Critic

Photographer: Montse Grillo Tenerife in the Canary Islands 

Purpose for National Geographic of a really good turtle. 

Describe the image in detail.  The image is of a close up of a sea turtle. The viewer is able to see all of the details of the turtle. The bright blue ocean is a nice contrast to the turtle. The sun beams are coming out from being the turtle which makes it look almost angelic. This turtle is beautiful. 

Decipher what you like and dislike about the photograph. I love the extreme closeness of the photo. However, there are some bubbles to the left of the turtle and they bother me. If the bubbles were not there the photo would be perfect. It just distracts my eyes. 

Focus-The focus is directly on the turtle. Around the edges of the photograph are where it is a little blurry. This allows viewers to directly look at the turtle instead of wondering around the photograph. 

Dust and other technical distractions-The photographer captured bubbles and particles in the water, but this was probably not intentional. However, it would be really hard to avoid in the ocean. 
Color-The colors are in your face and bright. The turtle is a darker color but the ocean water is bright and blue and calming. It makes the viewer happy. The contrast between the two colors are nice. 

Lighting-There is a lot of lighting in this picture. The turtle has some shadows but not many. The natural sunlight is shinning down around the turtles frame. The water is bright and blue which makes the shadows okay. 

Exposure-High exposure was used because there is a lot of light in this photograph. The photographer was intentionally trying to bring in as much light as he could into his picture. 

Tonal Contrast- The lightest part is the sunlight behind the turtle and the darkness is under the turtles belly. This is a nice contrast between light and dark colors.
        B. Normal contrast, equal amounts of pure blacks, pure whites and gray tones. But almost high contrast.