HDR ~ Church ~ Historic Landmark
by Ja-9

Comment:
Hello from the `critique club

An appealing image that meets the challenge

A very good interior record shot of a beautifully ornate church. In terms of the challenge it would probably work reasonably well as a challenge in its own right but I wonder if there would be sufficient variety of shots to make the entries interesting enough, the bulk of the shots would probably be as you have here though it would be hoped that some entries may take a very different approach. You have captured good detail throughout the shot, good symmetry with no blown highlights and good light, a very competent result.

Thanks for your entry Janine

Bride in the woods
by Pompouspete

Comment:
Hello from the Critique club

An appealing image that meets the challenge

A lovely lady in a lovely setting. The backlit sunlight works very well, revealing in a sexy but respectable way that adds impact to her presence amongst this lovely natural backdrop. As regards the challenge it is wide angle with much of the surroundings included but I think you missed an opportunity to emphasise the wide angle element in a way appropriate for the challenge brief. If you were closer at a lower angle possibly in portrait orientation your model would have featured more prominently and the height of the un-cropped trees would have created a greater feeling of space. I find the flare on her dress very distracting it would have been better removed, also the foreground trunk and sapling on the left are detrimental to the end result.

Thank you for a lovely entry Peter, sorry you didn’t get any comments during the challenge, I hope this makes up for it.

High Key Angel
by jbirkman

Comment:
Hello from the Critique club

An appealing image that doesn’t meet the challenge

High key, it certainly is! The more I look at your image the more I am warming to it from my initial reaction, given the theme of the shot I can see why you’ve deliberately blown the background in a massively bright way, it’s all beginning to make more sense to me. Whilst I do like the high key treatment and her pale features in the midst of all this white, I just don’t get a real sense of wide angle and even if this is at the 17mm end of your lens the theme detracts from the challenge brief in a detrimental way which probably explains why the voters didn’t react more positively.

Thank you for an interesting image Joe, sorry you didn’t get any comments during the challenge I hope this makes up for it.

Double Barrel
by Phocal

Comment:
Hello from the Critique club

An appealing image that meets the challenge

I’ve seen this ship before, you managed to kill two challenges in one go! This is a great shot Ronnie, it works well and as you say with the very careful composition you have made here the distortion is minimal but still pleasing. I would prefer to see less sky but angling the lens down would have introduced severe distortions but, to be honest, I actually see this as a creative device that could be deliberately exploited. You could stray from the default format to crop some sky out but perhaps you prefer it this way anyway. I do like the mono processing but wish the decks hadn’t been blown but its not a major issue. The only other comment I have might be to clone out the pylon and building for a cleaner horizon but again its not major and they do balance each other.

Thanks for a great entry Ronnie

Elk Encounter - Who is Looking at Whom?
by Catherine_B

Comment:
Hello from the Critique club

An appealing image that meets the challenge

A cute herd of animals for sure, as you say, you are blessed to live in such a location. I like the way you have the attention of most of the herd, it looks as though they are torn between caution and inquisitiveness, I would imagine your movements were slow and deliberate to avoid their sudden departure. I wish the sky was more interesting with less blown highlight but that same light has given you a lovely rim lighting effect on their ears. This is a difficult composition in that I would prefer the horizon less central with less sky but I wonder how much more the foreground grass would have made it? I think it would have given your shot more impact if you could have got the camera closer and triggered it remotely but its still a nice image.

Thanks for your entry Catherine.

You Sank My.............
by Phocal

Comment:
Hello from the Critique club

An appealing image that subtly meets the challenge

An interesting and effective use of wide fisheye lens taken from a great vantage point enabling you to make the horizon bend in an extraordinary way. I wouldn't worry about the blues for this challenge as they can be perceived as your technical flaw but you're right under normal circumstances they are somewhat overdone. What is intriguing me in your image is all those star shapes particularly evident on the right of the image. Are these your technical flaw? If so, how have you done it? It as a little confusing exactly what your 'technical imperfection' is and I suspect this may have affected your overall response from the voters but thank you for submitting a really interesting image Ronnie.

Yellow Field with Telephone Poles
by Catherine_B

Comment:
Hello from the Critique club

An appealing image that subtly meets the challenge

You have a lovely landscape dominated by the vivid yellow crop and nicely broken up by the power line posts in an effective position that leads you into the darker background and ultimately the sky. As you say the sky is lacking in detail especially against the bright yellow foreground, however, I suspect that the subtlety of your 'technical flaw' may have proved too much for many voters here seeing a lovely landscape without recognising your 'imperfection'. As you will see from the results the most successful images are those with the most obvious flaws so this I think has affected your result although it is still very respectable.

Thank you for your lovely entry Catherine

Early Flight
by Phocal

Comment:
Hello from the Critique club

An interesting image that contributes well to the free challenge

A great silhouette. The bird in flight is very intriguing in that it could be flying towards or away from the scene so thanks for your comments which clarify that it is coming towards us, but somehow it feels more complete to imagine it flying away with the two birds passively watching its departure. This interpretation makes the two birds even more appealing their profiles and sharpness being a contrast to the softness of the flying birds wings. I think I would be tempted to remove the large twig and loose feathers of the flying bird to improve the overall impact.

A great score and placing, well done Ronnie

Eagle Eye
by Ja-9

Comment:
Hello from the Critique club

An interesting image that contributes well to the free challenge

How much did you pay him Janine? You were working well together here his position and pose and your composition have made for a very impressive end result. Good exposure control has kept good detail throughout the important areas of the image against a rather boring sky that works to your advantage to keep the emphasis on the eagle and the tree and their shape. I don’t know which end of your lens you were at but if 600 you were a long way away and if 150 well done for resisting the normal reaction to go in close on the bird, anyway, whatever the focal length this is a very pleasing result.

Thanks for your entry Janine

Italian Racer
by Phocal

Comment:
Hello from the Critique club

An interesting image that partially meets the challenge

Creative use of this fish-eye lens has enabled you to present an interesting image of an everyday subject. It has distorted the bike in an appealing way that emphasises the chainwheel and wheels to suggest the potential power that is latently waiting to be let loose. However, the lack of a saddle seriously impedes the end result. As for the challenge brief of image grain although there feels a suggestion of grain it is not very pronounced, given this sort of challenge it needs to be a lot more evident than it is.

Sorry you didn't get any comments during the challenge, I hope this helps. Thanks for your entry Ronnie