In Flanders Fields....
by Pangurban

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

A competent image that meets the challenge

Your choice of flower is a wise one, they are universally popular and together with your title they have poignant associations that we all recognise. I see from your comments you had difficulties with light and movement which is not surprising, they are a really delicate flower that are easily blown wildly in even the gentlest breeze.

As far as light is concerned I agree with your commenter, I think you would have benefited greatly from -1EC (-1 stop exposure compensation), this would have avoided the overexposure you have on the seed head in the middle of the frame. It would also have given some rich saturation to the colours which with the poppy's bold red would have served you well.

You might consider a square crop? I suggest this because that solitary poppy petal at the bottom is pulling me away from the main flower and then I find the lower half rather distracting and busy by comparison. Simple is always the most effective if you have just the top half the composition is very much simplified. If the seed head wasn't overexposed I would suggest cropping it there but as it is it would need to be excluded. Also the OOF flower right behind the main flower is a little distracting if you had moved position slightly to hide it behind the main flower or completely separate it would have worked better for you.

A very good attempt, thank you for your submission and good luck with your future entries, Sid

Water Dance
by Drake

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

A great action shot that meets the challenge

Your element of choice for the challenge is water featuring a group of quarrelsome swans. I like the moment you have captured with the main bird in the process of taking to the air which also gives a feel for the additional element of air.

You have captured the main bird nice and sharp with a lovely wing shape giving it a real dynamic. Your title introduces a fun element in the suggestion that the bird is dancing on the water, its always good to make your viewer smile.

There are a couple of things that I would have done differently, the first is to use a slower shutter speed which would make the drops and splashed water less defined and obvious, I think 2 stops slower would be better, it would also introduce some motion blur in the wingtips which gives it more of dynamic feel. The other is the composition, I get the feel that your panoramic crop is done to include the bird on the left to show the aggression and its response of flight? As an image I think it would work better if he were excluded but you may well totally disagree with that.

All in all, a competent image that has been well appreciated here with a respectable score and several positive comments so well done, Sid

w a v e s
by Ja-9

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

Congratulations on your ribbon, an excellent result for an excellent image that meets the challenge full on.

I love motion blur so its natural I would love your image. Even so, this is a lovely image in its own right, the amount of blur is good, and the colours are also good, the end result is an image that has enormous impact and appeal. I don't really think I can add any constructive critique except to say that the left of the image feels slightly weaker than the right but its a very minor criticism.

I love it, thank you for submitting, Sid

Pine Needles
by clickodak

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An image with impact that meets the challenge

Your choice of a wide aperture has enabled you to blur the background into soft focus thus meeting the challenge. The aperture has also enhanced the image by creating some quite interesting bokeh into the highlights. The ice crystals have a jewel like appearance in the bright sunlight which gives your image more impact.

I know the challenge is blur and you may have deliberately created some foreground blur but it doesn't really work for me, I think it would have been more effective to get the front sharp and as a result introduce even more blur into the background. Composition wise I like the implied diagonal of the ice and again I think you could have improved it by bringing it further to the lower right, I don't think cropping some of the front pine leaves would have hurt.

I would have preferred it if the chromatic aberrations had been given some attention during the processing, the colours are a little distracting. The two lumps of brown are a bit discordant to the image overall.

Its a shame you didn't get any comments I hope this helps, Sid

Eternal / Peace
by RyanW

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

A poorly executed shot that does not meet the challenge

This is a difficult shot to get right and way beyond the dynamic range of any camera so, as such, you have to decide which is the most important element in the image and base your exposure around that. I assume your intention was to show the flames in a blurred way? The main element of the shot, the flame is way overexposed with no detail at all, so on that level it has completely failed. The same problem exists throughout all the highlights. Your choice of small aperture has produced a lot of background detail some of it very distracting as in the crane/mast to the left.

A better approach would have been to use a ND filter with a larger aperture and based your exposure on the flames. This would have made everything else darker but diverted our attention to the main subject, the flames. I do like the foreground detail and the lighting from the flame but this being static it is not the main point for the challenge, unfortunately your exposure appears to be geared for it at the expense of the important details essential to the challenge.

Its a shame you didn't get any comments I hope this critique helps. Good luck with your future entries, Sid

F O R E
by Ja-9

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

A very impressive shot that meets the challenge well.

What a fun challenge this was! I have not come across this concept before, I have to say what a great idea it is to introduce a fun element into your images. Your images have taken two straightforward ideas and transformed them into something with a completely new dimension.

The lower image is a quite standard landscape with what looks as though it may be the base of a wind turbine? I agree with one of your commenters there are some distracting elements but in the context of the combined images these are quite minor and do not impact on the end result. The upper image is very well done apart from some overexposure at the top of the ball which again in the context of the end result is quite minor.

The idea is quite simple and straightforward but very effective and has been well received here with a very respectable score and lots of positive comments all of whom I agree with. Well done and thank you for an excellent submission, Sid

s p r i n g • r a i n
by Ja-9

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

A vibrant image that could be found in a stock library, thus fulfilling the challenge

There's no doubt that flowers, complete with water drops, has been done many times before to the extent that it has become cliched but in the context of the challenge your approach is perfectly understandable. You have chosen a plant with some very colourful flowers and given us plenty to look at which is part of the problem for me.

Given the large aperture I feel we have too shallow DOF for the subject, there are several appealing petals that are too out of focus and those that are are not placed at the best points to increase its impact. The front plane of the flowers would work better together if they were all in focus with softness appearing in the darker background flowers. I think either you ought to have used a smaller aperture and increased the DOF for this image as it stands or gone in closer on a smaller portion of the flower again with a smaller aperture.

I tend to disagree with your sole commenter in that you are already verging on overexposure at the top of the image and in one or two drops, anything further in that direction would be to its detriment so I personally wouldn't recommend doing that.

Thanks for submitting, Sid

r i p p l e s
by Ja-9

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

A pleasing image that meets the challenge

Swans are always a popular choice and in the context of this challenge a very suitable one. I like the mono processing with a full range of tones. The ripples are very enticing though I think I would prefer a little more sharpness in the ripples behind. I assume you were at the 300mm end of your lens given the aperture/DOF result?

The composition is good using the upper third but this is not the most flattering timing and we are unable to see its eyes which, with a magnificent bird such as this, is disappointing. The one thing that lets the image down is the overexposure particularly on the bird but also in some areas of the water behind it. You have retained a lot of detail in the birds plumage but there are significant areas on its tail, back, wing and neck where there is no detail which unfortunately mars the end result.

Thanks for submitting, Sid

Sunny Harbour
by tigerluong

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

The lovely blue sky and white clouds adds an appealing backdrop to a rather ordinary snapshot.

Hope you had an enjoyable holiday in Sydney, I've never had the pleasure myself so I am unfamiliar with the area. Looking at your image I have several issues which stop me from appreciating it as much as you would probably like me to so I will try to address them in a constructive way that I hope you will feel of benefit to you.

First of all I do not have a strong focal point so my eyes are wandering randomly over the image trying to settle on something. The foreground is dominated by the empty paved area, in the distance there are red and yellow traffic features whose colours dominate, I am then confronted with a fence that is also acting as a barrier to me getting to the relatively more interesting parts of the image. When I get past that I have a telegraph pole that splits a huge boat in two that in itself has also had its stern chopped off.

Just looking at the space we have here I would have moved probably right to the waters edge so that I could remove all these unwanted distractions. I don't think I can use the telegraph pole as an interesting feature so I would have positioned myself to the left of it. I think there is potential to contrast the boat on the right of my frame with the skyscrapers simply due to its sheer size. I probably could only capture the front half but that has enough repetition of the windows to form a counterpoint to the windows of the buildings. So, I now have the front half of the boat on my right the harbour waters leading me into the buildings in the background, I think this would have made a much more interesting image.

This was probably just a holiday snap taken while enjoying everything your location has to offer but it is no excuse not to carefully weigh up all the options in front of you and then carefully check all the detail in your viewfinder before committing to the image. Although each digital image is effectively free of cost you should regard it as if you are using film and take your time to make every single image special, the more you do this the more you will learn and the more you will get out of your photography. Keep at it, Sid

Expert Advice
by romil

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An interesting image with lots to get absorbed in.

The focal point for me is the character sitting on the floor, he looks such a happy chappy with his single tooth! I rather wish his attention was drawn to his mate rather than the camera itself though. The window tells us more about them and their locality and trade and in itself has lots of interesting stuff to add to the story.

You have a lovely full range of tones throughout which good old SFX has brought out the best of together with the detail. It appears to be fairly low light given your settings and the light from the bulb. It feels a bit of a grab shot that is making the most of the natural moment as opposed to anything planned.

I need to mention a few minor issues that may, or may not, help to improve the end result. I have a bit of a problem with the left hand edge and wish it wasn't there so that the edge of the frame was the brickwork itself, now you may well argue that would position the other man too close to the edge which would be fair comment. I think it might be worth having a quick look at that crop removing the top edge where two more problems can be eliminated ie., the two light sources at the very top and further down on the black frame. I would still include the light on the brickwork so some cloning of the black frame light might be needed.

All in all, a good attempt that deserved a higher score, Sid