BANANA SMOOTHIE IN THE MAKING

ACCEPTED - The title is a bit obscure for me, however I’ll just ignore it – brave girls, or foolhardy – those waves look very close – even though it seems to be an overcast day, there’s a gentle cross lighting, making the figures three dimensional – the waves have been caught in mid impact, creating movement.

MOUNTAIN GOATS

ACCEPTED - This seems highly dangerous – the figures are on, or near the thirds and stand out well from the slightly blurred mountain – the dark foreground gives the image a good base and the darkened top corners hold the composition together – I wish the figures were a little bit sharper.

RIVER OF GOLD

HONOURS - Just one suggestion, I’d crop off, or tone down, the light streaks at the top right – otherwise it’s dynamic, colourful, and pin sharp – very creative title, which adds to the overall mood of the image.

CHANELLING DON QUIXOTE

ACCEPTED - For me, this is too dark, with too many heavy, impenetrable areas of blackness – although, if you were trying for a low key shot, it does start to meet the criteria - the eyes are above the horizontal centre line, a good point, but the viewer is looking straight up her nostrils, not a good point – it’s a shame you couldn’t get a catchlight in both her eyes – good modelling on her face.

OPN_114_SWINGING SHADOW.JPG

MERIT - Good, strong tones and very well seen – I think it would be even better if you cropped off the seat of the swing and the wall beyond it, but leave the base of the swing there – this would simplify it and make it much more powerful – with such an overall grey subject, you don’t expect there to be any real blacks and whites – but, in fact, there are really good contrasts, particularly in the centre.

MORNING ERRANDS

ACCEPTED - While this has all the tones from black to white, it still appears a little flat, it needs more oomph – the figure is in a strong position in the frame, with plenty of room for her to walk into – although the background is slightly out of focus, it is still somewhat busy and distracting.

CONTEMPLATION

ACCEPTED - With the figures very near the two sides, the eye tends to leap from one to the other, without settling on either – while the skin tones are, on the whole, quite good, the almost totally washed out area through the window, is very distracting – the lighting on the left figure’s face is quite good and if you’d concentrated more on her, I think it would be a simpler and therefore stronger image.

IT'S BEEN A LONG DAY

ACCEPTED - I do hope that is Lemon and Paeroa, otherwise you’ll end up with a very sloshed wee boy – nice skin tones, but there are no catchlights in his eyes – you could have taken a bit more care with posing him – maybe move in and simplify it a bit – possibly crop the base almost up to his elbows, which make it a square format - the background is nicely muted and there are no deep shadows or burnt out areas.

GIRL IN A BLUE PORCH

MERIT - The very bright blue porch has degraded the skin tones a bit – I like her direct look and friendly smile – well composed and she seems natural and relaxed – her face is near the third, making it a well balanced composition – although I think her face could be sharper, the door seems sharp.

RODEO COWBOY

HONOURS - The figure itself is pin sharp, making it stand out against a slightly blurred background – if it were mine, I’d subdue that white triangle at the top edge, and maybe the washed out area on the sheepskin – terrific lighting shows every crease in his trousers, but all the detail remains, with no heavy shadows – he is on a strong third, making for a very balanced composition.