonus: 0

exposure: 4 - very difficult lightong conditions. The subject is well lit (but with a harsh source) to balance with the sky.......that leaves the rest of the backgroud dark. Try shooting away from the sunset
focus: 5 -
composition: 4 - There is a nice symmetry about this imageHowever that bulls eye the subjects face.
lighting: 3 - As stated before, the main is too harsh!
subject score: 14 -
bonus: 0

exposure: 5 -
focus: 5 -
composition: 4 - The center composition works for me, but I would try croping some space at the bottom.
lighting: 4 - A little later in the day, softer shadows and more interest in the background.
subject score: 16 - I like the pose. You might try darker clothes. The white shirt and light pants seem to take attention from the very nicely lit face.
white shirts always draw attention from evrything else.
bonus: 0

exposure: 5 - subject's white shirt is coming in a little low (215), but I'm going to call that lighting not exposure. Any more exposure would cause a loss of detail in the sky.
focus: 4 - I wish the trees were not so sharp
composition: 3 - I keep wanting to crop the bottom of the image right below the bumper of the car. I find the foreground concrete distracting. More later.
lighting: 4 - Nice job matching the light on the subject to the sunset. Nice mask on the face. The subject is under lit by about a 1/3 stop. I would really like to see a narrower light source so there is less light on the concrete foreground. Talk to me later.
subject score: 13 - I'm sure some of the judges will hound the same planeness of the pose. I think it works as for the subject as a power pose and is what the author intended. As mentioned before, the concrete in the foreground is distracting. Darken/crop it and it will make the image much more dramatic.
bonus: 0

Score 32.50

exposure: 5 - The image is very nice with exposure overall. Some burning and dodging could help greatly in post camera.
focus: 5 - Depth of field is very nice for a scenic where lots of depth is needed to tell the story.
composition: 5 - Placement is nice and showing a reflection of the mountain in the water is a nice touch especially with the hotel in the background.
lighting: 3 - This is the only weakness I feel this print has. In scenic or landscape lighting is everything. A little later in the day would be very nice this would change the color just a little and give more depth to the image. Sometime waiting till dusk and letting the light throw strong shadows over the mountains will create more interest and depth.
subject score: 18 - Very nice image and using photoshop later to create contrast and bring out the clouds will make this an even greater image. Also cropping off of the right side and eliminating some of the houses and outbuildings would improve the image. However for right out of the camera it is very nice.
bonus: 0

exposure: 4 -
focus: 5 -
composition: 4 -
lighting: 4 -
subject score: 17 - Lovely landscape, I like the center of interest. I think it needs more saturation,
bonus: 0

exposure: 4 - a little over exposed
focus: 5 -
composition: 4 - very nice , but I would like to see the water line either higher or lower in the image, yet keep the moutaim tops near that third.
lighting: 4 - Maybe a little later in the day would tone down the clouds and give the image more balance.
subject score: 15 - Nice image, but it is difficult to decide the main center of interest. of course this can be handled in post production with cropping and art work.
bonus: 0

exposure: 5 - Did a nice job of not over exposing the highlights.
focus: 5 - Don't see any problems
composition: 4 - Symmetric images is about the only place you can get away with putting the horizon in the center. But I would like to see it out of center to put more emphasis on either the sky or the reflection
lighting: 3 - Too flat. Come back late in the day and get better texture on the mountains.
subject score: 11 - Late evening or early morning light would really help. A pretty scene, but needs a dominate object to act as a subject.
bonus: 0

Score: 34.5

exposure: 5 - Exposure is right on.
focus: 5 - Depth of field is very good. It shows the background just enough to see it but not be distracting.
composition: 4 - As a salable print I feel the composition is very good most mothers would want the child in the dead center of the image. The only thing that could be changed is to make the child a little smaller and move her to the bottom right to give her space but that is not necessary here. You have given her plenty of space above her which is very good she has plenty of space to play in this image.
lighting: 4 - I like the lighting we have good ratio on the face, just enough to show roundness and depth in the dress. I would have probably kept a little more light off the background even though it is out of focus being as bright as it is you tend to look at it. Tilting the main light up a little would also keep as much light from striking the floor and putting more emphisis on the child and not the floor.
subject score: 14 - If I were wanting to sell this print I would work a little more on the little girls expression. To an outside viewer it looks like she is getting ready to cry and we all know parents always want their children to smile. However a nice pencive look is often better than a big smile and has a much longer lasting quality. Color harmony ok to have made it better the background would need a little hotter shades of pink. This is being very picky but the idea is how could the image be any better.
bonus: 4

exposure: 5 - Looks dead on
focus: 5 -
composition: 4 - I'd like to see the girl's face not so perfectly centered
lighting: 5 - Nice hair/separation light. Excellent lighting pattern on the girls face
subject score: 14 - Key. The girl's bright pink dress is distracting.
bonus: 1

exposure: 5 -
focus: 5 -
composition: 4 -
lighting: 4 - lighting is soft and flattering, a little more contrast might add some drama.
subject score: 12 - The babys attention is not on her horse and he seems to be distracted by something off to the right.Having her eyes looking tothe right and the light comming from the left gives a feeling of unbalance. Her attengion neds to be on either the horse or to the side the light is comming from. The clothing choice seems to strong and fights for attention with the adorable face.
bonus: 0

exposure: 5 - it's all there.............
focus: 5 - ditto....
composition: 4 - just a little too centered and lack of dynamics such as leading lines to score higher, but nice use of the background.
lighting: 5 - very nice
subject score: 17 - the pink works but the stripes really pull on the viewers eye. .. nicely done.
bonus: 2

Score: 20.75

exposure: 3 - Get the little girl to turn around so the light is coming onto the face and not the back of the dress.
focus: 5 - The focus and depth of field are very good.
composition: 1 - The childs face is dead center of the photograph and her right fingers are cut off this is a major no no. She needs more space to live and play in this image.
lighting: 1 - The lighting in this image is opposite of what it should be, if you could get the little girl inside the building and catch her coming out you would have had a good image. Lots of times children will play peak a boo especiall around doors. The problem here is you can hardly see her beautiful little face. This could have worked better if a reflector could have been held over top of the little girl to block the bright light from coming in from behind her.
subject score: 2 - Sorry to be this harsh but there are a lot of things that need to be fixed with this image. With the image at hand the way it is, in my opinion, the only way to fix it is to crop it horizontal so you only have the little face and the left hand, crop her right hand out all togather and darken the hat as much as possible without making it look to dark. Again turning the subject around to capture the beautiful light coming from behind her would improve this image so much. Keep shooting
bonus: 0

exposure: 3 - Assuming that the girls dress is white, the color balance is off. Detail was maintained in the dress and hat - good.
focus: 5 - Eyes are tack sharp. Background is blurring
composition: 3 - Girl's face is dead center. Hard vertical line running through head is distracting.
lighting: 2 - The light is nice, but...
subject score: 6 - The face needs to be turned toward the light. The eye is pulled to the brightest object in an image and that is the back of the hat.
bonus: 0

exposure: 4 - hilight area is blownout, racio betweeren highlights and shadows is too large.
focus: 5 -
composition: 3 - strong light on back of baby detracts from face.
lighting: 2 - bbys face is subject here and light should be on her face.
subject score: 12 - a reflector could hve been used to throw light into the babys face. the hot highlights on the clothes and the arms draw allyour attention. the fct and expression are lovely, but overwhelmed by the hotness of right side. Try this again and use a light or reflefted to throw light into the face.
bonus: 0

exposure: 4 - This is a A little blown out in the highlites of the clothing and loosing detail in the shadows. This is a very difficult setup to get the perfect exposure. A setting with less extremes in between the highlights and shadows would make it easier to balance the image.
focus: 4 - Normally I would prefer the shallow depth of field that you achieved here.... but with all the straight lines in the background it makes it appear that the only thing going out of focus is the girls right arm and hand, still a 4+.
composition: 4 - a little crowded and too much centered, I would sugest backing out a little and giving enough room to not cut off the fingrers, this would alow moving the child to the right and down towards the lower right third. An alternitive is to zoom in closer cropping out her right shoulder and arm (in camera)
lighting: 2 - While the light exposes the image pretty well, there is a problem that the most important part of the image (the face and eyes) are way under compared to the hat , dress and body. That really hurts what otherwise is a very nice image. Just a little light from a reflector would make a huge differance.
subject score: 12 - This image could have scored much higher, with a little more light on the dark background and light on the face. The concept, pose and clothing are very nice.
bonus: 0

Score: 32.5

exposure: 4 - 1/3 stop brighter would have been nice to give a little more pop to the skin tones unless this is for competition then the exposure is ok because they use bright lights to judge the images with.
focus: 3 - The focus in this image is soft. The eyes for an image like this need to be tack sharp. Her left eye appears sharper to than her right eye meaning the camera was focused on the left eye and the depth of field didn't carry through to her right eye. The lips and nose also are soft, to correct all of this just increase the depth of field I would guess is at 3.2 to 2.8. try 5.6 it will still give the effect of the background being out of focus and keep the eyes and face sharp. The hat brim look like the sharpest point in this image which is a little hard to explane unless you are tilting the lens then at low f stop settings as you turn away from the center of the lens the more blur you will get to the edges.
composition: 5 - The composition and placement are very nice I don't feel this could be improved on.
lighting: 3 - Here is where an image like this shines the lighting is everything. The lighting here is pretty good except it is not far enough around in front of the face because there is no catch light in her left eye. There must be a catchlight in the eye otherwise the eye looks flat and dull with no life. Notice the right eye compared to the left eye, two completely different moods. The fill lighting on the right is very good it holds the shadow area without letting it go black and enhances the overall mood of the image. Lighting angle is good just bring it around a little and in a little closer if possible and lighten the exposure just a little.
subject score: 10 - This is a nice image that just misses. I will start with the blouse and the hat we don't have color harmony, if this was a brown blouse this would have been awsome but the blue harts have no place with the brown hat and the serious expression. In a portrait everything must come togather to create the excellent image someone is going to want to spend big money for. Hang in there and watch for all the small things that could make an image better before you even walk behind the camera.
bonus: 3

exposure: 5 -
focus: 5 -
composition: 4 - I would like tosee a little more base for the face and hat, body seems a little small.
lighting: 5 - Lovely, it is difficult to handle the hat and still have such lovely light. I would like a little stronger catchin the right eye, but youcan fix that on final print.
subject score: 19 - the choise of vqckground and hat is excellent, and the expression on the childs face is terrific. The light blue hearts on the dress distract me and draw attention from the great face. I would definately remove them from the final print.this is a lovely portrait. In the finaleffort, remove lightbluie hearts and enhance the eyes, with stronger catchlights.
bonus: 4

exposure: 4 - seems a little under exposed to me with lose of detail in the hair, but I gave it a 4 anyway because it kind of sets a mood.
focus: 2 - I like this image and hated to give it this low of a score. But the girl is out of focus with the hat brim being the only area in sharp focus. This will work on small images but would be a real problem if a wall print was needed.
composition: 5 - really like the composition with the diagonals created, a little to centered with the eyes, still better than a 4 so 5 it is.
lighting: 4 - Very nice, just needs a little softer light and some light in the girls left eye.
subject score: 16 - What's holding this image back is the clothing... the hearts just don't mach the mood that was created. a solid color to mach the hat would help this image take off! oh I love the shallow DOF just needs the focus point on the eyes instead of the hat brim.... great job overall.
bonus: 0

exposure: 4 - It's looking under exposed to me.
focus: 3 - when I zoom in the, eyes do not look sharp. Focus appears to be on the brim of the hat
composition: 5 -
lighting: 4 - Key light needs to be lower. No catch light in the subject left eye. Lighting pattern is very good
subject score: 13 - Nice out of focus background, nice tip to the head. I would like to see more life in the eyes and the DOF carry all the way through to the far eye.
bonus: 0

Score: 36

exposure: 4 - OK, just a bit of noise keeps from giving a 5, even though the shadow go completely dark, I think this was the intention of the maker...
focus: 5 - everything that need to be sharp appears to be so, what appears to have been used is a fisheye or very wide lens, giving the effect of everything in focus.
composition: 5 - The symetry is remarkable adding intrest and pulls my eye into the image.
lighting: 4 - really like the overall effect of the lightingwith the exception of the strong backlightsstriking the floor somewhat harshleybut not giving any rim light on the subjects hair.
subject score: 19 - a few corrections and this could really soar, not much else to say except take it into PS from here and get rid of the poles and street lights in the background. Wonderful image ......!!!
bonus: 4

exposure: 5 -
focus: 5 -
composition: 5 - :Love it!
lighting: 5 -
subject score: 18 - Striking print. I would like to see more details in shadow areas. the details are there.
bonus: 4

exposure: 5 - Exposure is good holding detail in the dark areas.
focus: 2 - Depth of field is to great, focus should be on the subject. In the image here the background items are to clearly recognizable such as the safety cones in the parking lot. Using a narrow depth of field would blur the background putting full emphsis on the subject.
composition: 4 - By using a special effect the compesition is good, if the subject were off to one side or the other it would be off balance in this image. The body pose is static, if you turned the subject more to her right and bent the knee closest to the camera she would look thinner then turn the top part of her body back towards the camea for interest.
lighting: 3 - The lighting really needs to be higher and as much to the front as possible, since the lighting is coming from such a low angle it is making her left shoulder and arm appear very large raising the light would slim this area and add a slimming effect.
subject score: 12 - This is a very good idea, very creative. When doing creative poses don\'t forget the little things some of the posing is mentioned above but her left arm would be better is it was out away from here body more and turning the right hand around and slightly bending the wrist would give more of a feminine apperance. Very nice idea.
bonus: 0

exposure: 4 - Maybe turn down the rim light and open camera to get a little more detail on the columns.
focus: 4 - I would like a shorter DOF, but, yes, it is a fish eye lens.
composition: 5 - good example of symetry working in a compostion.
lighting: 4 - Nice use of seperation light. Could be farther to camera right.
subject score: 14 - Bride's left arm needs to extend more like the right arm. Good movement in the flow of the body. Traffic cones and light poles are distracting.
bonus: 2

Score: 26 exposure: 4 - The monitor says overexposed, the histogram says good. We\'ll trust the histogram. CB looks cold. focus: 4 - subjects are sharp. I would like less detail in background composition: - Move back, zoom in tighter. Too much dead space on sides. Maybe even go vertical lighting: 4 - Looks like light was added. Good. I would like to see a little higher ratio. subject score: 6 - Clothing should match, not contrast. Give him a little more space and have him tip his head toward the woman, instead of away. bonus: 0 exposure: 4 - focus: 5 - composition: 3 - Try putting couple on thirds on a horizontal or cropping vertical. lighting: 4 - I think the lighting is good on this, but the print needs more density so we can see it. subject score: 15 - I would have liked o see more of him, his shoulder widthseems to small compared t o hers. Tilting his head toward her instead of away would help. Also the highlights in the backgrouond are distracting from the subjects. bonus: 0

Score 34.25

exposure: 3 - image appears to be only slightly under exposed but the WB is off, it has a strong yellow cast...
focus: 5 - Focus is awesome in my opinon, like the shallow DOF, with the sharp focus on the very closest flowers...well done :)
composition: 4 - While very nice, I think shooting at a differnt angle to create a diagonal with the red flowers would have made this stronger. or make it more vertical to give it more symetry----
lighting: 5 - a 5 BUT I would like to see a little more direction of light, that would give it more contrast and specular lighting.
subject score: 18 - overall a very nice image, one you can be proud of to show your \"wedding\" clients or fine art.
bonus: 2

exposure: 5 - WB looks on the money and exposure is good
focus: 4 - I wish the first red bouqet was more clear
composition: 3 - Too centered. Crop out the vase and about 1/3 from the left
lighting: 4 - Excellent detail on white bouquet. I would like the red bouqets to seperate from the background more
subject score: 8 - Afore mentioned comment about better detail in first red bouquet. Even in abstracts, find a dominant object to place in a third for a focal point.
bonus: 0

exposure: 5 -
focus: 3 - tHIS WAS CONFUSING TO ME. fLOWERS AE BEAUTIFUL BUT i DO NOT UNDERSTAND RED?
composition: 5 - SEE ABOVE
lighting: 4 - Needs a little more direction of lilght.
subject score: 14 - This is confusing.
bonus: 0

exposure: 5 - Very nice handeling of two very extreme colors.
focus: 5 - Very nice handeling of focus keeping the viewers eye on the white roses letting you view into the red area and back to the focused area.
composition: 5 - Comesition is nice with the subject being in the lower third of the image allowing the viewer to see the subject first and enjoy all the delecate details of the boquet.
lighting: 5 - Very nice, keeping the light on the subject and just enough to see color density in the background. The white areas would need to be taken down later but this couldn\'t have been done with lighting, this is an A+ image
subject score: 20 -
bonus: 5

Score: 28.75
exposure: 5 - Considering the scene, the exposure is correct focus: 4 - I would like a shallower DOF. Yes, I know that\'s hard with a 24mm lens at f16...more later
composition: 5 - Nice use of thirds. Nice technique to tilt the camera to avoid a split frame horizon, nice use of posing to avoid tape of net from disecting the head.
lighting: 4 - I really want 4.5 here. You brought in an extra light and did a great job matching the ambient - good for you. I would like to see a larger light source so the cast shadow on the neck is less defined (lowering the light will help) and I would like to see more detail in the shadow side of the face (note: some monitors show detail, some do not). A little reflector would have gone a long way.
subject score: 15 - I like the pose, using the sun for seperation light. You did an excellent job handling the situation for 4:59 in the afternoon. And that is my only suggestion - don\'t shoot at 4:59 in afternoon. Later light would\'ve solved all the issues here.
bonus: 2

exposure: 5 -
focus: 5 -
composition: 5 -
lighting: 5 -
subject score: 18 - Great sports shot! Nice pose, good lighting. Normally a slanting horizon line will get you into trouble, but in this case it works for me!.
bonus: 0

exposure: 4 - white bal looks good, sky is a little bit overexposed, try moving camera to the far left then shoot the image udeing the strobe for a hair/accent light, sky will darken.
focus: 4 - everthing is sharp! the image appears to have been shot at a small aperature, (big number), I would perfer shooting at say f4 no more than f5.6 , to give a softer background drawing more attention to the subject.
composition: 3 - The diagonals created by the camera tilt are nice but I would like to see the subject a little more to the left, that would give the leading lines a little more to work with.
lighting: 2 - lighting is very harsh, the open sunlight combined with a harsh main light is a problem. Assuming this is in the eveningwait till the sun jst goes out of sight and you would have that wonderful \"sweet light\"
subject score: 10 - this is a big girl, I think you could have trimmed her a lot by turning her feet and leggs away from the camera and twisting her more at the waist (back toward the camera) the light from the strobe really adds weight to her body. again time of day would help a lot.
bonus: 0

exposure: 4 - Flash exposure is good background is a little dark. If you are shooting this for a special effect then that is great but if you are shooting this as a nice portrait then the flash is a little to strong for the sunlight.
focus: 2 - Focus has to high of depth of field. When photographing a portrait try to use as large of opening in the lens as possible. With flash you are limited by your shutterspeed sync speed with your flash.
composition: 4 - Composition is good but using a wide angle lens tends to distort the image especially on the edges. In this case it is making the subject the girl look larger than she should. Using a long lens and backing up will compress the background pulling it in closer and bluring it out more.
lighting: 3 - Using flash outside takes some practice her the flash is a bit to strong creating strong shadows and overpowering the sun. Placement is good if the flash setting were say f8 for 12 feet then pull the flash to 14 feet. The idea here is to use the flash like you were in the studio. The flash is your main the sun is you fill, background and hair. Here the flash is so strong it is like using one light in the studio.
subject score: 6 - This is a small thing but the ball is upside down (little things count). for the pose turn the girl more to her right with here feet, bend the left knee, (raise the heel and point the toes down) now trun the top part of her body back to the camera this will slim her and give her a more athletic look. Keep the hands in the same position that is ok. You can also bring the ball up on the shoulder and other things but work on the basics first. For the lighting, turn down the power on the flash and use the largest lens opening the flash will allow (Note) using ISO 100 or lower will help . If you camera will sync at a 1/200th of a sec do that then set the aperture accordingly Set the flash on manual then set the same f stop as you did on your camera and set the distance at around 12 feet this will put the flash back far enough to cover the entire subject. By using the pose I mentioned earlier and the flash being in the same position it will cut down on unwanted shadows falling on body parts. I like your idea and with a little refinement this would be a great image. Nice eye to see the setup. The lens distortion dosen\'t even bother me providing you were going for this look and you know how it would have looked using a longer lens. A 200mm lens would pull the background in nicely and create a nice out of focus even with higher f stops.
bonus: 0

Score 19.75

exposure: 4 - Just a couple of problem areas in the high lites
focus: 3 - eyes must be in focus, they too soft. yet a shallow DOF would help bring out the subject from the background.
composition: 2 - I would call this a missed oppertunity While it is a great concept, the execution needs to be handeled better.The subject and exspecialy her eyes are to centered in the image, and the image lacks leading lines and depth there is very little to draw your attention to the subject.
lighting: 3 - While everything is lit well enough to see everything, the image would benefit with more direction of light...the lighting is to flat.
subject score: 4 - The fairy concept is great, but, it needs to be in an image that would compliment her, say in a forest or a fairy-tale place. Somewhere that the background doesn't compete for attention and would create harmoney in the image. It needs some sort of story-telling to complete the image. Try this image again and keep those thoughts in mind,,,,,,,
bonus: 0

exposure: 4 - Exposure is accurate for the scene. CB for the young lady in front is cold
focus: 1 - If the pixie is the subject, then the background is too sharp.
composition: 2 - If the pixie is the subject, then she is too centered.
lighting: 2 - Orange background is distracting from the scene. Pixie is flat lit.
subject score: 5 - Subject, subject, subject. It's all about the subject. Any photograph - every photograph - when you look at it there should be no question what the subject is. It should jump screaming off the page at you declaring "I am the subject, look at me!" What is the subject here? The pixie? The photo of the boy in the upper left third? The lady holding the egg? Too many things, too many distractions. Everything, EVERYTHING, in the photo should enhance the subject. If it doesn't enhance the subject, it should be cropped, blurred or shadowed.
bonus: 0

exposure: 4 - Needs more density
focus: 5 -
composition: 4 -
lighting: 3 - The light is flat, need to see some modeling on face.
subject score: 15 - Great idea, but girl is notg posed gracefully, she is also dead center, the tilting screen is distracting and there is so much in background that it takes your eye away from subject. More density on print and a burn down on background might help.
bonus: 0

exposure: 5 - The exposure is dead on but exposure should have been made using a shutter speed to work around a narrow depth of field.
focus: 2 - Change F stop to decrease depth of field. The background here is very distracting and should be out of focus. I would recommend F4 to even 2.8 if the lens will allow. Focus carefully on the eyes as they are the most important thing in a portrait even if the subject is full length.
composition: 3 - The composition is dead center which in this case is bad, repositioning the subject and moving the subject to the right would help eliminate some of the distractions and turning her to the left or her right would give her thinner and give her more depth.
lighting: 3 - Lighting is soft but has little or no direction, using a reflector would brighten the face and give roundness and depth to the subject.
subject score: 5 - Starting with posing the subject is not sitting up straight making her look heavy, turning the subject 45 degrees to the subject would also help in giving depth and slimming the subject. Lighting is flat, using a reflector to kick in extra light into the face. If the subject was turned to her right the reflector should be placed to her left so the lighting will come in over here shoulder and keeping light off the front of her body to create depth and roundness. The compesition is dead center making the subject appear boreing, moving the subject to one side or the other would help create interest and life to the subject. Using a narrow depth of field would bring the interest to the subject, in this image the viewer tends to try to figure out what is going on in the background because it is all in focus.
bonus: 0

Score: 36

exposure: 4 - Loving this image but,the weakest area that I see is the exposure, appears to be about a full f stop under exposed, which you can recover in processing so I gave it a 4 otherwise it would have killed it.
focus: 4 - Almost a 5, the eyes are a tad soft when zoomed in it is obvious, however for 11x14 and smaller this should be fine. You created a great background with the shallow DOF....
composition: 5 - It works for me, very powerful, might allow a little more room for his left arm and gotten him to camera left a little more to improve. But it looks good as is to me.
lighting: 4 - OK almost a 5 again, nice short lighting, but need a little light in the eyes, to give the eyes some life , that's picky I know, but neede use a reflector to pump some light in there.
subject score: 17 - Good job overall and clothing is not an issue here, probably wouldn't be as strong if he had a shirt on. Could have gotten a couple more points if it camera placement could have avoided the reflections on the water, it takes your eye away from the subject....
bonus: 0

exposure: 5 -
focus: 5 - Nice focus on the eyes, nice shallow DOF
composition: 4 -
lighting: 3 - I like the skip/separation light on the back of the head. Bring the key light down so there are catch lights in the eyes.
subject score: 15 - Color harmony is good. The only thing that bugs me is the specular reflections on the forehead and tip of the nose. Nice use of ambient for separation.
bonus: 0

exposure: 5 -
focus: 5 -
composition: 5 -
lighting: 3 - This is a very powerful image demanding lots of attention but the lighting leaves the image looking a little flat. The lighting appears to be coming from the camera angle. Moving the lighting off to a 45 degree angle or even 90 degree would make this image even more powerful and create suspense.
subject score: 18 - The pose is good and the arms crossed makes the subject appear condident. However the flat lighting leaves the image fealing flat and subtracting from all the positives in this image. This type of image requires a direct light source to create impact and power.
bonus: 2


exposure: 5 -
focus: 5 -
composition: 5 -
lighting: 5 -
subject score: 18 - slin tone and background are very pleasing. My only criticism is mayabe not valid, subject comes across as a nice guy trying to look mean!
bonus: 2

Score: 38.75

exposure: 5 -
focus: 5 -
composition: 4 - I would have likec more of fence behind him rather than ahead, eye is drawn to ligh spot behind him.
lighting: 3 - lighting would not have been as harsh later in the dayand hot spos on wood would hot have akened up so much attention
subject score: 15 - He seems to abe standing very stiff and straight, a more relaxed oise wuth bidt at an angle would have seemed less "posed".

exposure: 5 -
focus: 5 - Very nice use of f stop to blur the background and keep the subject sharp
composition: 5 - Placement is good, good stance to the subject.
lighting: 4 - lighting is good mostly. I would have used a reflector to take the highlights off of the post. Possibly could have done two for one there, take the light off the post and reflect a little more light in the face. Overall though the lighting is good it is very hard to light up under a cowboy hat.
subject score: 19 - This would have gotten a perfect except for the hot spots on the posts they really draw your eye away from the subject.
bonus: 4

exposure: 5 - Nailed!
focus: 5 - Nice and shallow, very nice.
composition: 5 - Excellent use of thirds and leading lines.
lighting: 4 - I think the split lighting works for this subject, but I would love to see what short lighting looks like.
subject score: 17 - The only thing that bugs me is the left hand. I would also like to see what it would look like with the subject in 2/3 view and putting him into a short lighting pattern
bonus: 3

exposure: 5 - got it all covered , from shadows to high lights.....
focus: 5 - great use of a shallow DOF
composition: 5 - great positioning of the subject and the use of the fence for leading lines...
lighting: 5 - Maybe not perfect but higher than a 4, for good use of natural light, good transition from the light to shadow side of the face, only suggestion would be to block some of the light hitting the fence in the forground and increase the lighting on the face , possibly with a reflector..
subject score: 18 - a little more angle from the camera to the fence would have created a stronger leading line and more gradual the area in focus to the area out of focus. .... Great job....!
bonus: 4

Score: 29.5

exposure: 5 - Looks very good on my monitor
focus: 5 - eyes and nose are tack sharp, good use of a shallow DOF
composition: 3 - OK but appears staticand the thumb should not be there by itself, looks out of place, of course you may plan to crop it out anyway, but then why take the image with it there...
lighting: 4 - A little more direction of light would make it stronger.
subject score: 16 - Nice character study, would be stronger if he were involved with or doing something, even though it is implied he is working on a car.
bonus: 0

exposure: 5 -
focus: 5 -
composition: 3 - Camera angle needs to be higher as right now the viewer is looking up the subjects nose. The thumb of the subject is distracting to the image, take the hand down and tilt the subjects head down and raise the cap slightly to make eyes visable.
lighting: 4 - The light is coming from directly in front of the subject. A reflector from the side would create more depth in the subject face and tell more of a story about the subject.
subject score: 10 - The pose is straight on whenever possible turn the subject slightly to the camrera this will create more depth and interest to the image. Lighting from the side will also create depth especially if the direction of light is coming in over the shoulder that is closest to the camera.
bonus: 0

exposure: 4 -
focus: 5 -
composition: 4 -
lighting: 2 - light seems flat, a more dramatic lighting, split, rembrant, etc. would have given this more dramatic appeal
subject score: 12 - flat lighting on this takes awaya from a very nice subject. color cordination is good, needs to have more depth of exposure

exposure: 4 - Color balance looks a little cold
focus: 5 - Very nice short DOF
composition: 4 - I like the bar at the top as a frame.
lighting: 4 - Normally I would complain about the flat lighting, but I think it does a nice job of showing texture here. Maybe bring in a black reflector on one side just to give a little more dimension.
subject score: 14 - The thumb is random and unattached. I would like to see more of his hand and maybe arm, or not see the thumb at all.
bonus: 0

Score: 29.5

exposure: 5 -
focus: 5 -
composition: 4 - Moving the image from dead center would create more interest as well as turning the subject so there is more of an angle would create more interest. The subject looking off camrea makes the viewer wonder what the subject is thinking, if the subject were looking right in to the lens it would evoke power and confidence in the subject.
lighting: 3 - A higher ratio would create more power from the subject and make the smoke have more depth.
subject score: 10 - The subject looks very posed and unsure of what he is supposed to be doing. When creating a image with action the subject needs to be convencing. The idea here is very creative. The right hand on the gun needs to either rest or be drawing the gun, right now the the arm looks suspended between action and rest. Changing the hand position on the revolver would help change the arm position. The pose could be relaxed by having the subject stand on his right leg and slightly bending the left leg and looking into the camera, this would instill a look of confidence.
bonus: 0

exposure: 4 - Might be slightly overexposed.
focus: 5 -
composition: 4 - edge of frame off the background
lighting: 5 -
subject score: 11 - The watch needs to go - it's out of character with the rest of the image. Maybe swing the butt of the rifle farther to the subject's left to avoid interfering with the body so much.
bonus: 0

exposure: 4 - more exposure and a deeper print, no problem as it is raw
focus: 5 -
composition: 5 -
lighting: 3 - the light on the right side ol his neck is very distracting to me. also the strong light on his right hand takes up too much attention.
subject score: 17 - I like this idea and the pose. For a studio portrait everything fits very well. clothing and background go well together. On final pring take down background some.

exposure: 4 - good but looks a tad cool on my monitor, I think it would be better with the white balance around 5000 as opposed to 4800 as shot.
focus: 4 - good but a little soft overall, but the fog/smoke may be causing that.
composition: 3 - you could improve the strength of this image a lot just by placine the subject off center to camera right, get ting it near the right third line.
lighting: 4 - I'm liking the lighting over all on his face, it is kind of dramatic, but to much light is hitting the smoke around him, it would be better if you could control that light blocking it by about a full F stop.
subject score: 11 - better composition, lighting and posing (it's a little static, needs to shift weight to one side) could really make this image a lot stronger
bonus: 0