Holiday card basis

I took this shot in my fireplace a week ago. All together I took 32 shots at varying settings, looking to make the flames appear more as the mind's eye sees them. Strangely enough, this was the best and it was the first. Go figure. I used it as the background for my holiday e-card.

40D f/11, ISO 400, 1/10sec, 18-55 f/2.8 EF-S at 55mm.

Tear it apart, me hearties.

Absolutely lovely, Joe.

If you have not already done so, submit this to a stock agency - your title of "Holiday Card Basis" should be followed up on.

I have long been impressed by your work and this is yet another excellent image in an already stellar portfolio.

Well done, sir.

Rad

Thanks, Rad. I appreciate it.

When I saw lots of views but no comments, my thought was that, hmm, maybe it's either so bad or so unremarkable that it's not worthy of comment.

No comments means no improvements! I like it, it's simple and effective. I'd probably have a crack at lightening up the hot coals bottom right just to give a little bit more interest to that dark corner...

Great shot..I really like it! I agree with Radtech1 about sending it to a stock agency!

What's to critique it's a great shot. One thing I notice is that the back of your fireplace must be sooty since there is no light reflection from the flames. In some fireplaces we might see a dark brick in the background. Still everything here is presented accurate to the eye.

It is a terrific shot. The range of what's visible in the fire is indeed what the eye sees, from the coals at the bottom to the flames. Nice work for sure.

The fireplace has a metal insert that conveys heat to convection vents on the side. That's why you don't see any bricks. Plus it is black.

I disagree on submitting to a stock agency. For me this image is just too dark, it's flame in the shadow of logs. Some sort of flash would be good to help give the image more life.

love it! If i were to be "critical" i would maybe brighten it up ever so slightly to make the fire show a little more pop, but not to the point to where that nice fade at the flame tip, is diminished.

well done