for once I'm very disappointed by one of your photos. the medium version felt already a bit strange on that rhs outline of his face and with that (burned ?) streak behind him, but at least it feels more or less compact. Large just falls apart for me with the overall noise which I don't find pleasing looking at all here, particularly in his face. that outline still feels like a sloppy PS marking job and that brighter streak in the bg still very much bothers and just feels well... burned. and then there seems to be motion blur in his eyes.
The scene itself is great, but it seems to me you tried to salvage something that is beyond salvaging.

Can you help me out here please David. the moment you captured I really like. but that background blur just looks very fake and unattractive to me, and well, kind of ruins the photo (for me). Problem is, I see you took it with that f/1.8, so now I am confused. the bokeh doesn't look to me like something the lens would produce. Assuming you did put blur (or extra blur) on it in post processing though (just can't imagine this being lens bokeh), could you post a version without that particular processing (or put it up as v5)? Have a feeling I would much prefer that, even if it doesn't have a much out of focus background.

hard ones. of the second photo (3&4) I prefer the b&w version, allthough it would be interesting to see that one in b&w but with the wider crop from nr 4.
The front girl seems better lit/exposed in the second photo. the bg seems just a tad underexposed in the second photo though, but is overexposed in the first photo. In the first one I tend to go for b&w as well, just not for the crop. It works for the rhs, but not for the lhs I think, so again I would rather go for the wider format of the colour version. For me V1 has a problem on the lhs with the crop and the overexposed hair.
Frankly all 4 versions are good, but all 4 have some niggles.

well it may have been taking at a wedding, but it certainly doesn't feel as a wedding shot. Could have been taken anywhere so to speak. It has a really appealing mood, albeit a sad one. something about years that past, memories, lost friends, realization that the younger years have gone forever and the time to leave forever is only a few breaths away. the dof and angle (the man's back) give the photo a very cinematographic feel and thus as if you're looking at a part of a story. One that's coming to an end as well.

Can't say I very much like this. It's a decent flowershot to start with, but the editing ruins it for me. Composition wise it doesn't really work for me. Looks too much like the "5" pattern on a dice. The repeating patterns of the flower don't really add anything here, and by letting the outside flowers overlap the middle one, you make the best looking part in the frame look worse. I'm also not too keen on the colourfull frame. The shot is colourfull enough as it is.

only have problems with that big blurry thing he seems to be holding. find it a major flaw on what otherwise would have been an(other) outstanding shot to be honest. still nice to look at because of the good angle, pose and the lighting

well, basically now the blur suddenly starts at the front of the houses. Even the sidewalk is still sharp. normally it would go more gradually... part of the road a bit oof, the sidewalk slightly more, and finally the houses still a bit more. with macro photography you see a very sudden decline of things being in focus... just like here. which is why I made the reference. it creates a feel of the things being in focus being very small. There's even a technique to do this macro-alike dof in post processing on mass scenes with loads of people (stadium shots for example). Really gave you the feeling you were looking at little toy people. Which I loved (think there was a thread in the forum with a link about it once). But here - for this scene - it feels a bit wrong to me tbh, allthough I still find it an attractive photo.
There's another tool in PS btw... under filter --> blur --> lens blur. but you have to select the part of the photo that should be sharp (or use layers, don't really know that well how to use it), so it's still a lot of work, and the result is still often disappointing.

just babbling btw

PS : like the mod

really good. works at this medium size, but so much better large. Only crit I might have is the guy in the back seat not being visible. think it might have been nice having him lay with his head backwards, and looking upwards, perhaps with both his armes stretched out over that back bench. As it is now, I would consider cloning out his ear which sticks out a bit annoyingly from behind the other guys head. Very much like the colour threatment btw. the blacks seem to be mostly devoid of detail, which suits this just fine. The vignetting did a bit of strange things with the other guy's face in the back seat, but hadn't even noticed it at first and second sight. Actually the threatment reminds me a bit of the 'professional retro' action you can download for PS.

Very good photo.

basically love the photo. impressive use of colours again. One thing that I don't particularly like here, and something I really think your photos don't need, is the smoothening of the skin. In this case - you may have done it on previous images as well, but it was less obvious - it gives the image a digital art feel. It's still good, but I think it could have been much better without the (extreme) smoothening

wish I could see this one larger. Must say, that allthough I like it, I have some reservations here. I find the horizontal line in the bg having a slant a bit annoying here to be honest. There seem to be some highlights on his hands, and even on the side of his face the light falls a bit harsh. Can't say it bothers me too much, but the judges may mind (wouldn't know really lol). A bit undecided about the extreme blur here. That 1.8 (or 1.2 ?) almost makes for a lb effect here. In this smaller version it doesn't strike me as the right picture for it though. But perhaps large would be a completely different story. I'm pretty sure the chair was left in there deliberately, to provide context and perhaps emphasize the oof part, but again I find it rather distracting (also because the top of the chair catches the light and is rather bright). A bench row might have given a more pleasing result, but I guess redecorating his church was out of the question. finally there's the foot that is cropped off. Recently I went to a few exhibitions, and they were from rather established names, and I was very surprised to see how many limbs and parts of limbs were cropped off - even in studio portraiture. Perhaps it's just a result from the epz way of viewing... you start viewing a certain way, and minding things that you wouldn't even have noticed (or minded about) had you been looking at the same photo in a gallery, simply because you're more focused on the emotional side of it all. Does that cropped foot bother me... not really. But isn't the jury going to mind ? I believe they will if they put their epz cap on lol.
Oh... also a bit unsure about his expression here. it feels slightly more spontaneous than previous shots, but for me a bit too much as if he's in the middle of doing or saying something, and it doesn't really work for me (compared to previous photos).
Again, I like the shot (the above may give the wrong impression lol), but it's not my favourite of the lot, and for me has more flaws than previous photos of him.

for me this is the one. the straight portrait might be overall stronger, but I this is my fave with relation to what they ask for the comp. I might crop out that highlight near the lhs border and compensate with a slight crop of the top, but overall just love it.
bit surprised that for Pete the bg blur feels unnatural. to me it looks great, and very natural, and I assume - when viewed large - pretty gorgeous. Had I known you so would so easily comply with Cathy's request for a bible, I would have asked for a dildo

Quote: If I'd used ISO 100, I would have had to use a much slower shutter speed.I use my camera on the manual setting and balance the ISO/aperture/shutter speed settings depending on the circumstances - I find f4 and ISO 400 a great starting point for outdoor, natural light portraits For window light portraits I start off with a ISO 800 setting around f4 - f5.6 and take it up to 1250 or 1600 if the shutter speed is too slow for a handheld portrait. I've recently started using a monopod - loving it!

Yo ! Slowly... slowly ! I have to write down these things, you know !

As for the portrait Nic, this one doesn't have the quality that I'm used from you to be perfectly honest. the pose and subject are fine, original bg colour too, but I'm not fond of her skin colour... feels a bit too yellow-ish. Did you post process this one differently (from your usual style) ? Her hair is extremely dark, to the point that there is no detail left, and on the other hand her forhead and the bridge of her nose are very bright (too bright for me).
overall I just find it too contrasty, and close to oversharpening. It is most clear in the area where the hair runs across her neck, but also around the eyes and around the outline of her face (against the dark hair).
It isn't bad at all, but not quite the high level I'm used from you. Feels a bit like you did a rush job (on the post processing that is).

(ducks)

very sensual noemi. the beautiful sepia tones help. what keeps it from being outstanding (it's 'merely' very good now) are the hands being a bit too bright and pulling the eyes towards the bottom of the image, allthough some burning should take care of that easily enough. And just a shame that here eyes are so different in tonality, wish both had have the clarity her left eye now has. bit undecided about the white thingie on her lip. I probably would have cloned it away.

absolutely gorgeous, and large really shows how good it it. Only thing I'm wondering about... the large version also shows some very washed out areas in the bottom part of the picture... particularly where her thumbs and underarms merge with her tummy. Is that heavy compression or post processing ?

the 'story' or mood goes a bit lost on me here Cathy. With her pose it just looks a bit too much as if she's checking where the roof is leaking lol, but the crisp, flawless quality easily makes up for it

excellent street portraiture. suppost the bg figure wasn't part of the shoot, but certainly adds to it. The composition feels unbalanced with both the model and the lights on the rhs, and with the model looking outside of the frame, but it's an 'unbalance' that really works well here.
v2 feels a bit more like a typical street fashion shoot without the bg figure. Very good too