Hello there
by otto22

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An appealing nature study that is assumed to meet the challenge.

A lovely capture of a Ptarmigan? The detail is lovely, his front on pose is very engaging. I like your composition and the use of the empty space which gives us a feel for the freedom has to be able to fly into that space at will. On the other hand, a think a square crop would also work well here. The colours are all very striking and natural looking.

It's a shame you didn't score higher but perhaps if you had engaged the viewer more with a reference to the type of bird through your title it may have helped? You have made very good use of that superb lens, well done, Sid

s e a • p e a r l s
by Ja-9

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An appealing image that is assumed to meet the challenge.

Haven't I already commented on this before? If not, then it is a very strikingly similar image to one already entered and critiqued by me. Yes, I've found it, 'pearls', I assume this was the outtake I saw at the time? Well, everything I said about the original applies equally to this, it has more symmetry than the pearls but as I said before I am still torn between the two.

Thanks for your great entry, Sid

Creamy Rose
by Catherine_B

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An appealing flower study that is assumed to meet the challenge.

A natural looking capture of a colourful rose with, as you say, perfect symmetry of a bountiful profusion of petals that makes for a frame filling flower. I do like your off-centre crop enabling you to show off that symmetry in the lovely rounded shape that occupies the whole of the left of the frame. I also like the inclusion of the leaf at the top of the frame I think it breaks it up nicely and naturally. And again, I like the fact that t doesn't have the seemingly obligatory water drops that seem to accompany the vast majority of flower images nowadays!

Your chosen aperture is ideal for the image it defines the heart and front of the flower well while enabling it to stand out from that perfectly formed background of symmetrical petals. Yours colours appear natural and not oversaturated as again, is often the case here. There is a possibility here of presenting this in landscape format probably with the heart at the base?

I'm sorry you didn't receive any comments during the challenge, I hope this makes up for it, Sid

Valley of Fire
by Dr.Confuser

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

Congratulations on your high score and placing with your entry assumed to meet the challenge.

What a star filled sky, I don't think I've ever seen so many stars! This is a very well executed image, the exposure is long enough to get a good image and not too long that the stars themselves are too elongated. The detail is very good throughout the image including the foreground which adds a perfect level of interest to the night scene. The composition is good with the Milky Way itself positioned nicely on the left third.

There is a nice rim of light above the right distant landscape with a few interesting clouds to boot. Perhaps the only thing I am not so keen on is the white appearance of the nearest bushes in relation to the rest of the scene. I assume this has been illuminated by yourself during the exposure? On closer inspection is it due to the cold? There does appear to be a lighter hue to the tops of all the bushes leading into the scene. Even so, I think it would benefit from a little toning down, apart from that an excellent job, well done.

Thanks for your great entry, Sid

lateral movement
by mitalapo

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An interesting street scene that is assumed to meet the challenge.

I always take in the title to hopefully gain more insight of the photographers intention and motivation for creating the image in the first place, so I see you want to emphasise the ladies movement within the frame. Towards that end her extreme cropping adds a huge element of intrigue, is the lady as beautiful as we think and hope she is? What is her role in relation to the others? There is movement in her leg which adds weight to the title.

Looking at the lads attention the lady has gained, the three seem quite mesmerised by her but alas, not the bloke on the left who is absorbed in his phone, another alternative title may be – 'win some, lose some' ? I quite like your extreme cropping particularly of the lady and even to a lesser extent the bloke on the right but because the cropping is so critical I don't like the whatever it is, either a bag or a block, in the foreground next to the ladies foot. In some respects I think another possibility with this shot would be a second later when the first bloke is covered by her and just the three looking at her longingly, that would probably have had more impact. I do like your low and seemingly inconspicuous viewpoint.

Sorry you didn't receive any comments during the challenge, I hope this makes up for it, Sid

we will remember them
by sidpixel

Comment:
Yet another of my own images allocated to me, please if anyone else would like to critique my entry I would be most grateful. Thank you.

Berlin Wall
by clickodak

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An interesting image that fulfils the challenge perfectly.

There can be no mistake that this most certainly is a huge lump of concrete, but not just any old concrete, it is a very important part of recent history. It is brought alive by the colourful graffiti and your title during the challenge and post challenge with your very helpful comments.

I know one of your commenters likes the inclusion of the background, I am not so keen, or rather I love the irregular left edge of the concrete and this should be preserved by the inclusion of a minimal background, I think where the brown structure becomes black would have been the ideal amount to include and I would have dodged or cloned the part of the canopy that would intrude to make it more uniform. The bright lights of bokeh in the window are very distracting and spoil the overall result especially as we are excluding some more of the lovely graffiti on the right. The positioning of your red sunburst is good.

Nicely done, thanks for your submission and apologies for the delayed critique, as they say, 'better late than never', or at least I hope it is, Sid

Shadows
by hsteg

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An intriguing image that meets the challenge.

The theme of the challenge is met by the wall your friend is leaning against and that's where the intrigue lies, it seems to consist of two different textures with the lower half giving a fascinating grainy appearance, unless this is your own partial processing? I love the stark high contrasts you have here and the shadows themselves are also quite interesting, they add another element to the scene.

Assuming the sloping shadow continues upwards as implied I think I may have been tempted to move everything further over to the right revealing more of the slope and excluding the pole shadow on the right and lowered it to just above his hanging out shirt for just his torso. I think this would have improved the composition and therefore its impact and hopefully have scored higher.

I do love the effect of the lower half of the wall. Nicely done, thanks for your submission and apologies for the delayed critique, as they say, 'better late than never', or at least I hope it is, Sid

Frostbite caused by extreme cold.
by boocowski

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

A pleasing portrait that contributes to the open challenge.

Brrâ€Â¦ you look cold! You have got nice sharp focus on the eyes and although your eyes are a lovely blue they add to the sense of cold! You must have been cold, you have captured the snowflakes on your skin before they had chance to melt!

Your expressionless face sort of adds to the overall coolness you are trying to create but perhaps more of a grimace would have helped inject a bit more emphasis of the freezing conditions you wanted to convey. The background helps convey the snowy surroundings without being blown there is still a little detail there, well done.

Nicely done, thanks for your submission and apologies for the delayed critique, as they say, 'better late than never', or at least I hope it is, Sid

Happy to be alive in December!
by oskar

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

A well executed macro that needs the title to fulfil the challenge brief.

It's a great macro you've captured here with plenty of interesting detail and good sharp focus where its needed, on the eye. The surrounding flower and crop isolate it in an attractive beneficial way. There is great detail in the bee and its hairy body it makes for lots of interesting detail to take in.

In terms of the challenge the image relies totally upon the title, I wouldn't know how you begin to recognise happiness in a bee! And we also depend upon your title to even know that it is alive! So, although it is a great macro I would imagine these are the reasons why it didn't score better during the challenge.

Nicely done, thanks for your submission and apologies for the delayed critique, as they say, 'better late than never', or at least I hope it is, Sid