Pine Warbler
by RulerZigzag

Comment by mariuca:
dipped in gold

The know it all toddler
by RulerZigzag

Comment by sidpixel:
Hello from the critique club

An appealing image that meets the challenge well.

Your young model does convey a certain air of confidence that may be interpreted as ‘know it all’, I might have preferred something like ‘an air of confidence’. Anyway, you have a lovely portrait. I think the eyes are in focus but there does seem to be a strange mix of sharpness and softness that does feel a little unnatural in a way that is hard to accurately define. But, I don’t think that’s such a bad thing it does fit in with the tender years of your youngster so is not really detrimental to the end result. A good score for a good image, well done Anton.

The know it all toddler
by RulerZigzag

Comment by gintay:
lovely shot. Well executed!

The know it all toddler
by RulerZigzag

Comment by Lydia:
The eyes look a bit not real to me... especially when the football looks totally real.

I love what you've captured, just not thrilled with the processing.

The know it all toddler
by RulerZigzag

Comment by tkarkkainen:
Love the light in this one... but aren't the eyes out of focus?

Ugly but free!
by RulerZigzag

Comment by sidpixel:
Hello from the critique club

An appealingly ugly image that contributes well to the challenge

What an appropriate choice of subject! Thank you for your informative notes which help explain natures way of adaption to suit the situation. Its a good frame filling shot with a dynamic composition, however, I have to agree with Lydia about the sharpness of focus, it would greatly increase its impact if it were sharper. Thanks for your entry Anton

Ugly but free!
by RulerZigzag

Comment by Lydia:
Great idea for the challenge topic!

I wish the focus were sharper on his ugly face, though. I do love the composition.

Dancing in air
by RulerZigzag

Comment by sidpixel:
Hello from the critique club

An interesting image that contributes to the challenge

A documentary style image that accurately records this magnificent bird in hovering flight with good detail throughout. As far as it goes it is well executed but there are a few things I feel would have improved the image to take it from a static record shot to something a bit more dynamic. I feel it is rather too closely cropped, and waiting for a flap of the wings with a slower shutter speed would have injected a sense of motion into it, particularly in relation to the challenge brief too. I always feel diagonals work well and particularly here to see the wings spread diagonally would have made the composition far more interesting. Perhaps some desat on the blue to reduce its impact would help a little too. There is still good detail in the bird at this exposure though perhaps just a 1/3 stop more exposure may have benefited. Thanks for your entry Anton.

Dancing in air
by RulerZigzag

Comment by tvsometime:
Looks more like floating but a good shot.

Great Horned Owl
by RulerZigzag

Comment by sidpixel:
Hello from the critique club

A very appealing image that contributes well to the challenge

What an unexpected find for you in the middle of the city, no wonder you were surprised, I assume these are not naturally resident in such a built up area could it be an escaped tamed bird, perhaps a local falconer’s escapee? Anyway, you have managed to get plenty of detail into the birds plumage as a result of significant overexposure, I would say in fact a little too much. The blown whites of the background sky are dominating the image to the extent that it actually makes me feeling like squinting my eyes to counteract the sheer brightness. The owl itself lacks contrast again through this significant overexposure, I feel it all needs pulling back to ease off the effect but obviously the blown sky will remain the same regardless. To summarise well done for looking up and finding this lovely bird, shame about the exposure...