SR71 Blackbirdby
WonderDudeComment: Greetings from the Critique Club.
You found a strong subject and you definitely captured the close up part of the challenge imho. You also met the panorama part of the challenge by stiching images together, but I suspect many voters were expecting to see long skinny images rather than wide in all directions. (I do not see anything in the technical 'definition' of panorama that calls for only long view, in fact it almost seems to describe the opposite of that - wide view in all directions. But I can't help but think some of the voters only wanted to see a certain aspect for these images.)
Exposure is interesting, you captured bright highlights and dark shadow areas. I happen to like those bright areas, although it does seem like maybe the highlights went a bit too far around the Alabama flag. I am unable to discern the borders to that flag. Your stitching looks great to me, I am unable to see any problem spots with the stitching. I do seem some odd texture in the sky above and to the right of the top wing. It almost looks like sound waves.
The overall scene is probably the other weakness to this image when compared to others in this challenge. Even though you managed to minimize people, the building, fence, trees, etc. all compete with your subject to some extent for me. The fence particularly I found distracting, it's just not very pretty or interesting. I would have been curious how this image might have done have some extreme cropping been done after stitching making the bottom of the plane the bottom of the image then cropping the very top of the top wing off. You captured the whole the plane wonderfully, but my favorite part of your image is that center round engine. There is some gorgeous texture in it, and I love that red.
I didn't vote in the challenge, but I would have given this a 5. I think it met the challenge, but the overall busyness in the scene kept it from being a top pick from me.
Thanks for the entry. (I always love a good plane shot, and that motor, I am seriously infatuated with that motor.)
Julee