Mamma Grey Wolf with two Pups
by basssman7

Comment:
Lovely family interaction shot. All the heads and eyes are visible. Good focus. I'd frame it a tad to the right behind mom's tail with space to the left. The colour seems lacking red/yellow but this is not in itself a bad thing. The light, location, the brush all affect this. Perhaps we are too sensitised to eye candy and pushed saturations at DPC. If you could, shoot lower, at the subjects height, it makes a world of difference to the feel, drawing the viewer into the animals POV. Publishable? Yes.

Survivors
by nickyb

Comment:
Synchronised bowing. Nice touch. Oil spill survivors? Have you been getting a good score? Having shot birds will set you apart from the other images here that were urban, street, and not "wildlife". It might garner you a point or two more than those. I know mines battling to go above 5 (maybe it really sucks, I can live with that). So yes, birds are something NG has been known to publish from time to time :) and it's a safer bet in this challenge.
Does it take my breath away? Is it telling a story without the title. Should it have to? Is the title enough? I'd say yes. It's not your typical crisp focused well framed image but if it were it would not portray the darkness, the pity for the birds that this image has portrayed (to me) and the lessons we should learn from our hunger for oil. I could be totally wrong but it's easier to comment post rollover than now. This is how THIS image spoke to ME. I hope they print it.

Benchmark
by jjbeguin

Comment:
This is a difficult one to critique. I'm almost critiqued out. 109/116.
What is it about this image that would have NG interested? (Rhetorical Question before you get your hackles up). It's not NG "wildlife" unless the kids were rowdy but they don't look it! Mom's showing a bit too much knee and pullup stocking for her long dress, the girl is bored out of her skull waiting for the bus and the boy wants a kiss on the cheek?
Here's the thing. Has NG never posted a picture of a family using public transport? My guess is that "most" of the voters who speed voted this said "Where's the Lion? Where's the DPC eye candy?" etc. and gave you a 1,2,3,4? There are many instances of family shots in NG, few B&W shots, true, but that doesn't discount this. There's a moment. The "Cheesy" Swiss Uncles overlooking the family with an air of detachment. The messy curb.
All of it is eye candy if one just takes the time to LOOK. I'd say it had a fair chance of publication if it tied in with the article. Perhaps high fuel prices forcing the family to take the bus for a change?
Well done for being non-conformist. It's not "classic" NG but I enjoyed it.

Wiped Out
by ferriss

Comment:
LOL! Is NG humourless? On the whole I can't for the life of me remember a stand out comedy shot in a 30+ year collection of NG magazines. There might be one but it's not a style of theirs. We are drowned in a sea of high quality thought provoking photographs, not a bad thing but what you have done has lifted my spirits after commenting on EVERY single image in this challenge. This is image 108/116. I have 8 to go...
Technically it might not be a masterpiece, i.e. too tight a crop at the spinal ridges touching the top border. Cropped of rear leg. The eye, tongue and head is not as sharp as the shoulder area telling me the lens was wide open and the focus point was in the middle of the viewfinder. Low light? Looks like it.
Having said all that, the image had it's desired affect in the first nanosecond of me seeing it. It's at that critical moment when you turn the page in NG and see a shot that has you, the reader, sold.
Well done on entering an image that flips the bird to conformity, and made many of us laugh and comment too I hope!

Rays and Ripples
by giantmike

Comment:
Could be a geography or environment piece by NG. On it's own its a lovely shot, but how story telling is it? The title says DPC not NG. This is so subjective a topic. The rays, the light through the leaves. It's all sublime. The duck (curved neck?) causing the ripples peacefully in the water. On it's own it's story-less. Remember it's for NG...and they are masters at telling stories with pictures. Yes sometimes their images need to be backed up with the description in the text or under the image. I fear voters are going to be all over the place in this challenge for the wrong reasons. Yours will do ok vote wise but what is it about?

Jewel of the Insect World
by KarenNfld

Comment:
Classy image, for a fly :) You have a got one superb eye, and the patience. Everything here seems just right to me. Perfect exposure and composition. Sharp eye, iridescent body, sharp hairs, smooooooth background and a few very very tiny flowers to complete the picture. Submit to them now!

Thai Boat
by BackpackR

Comment:
Interesting choice. No humans, just the boat. What is the tog trying to tell me? I can't tell! Perhaps abandonment, fishing crisis? Fish stocks story? Lunchtime? I feel that NG images must tell me a story. Yes, not all will but it's what I've come to expect after reading it for many years. I'm at a loss with this one.

The Endangered Burrowing Owl
by fldave

Comment:
They really do look pissed off don't they? Really engaging image. Of course I can't pick if it's a non-captive bird or not. Still, NG has used both and I think if all else pans out would use this. Depends on the article. The sharp eyes are what make this image. The shallow DOF makes it pop. What I can't seem to pinpoint is why the feathers immediately near the eyes and at the same plane seem less focused. Were the eyes only sharpened? Is it a trait of JPG compression? I could be way off base here and that's OK. Critiquing is far easier after roll over...

Cover Cardinal
by cloudsme

Comment:
It's a nice close shot of this colourful bird, with no distracting leaves or twigs blocking any part of it's body. Did you digitally crop? That's fine in terms of what NG allows when submitting, but It really looks like you lost definition and in the process got a lot of noise. There also seems to be traits of plugin post processing visible in the multiple layered lines shown at the edge of the leaves going to blue sky. If that where true, NG would say no I think.

Siesta royale
by gpuretic

Comment:
This is an appealing image. They are damn lazy those big boys. To catch the late light and "golden up" & intensify the eyes is a nice touch. I'm taking a flyer here and may end up with egg on my face; You've rotated the image clockwise? This would be a terribly uncomfortable and unnatural position for the lion to lie. Maybe not impossible but I fear it would be challenge by NG.