Spiritual Symmetry
by Coley

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

Congratulations on winning with this image hat fits the challenge well.

Your title sums it up well, such symmetry! I find the whole scene so disturbingly unreal it looks more like an architects model. A normal sort of street with modern houses either side and then plonked at the end of the street between them such an unlikely church in such an unlikely setting. Nowhere, any signs of life, at all, it all seems so spookily unreal to me, its really weird.

Anyway, as for the execution, you've certainly nailed the symmetry perfectly, well done. It's so perfect I have had to double check that its not a mirrored image, its not, the differences are very subtle indeed. You seem to have an extraordinary DOF for maximum aperture though you will have been at the 17mm end for sure. The dark sky at the top balances well with the darkness of the rod at the bottom.

Anyway, well done. It's a shame you seem to inactive again, I hope you return soon, Sid

Summer and Aurora Borealis
by Gudjonotto

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An appealing image that contributes well to the open challenge.

Another stunning capture of this wonderful natural phenomenon that is rarely captured during the long daylight you have there as well as you have here. Given the exposure necessary for this you do have a little overexposure which is unavoidable but may have benefited from some post processing. The landscape and clouds add more interest to the image as a whole but the right of the image feels a little on the weak side..

I think the image as it is would probably benefit from a square crop where the clouds end at the top right but I think there was an opportunity here for a portrait orientation to include a lot more water and the lovely reflections in the foreground.

Thank you for another lovely entry Otto.

c u r r e n t
by Ja-9

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

Congratulations on your high placing for your very appealing image that contributes well to the open challenge.

You know how to appeal to me don't you! Though I very much doubt you had me in mind when you shot this lovely image! The shapes and flow of the water are absolutely gorgeous, lovely diagonals, peaks and troughs, lovely tones throughout, so dynamic. There is nothing I would change about it, it really is wonderful.

It really is well worthy of the appreciation it has received here, very well done Janine.

Backhand Power
by clickodak

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An action shot that contributes well to the open challenge.

Well captured Marcel, a very dynamic image that freezes the action mid stroke. I particularly like his shadows, there are some bold colours throughout. You've got good sharp focus on the player himself and the determined effort he is making with a nice shallow DOF separating him from the background.

Your composition is good with him on the left of the frame powering into the empty right. What would give the shot more impact would be to have the speeding ball in the right of the frame. Timing wise again the shot would have more impact if the racket didn't coincide with the apparatus in the background.

Generally, a good shot Marcel, well done, Sid

gutter ball
by fngood83

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An appealing image that contributes to the open challenge.

This is a cute image of the child in action at the bowling alley, I like his stance and the reflections and the way you have included the bowls station on the left edge of the frame. The low viewpoint works well, however, I think a shot a fraction later as he is releasing the ball would have had a lot more impact you may even have got a reflection of his facial expressions at the same time, that would have been good.

I do like the mono presentation, very appealing, the tones are good. I think maximum aperture would have softened the pins down a little thus concentrating the attention on the boy even more. Perhaps a portrait orientation would have emphasised the length aspect of the alleyway better than this landscape which has a lot of 'dead' space on the right, and you would have had plenty of room for his reflection too. I've only just noticed his ball is next to the pins so he has already bowled, I should have looked at your title shouldn't I! So, the shot ought to have been sooner rather than later as stated above.

Anyway, thanks for your submission, Sid

Focus.
by romil

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An interesting image that contributes to the open challenge

Its all in the eyes! You have captured his intense stare well as he waits for his food, what amazingly blues eyes he has, I can imagine being immobilised by those mesmerising eyes just before he pounces on me to make a meal of me, gulp!!! With regard to the image itself I like the way you have composed him at the lower half with space to look up into, though given his pose I think you could have moved him further to the right and also taken a little more care with cropping his left foot, its no big deal but given the space above him it was unnecessary.

Looking at your settings you could have used a lower ISO and still had an easily usable shutter speed. Your DOF is good with the tiger nicely separated from the background. Given the near perfection of the animal himself I keep getting drawn to to the red blister on his foot, I would probably clone this out.

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

Peace
by JayneRyan

Comment:
Congratulations for a rewarding result for a magnificent image, a definite fave

Amenita in hiding
by gmink

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

A fairly interesting image that meets the challenge well.

Well done for spotting this well concealed fungi! In fact its so well concealed I'm pretty sure it will have escaped the attention of the many voters who will have given it too brief a look, though fortunately a good few did see and appreciate it. I think possibly moving or removing the dead leaf in front of the stalk would have helped to define its shape and whiteness more readily.

I'm wondering why you used such a small aperture? A large DOF was not really that necessary here, in fact a shallower DOF would have helped a lot to make the fungi stand out more against the leaf debris. The too small aperture will have made your shot a lot more difficult in forcing you to use a very slow shutter speed especially at ISO 50, a higher ISO too would have been perfectly acceptable here. Something like f8 at ISO 400 would have enabled you to hand hold it and produce a better end result.

Anyway, 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. Please feel free to reciprocate on any of my images, I would welcome your feedbackâ€Â¦

Autumn camouflage
by clickodak

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

A straightforward image that fails to meet the challenge.

I think I can understand your thinking behind the concept for this image but a successful entry needs to convey its meaning much more readily through the image itself and the title. Your entry requires the voter to get inside your head and given that they don't have your comments for guidance this is a big ask.

As regards the image itself, the lighting is a little harsh with some blown highlights on the backlit leaves. The black debris at the base of the trunk does not help in conveying a natural scene but it is not a major element. I think this would have more impact if you had adopted a ground level view that emphasised the leaves and their colour with the base of the trunk in distant soft focus. I'm sorry to say, it is just not an interesting enough image to keep the viewer's attention.

Anyway, thanks for your entry Marcel and apologies for the delayed critique, as they say, 'better late than never', or at least I hope it is, Sid.

Jaguar, Death from Above!
by JayneRyan

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

Congratulations on your ribbon for an amazing nature study that meets the challenge brief fully.

Poor old Caiman! It brings out the brutality of nature but what an amazing capture. You must have been very stealthy in your tracking of the jaguar for it to continue to hunt undaunted and for you to be there at this precise moment is a very rare occurrence that very few of us would ever come anywhere near experiencing. Given your lens you were really quite close too, wow!

The image itself is very well captured we can see all of the jaguar and its victim clearly, even the foreground branches add to the wild nature of the scene. I see from a look at your profile nature is your speciality and very good you are too, there is nothing I can add, indeed you could teach us lots, well done Jayne