This Cowboy's Hat
by pearlseyes

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

A very pleasing image that meets the challenge well.

There are varying degrees of flare dependant upon the angle of the lens in relation to the light source, your flare is subtle but definitely there, I'm all for subtlety. I particularly like the rim lighting on your patient son, quietly counting down the shots, before he goes and get some more indians, good for him!

Your focus and DOF works well. It can be difficult to control the exposure shooting contre-jour as you are here, you have controlled it well. The tones are lovely throughout. His position is a little too central, I feel it would have improved the shot if he had been placed a little further over to the left, diagonally opposite the light source and flare.

I hope you have followed SandyP's words of wisdom and hung it on your wall? Thank you for your lovely submission, Sid

"You Name It!"
by beachgirl

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

A straightforward image that meets the challenge.

Your image records the scene in a documentary way that shows we have a sunken boat, and thats it. The lighting is even but unexciting. It just doesn't feel as though much of yourself has gone into this to excite us, the frame is fairly evenly split into sky, middle, water. If you had cropped most of the sky out and replaced it with water then I think you would have had a much more interesting image, especially given the poor quality of the sky, there appears to be some processing problems there. I'm sorry I can't be more positive about it.

So, I reckon its title time,
float my boat

Thanks for your submission, Sid

"You Name It"
by jayzundel

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

A straightforward landscape image that meets the challenge.

Thank goodness for your tree! Given the featureless landscape and the flat lighting without your tree it would have been difficult to inject an element of interest into it. I like your placing of the tree and the stretched landscape, though perhaps you had an opportunity to create something a bit different by creating a true panoramic broken up by a single solitary tree thus creating a real sense of the isolation of this one tree against the wide open landscape?

I'm looking at the balance of tree, sky, landscape and wishing that the tree was on the left where the higher clouds would have accommodated it as though they were wind blown over it settling to a lower level as they do on the right, it may have looked more harmonious.

So, title time, how about;
defiance

Thank you for your submission, Sid

bee9ph
by coronamv

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

Generally a decent close up that meets the challenge.

You have got good clear focus on the bee itself but it has a curious mix of sharp and not so sharp detail, for example the wings are good but the thorax is smudgy, yet given the sharpness of the top of the eyes they are on the same focal plane so should be equally sharp. There are some good bold colours throughout the image as a whole and the exposure is good and controlled. The composition is good, not exactly rule of thirds but using a diagonal and not too central, quite effective.

Looking at your processing details I am trying to answer why there is the lack of detail in areas and wondering if the crop is just a little too much? I also have a problem with the halo round the leading edge of the right wing.

You provided a title when you didn't need to but I have to show my ignorance because I don't understand it anyway! So, its title time from me, the best I can do is;
cross pollinator

Thanks for your submission, Sid

Liquid Explosion
by pearlseyes

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An interesting image that meets the challenge well.

This is a very dynamic image that you can feel evolving in front of you, it is easy to imagine how the shapes will transform into new shapes. One of your commenters has mentioned a lava lamp, he's right, it is very reminiscent of them, they're always quite fascinating and mesmerising which is why this image works so well.

The exposure is very good you have chosen well in positioning the tank where you did it gives a lovely soft even light that illuminates in a nice high key sort of way. The colours are all very appealing and work well together. The more I look at it the more I'm starting to wish that the droplets on the left of the image weren't there, they're not a big problem but I just find the uniformity of the rest of the image more appealing.

I assume from your comment about the aperture you wish you had used a smaller aperture? I know what you mean it would probably have been nice to have more sharply defined edges to the shapes but then again the way this softly blends into the light background is also appealing, I think it works ok.

Thank you for an interesting submission, Sid

The lake
by otto22

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

A pleasing landscape that meets the challenge

You have some interesting cloud shapes as a result of the long exposure which are quite appealing but unfortunately the foreground object coincides with its reflection. It is normally a good idea to include some foreground interest, such as you have, but what we have is a result that somehow just seems to lack the punch that makes you want to keep coming back to it. I tend to agree with your commenter Rabidcoydog.

As the challenge theme was liquid I think it would have worked a lot better if you had excluded a lot of the sky, nice as it is, got rid of the foreground object and concentrated on the reflections instead. Exposure-wise it is good apart from the two hotspots on the water.

Having said all that it has scored well and been appreciated here so well done, Sid

p e a r l s
by Ja-9

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

Congratulations on your result, well deserved, meets the challenge well.

A gorgeous image, it captures the delicacy of the plant very well, it is also very effective in its simplicity, the drops, of course, are essential for the challenge but cliched as they maybe they are still an appealing addition.

I like the composition and repetition in the soft focus background. The exposure suits the subject well. You have received some good critique amongst your comments most of which I agree with. I wish you hadn't included the outtake because I am torn between the two, I like the symmetry of the outtake but I prefer the near mono of your entry but they are both excellent images.

Although I am familiar with focus stacking I have never used it myself. The DOF must have been very shallow if this is the result of 6 images but it is very well executed and perfect for the subject.

Thanks for another lovely entry, your images are a pleasure to critique, Sid

• f l u i d •
by Ja-9

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An interesting image that meets the challenge

Please don't be so hard on yourself! You certainly weren't alone in misunderstanding the idea of the challenge.

I like your image it has intriguing qualities about it that encourage you to question what, how and why. I like the subtle pastel colours and abstract nature, unfortunately, I am confused and distracted by the curious wispy black marks, especially in conjunction with the title you have so generously provided, I just cannot tie it together. I assume it is an added texture? I feel the image would have had a lot more impact without it.

Given the soft nature and the long shutter speed I assume there was deliberate camera movement during the exposure? It has produced a very appealing effect (without the overlay!)

So, what am I gonna do for a title? Being so abstract it poses a problem, I think the best I can do is;
ephemeral flames
Thank you for submitting an appealing and interesting image, Sid

Solar System 1
by headlesspiderman

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An image with room for improvement that meets the challenge.

Being the fun challenge it is it leaves plenty of scope to submit anything you want without having to rack your brains for a title – but you did! Never mind, you still got a lot of good responses.

The image itself is excessively noisy, this may have been deliberate intent on your part?
There are significant halos, this may have been deliberate intent on your part?
There are significant fringes, this may have been deliberate intent on your part?
The background should be uniform and extend below the stand.
The two blue ridges are very distracting and the lighting reflections on the base are also very distracting.

I'm not really sure how much of this resulting image was your intention or perhaps the result of a lack of experience? If you would like me to try and make further constructive critique perhaps you could provide me with the answers to my questions.

So, a title?
Interplanetary, most extraordinary
Thanks for submitting, Sid

You Name It!
by codfish709

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

A competent image that meets the challenge

What a fun challenge this was, free reign for anything you want without having to rack your brains for a title which has generated tremendous response from the viewers, win, win! A fun image that is generally well executed with an appealing simplicity, however that same simplicity is a little marred by the bar at the 10 o'clock position that is catching the light in a distracting sort of way. The other problem for me is the staple, I just don't understand it, I can't see any logical reason for it.

I think a square crop would have suited it better it would have removed the space above that makes no contribution to the image as a whole. Your lighting is illuminating the ball nicely but spilling over to give an unevenly lit background.

Ok, so time for a title?
Let me be your squeeze
Well done for submitting a good and original concept, Sid.