Concern for the Health of the Forests
by hahn23

Comment:
Lovely interactive bird composition, bokeh excellent, super composition, good NG style title based on the burnt branch and trunk. But wildfires are a necessary "evil" to the regeneration of bush and life. The male bird has caught lunch because of it? Not so crisp focus on the birds and possibly for this reason I don't think NG would publish however, sorry!

Catching the train
by UrfaK

Comment:
Great shot, focus & DOF, emotion of the latecomers well captured, mediocre title. Perhaps "In the nick of time..." Human Interest story. Worthy of NG.

Nature's Patterns: Nigella
by banmorn

Comment:
This is a lovely bright study. Could do well in any number of DPC challenges. Spare a thought for over-sharpening your images if submitting to NG. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt but they reject very easily on suspicion of PP other than Dodge and Burn. It's well framed and exposed. Oddly there are no harsh shadows so if you used flash, it was very well positioned and directed. Could be used as long as the processing was minimal.

Waiting for Rain
by androgeus

Comment:
You were creating a moment. A story of animal hardship. Of a better season and the cycle of life. That is certainly what NG is about. The large aperture you used blurring the foreground leading me to the skull, and ending there, is good. I would have used the sand ridges a bit more to my benefit by moving a tad more to the left and having them lead me to the skull, like railroad tracks. It's a simple statement and with a few compositional improvements could easily be used if supported by the article.

Family
by Judith Polakoff

Comment:
Overall a nice interactive moment. The general exposure and saturation is really good, but shutter speed a bit slow as the front foal's head appears blurry as it walks away. The rear hedge looks like the hand of man, planted, trimmed, cut back from time to time. What story am I being told here by NG? A great experience to witness these beautiful deer up close but there needs to be something more polished to speak to me in the way NG has done for readers.

Fratercula arctica - Arctic Puffin
by SaraR

Comment:
Just brilliant. This is outstanding. My first reaction was 'Wow'. Puffins were and still are one of my favourite birds from my first recollections of seeing them in NG sometime in the early 70's. This is 100% publishable by NG. It has all the right elements, from crisp clean focus on the bird, fabulous saturation, very high s/s to stop the action in the head and water droplets but not too high to allow some motion in the wing(s)(A 1000th? unless you have a VR/IS/OS lens). The BG is naturally OOF as you were shooting wider than f/8 possibly f/4 on a prime or thereabouts? There is absolutely no visible CA. And to top it off the little sucker has lunch in his beak. 10.

Breadbasket of the World
by dtremain

Comment:
Typical American farm image. And oft seen in NG. I fear the DOF is a bit shallow, specifically on the silo to the left and would like to see it crisper. Not the grain, just the buildings. The exposure is good and you could multi-bracket HDR this scene as NG allow that to improve the sky without PP trickery. Usable but I'd say give it a bit more thought.

the unwanted, feral boar
by bspurgeon

Comment:
BW is seldom used in NG. It's risky to submit one for an NG challenge. Simply because I think most people associate NG with bright colourful sharp work. I like the tight crop and the belligerent pose. Your s/s was too slow and the image is not pin sharp due camera shake. Not all images have to be pin sharp but in a reasonably static moment, like perched birds, a pig that is not a fast mover till he's running, I think it's imperative to get that right. His eyes are almost invisible even if I push my monitor so dodge that as NG allow dodge and burn. Sure the invisible eyes add to the menacing feel, so your call. Until your shutter speed improved I doubt it would be published unless it is a "one-off" unusual image, sorry!

Lurking
by spiritualspatula

Comment:
Having pulled out the warmth in this image (hear comes the egg on my face) means you have PP'd the image. NG don't allow it. Only dodge and burn, multi shot HDR and cropping. Again, you could have gone to the Amazon, had a thick canopy and no warm light at all coming through, tough call. Great DOF, well focused and creepy sinister feel. These damn things evoke all sorts of emotion, none of them love and adoration. So the shot, by nature of the subject, tells a story. An absolute must I believe for NG. Published? A fair chance if the bottom OOF area were cropped a bit higher.

Yuck! I can't seem to get the taste out of my mouth!
by imranmkhan

Comment:
Aren't they gross. NG images are renowned for their 'in your face' quality. This is one of the more natural realistic fly macro's I've seen in a long time. It's not over processed as it may have been if in another DPC challenge so as far as NG goes it's usable. Ring flash? It's hard to get them evenly exposed. Colours are bland, means more NG friendly due to no pushing of saturation etc. I don;t think the title is NG worthy. A scientific name or less comic would be more apt.