"It Was Love At First Sight", Joseph Heller, Catch-22
by Drake

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

A great capture whose title fills the challenge brief.

Wow, from one eagle study straight to another of yours and an excellent capture it is too! I can see that eagles are indeed a favourite of yours and your perseverance has paid off well here you have a great action shot. I can understand your love of the birds but I wonder how many others here will share it certainly some will but not all which means the image on its own without your title will probably not fulfil the challenge brief therefore it is dependant upon your title.

With regards to the shot itself, you have a great panning shot that has captured good sharp detail of the bird particularly those talons, I wouldn't like to be on the receiving end of those! I'm no expert on eagles particularly bald eagles but I assume the colouring of the head is due to this being an immature bird? The wing shape is good but I would prefer to see some motion in the wingtips with a lower shutter speed but that's just me, I know most people here seem to like everything frozen with high shutter speeds. The other thing I would prefer is a little more room for the bird to fly into, your composition is good and with the available space gives a little more room for it but there's the problem for me, it is just too tightly cropped. The dark patch below him might be better if it were merged more into the surroundings but its a minor point.

All in all an excellent shot, I look forward to more eagles from you, Sid.

"Already Gone", by the Eagles......
by Drake

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

A good wildlife capture that fits the challenge well.

A good capture your timing and subject fits the title and challenge perfectly. I like that you have managed to get good detail in the birds against that bright sky. Talking of sky it is so bright it is overpowering and would benefit from being subdued somewhat. It would also be good if the whites of the birds, in particular their heads, could be improved they have a blueish tint that detracts.

There's nothing you can do about it I know, but the birds wings are tending to be camouflaged by all the tree's structure which is unfortunate as its not showing them at their best. Your composition is good with room for the bird to fly into whilst still giving sufficient space for the remaining bird. I think your bright sky is the biggest problem here the image actually hurts your eyes if you look at it too long.

Thanks for your submission, Sid

Who'll Stop The Rain
by HUETH

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An interesting image that meets the challenge.

I am not familiar with the song so I'll be guided by your image and title to assume that it fulfils the challenge brief. Many photographers put their cameras away at the first hint of rain, I'm glad you didn't, rain creates many more possibilities. I love the ripples from the raindrops and I like the diagonal reflection, I think it adds interest. What I am not sure about is the red at the top right, it doesn't feel enough of a feature to add to the overall image it feels more like an intruder.

Excuse my ignorance but CCR doesn't mean anything to me so its not helping in my interpretation. If you imagine yourself as an insect this must appear like our oceans do to us and as such it has interesting features such as islands with the main one forming the focal point.

Thanks for your submission, Sid

Stairway to Heaven
by mrjssims

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An interesting image that meets the challenge well.

What a novel and original interpretation of the song, I like it. I was thinking its a shame we don't have the first two strings as bright as the others and then I realised we are looking down from the top of the neck and these are the thinner top strings.

I like your wide open aperture and resulting shallow DOF and the chosen focus point, its working very well. I also like the mono conversion. I still keep looking at those top two strings its a shame they're lost by comparison though I doubt there's much you can do about that. Perhaps a slightly smaller aperture may have defined them over the frets more?

In respect of the challenge title the frets translate very nicely into a musical stairway to heaven, I like your thinking, thank you for a great submission, Sid

I Just Wanna Dance
by MAK

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An atmospheric shot that meets the challenge.

I wasn't sure at first that this fulfilled the challenge in that it should evoke the emotion you feel when you hear your favourite song but I can see from your title and the inclusion of the dancers that in fact it meets the challenge well. That looks like a nice lens that you have used to full advantage, the shallow DOF works well and there are some nice colours.

Whilst I don't like blown highlights, its inevitable in this scene that you are going to get them but in fact they are such a part of the scene that they add to the overall effect. I like the green and red rim lighting on the subjects. I don't think the ceiling apparatus adds anything and the frame would have been better lowered to include more of the foreground people in preference which would also have emphasised the dancing element more.

A good entry thanks for submitting, Sid

Trinity
by OK-Photography

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

Congratulations on your top ten finish for a fascinating and well executed image that fully meets the challenge.
I love your original (well, it is to me) and unique interpretation of the challenge brief I can only imagine the amount of “sweat and serious work” that went into it. I had forgotten all about this technique, I remember reading about it a long time ago but I have never tried it myself, I suppose the occasions where it is appropriate are few and far between but I'm glad you resurrected this for me.

I whole heartedly agree with you, the matches are an absolutely essential component of the whole image, you have captured them very well though I do have a problem with the large area of blown highlight on the end match, its a shame. The threes themselves have come out very well, I love their colours and am mystified how you achieved the variations of colour was this through the flash gel? If so, how come the colours are not universal or is it a combination of separate images?

Anyway, the end result was well worth all the effort, most enjoyable, thanks for submitting, Sid

Full steam ahead
by asij

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

Congratulations for your top ten placing for a fun image that meets the challenge well.

There must have been a lot of time and effort that went into the creation of this appealing and humorous image. I am not at all qualified to critique your compositing skills, although I have a basic appreciation I have never done any at all so I will approach this from the end result as an image in its own right regardless of the process involved.

My first impressions are of a fun image that has been well executed for an impressive end result. I like your composition with the main character in the lower right with plenty of fascinating detail throughout the rest of the image. I love his 'Heath Robinson' gun so intricately constructed and implausible that one would imagine on pulling the trigger a flag appearing with the word 'bang!'. The facial additions and his expression make him look deadly in an 'only joking' sort of way that adds to the humorous impression.

The background landscape is all very interesting and convincingly conceived, I like the steam train and its position but most of all I adore that airship its really the icing on the cake adding the final confirmation that this is an image to be savoured for its humour.

Well worth all the effort it must have taken and a pleasure to be able offer my thoughts, such as they are, thank you for submitting, Sid.

Mobile Boats
by codfish709

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

Congratulations on your top ten finish for an excellent shot that fulfils the challenge well.

You're absolutely right, they are very well built models that on first glance are so convincing they are easily mistaken for the real thing, even with closer inspection they are still very plausible. The only give away is their proximity to each other they would be much further apart if they really were freely at anchor.

Having the landscape behind adds very effectively to the illusion of reality and together with the mist it also adds atmosphere to the image. I love the reflections and the slight rippling of the surface this again contributes to the overall result. Your exposure is good with detail throughout. Your attention to detail in cloning out unwanted debris has paid off we have an end result that we can concentrate and appreciate without unwanted distractions.

A very pleasing image deserving of its high placing, well done, Sid

MtStRainier_DriftingSilhouettes
by paulwestmoreland1

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

First of all welcome to DPC. I have just critiqued an image that you took the time and trouble to make some constructive critique on and felt that your efforts deserved a response, so here is my feedback for your entry, I hope you don't mind. Incidentally, for your future entries, if you tick the critique box when you submit your entry you will be added to the pool and I and other members of the critique club will be more than happy to offer you our thoughts.

A flawed attempt that meets the challenge well.

You have chosen an elevated position with the mountains as silhouettes which on its own forms quite a suitable location for the challenge brief. Your composition is considered, using the lower third favouring the night sky which works a lot better than a thoughtless 'plonk it in the middle' approach. The silhouettes of the main subject, the mountains, are clearly defined and you have a foreground frame of the silhouetted pines which adds too.

There are two major problems with the image, the first is the bright line that is effectively dissecting the frame into two it is so dominating and distracting it is completely overpowering the end result and, given the theme, it is detrimental. The long exposure has elongated the lone star, as it is all alone it would have been very easy to clone out which I think would have been advisable though not essential.

The other major issue as already identified by your commenter is sensor dust. You are not alone, I made exactly the same mistake just a few entries ago (see my entry – sunset). As you have used a large aperture its not immediately evident but once seen they stand out light beacons so, you must get that sensor cleaned quickly, your wife will I'm sure be able to advise you but you're welcome to contact me if you wish.

A very noble first attempt, I look forward to more from you soon, Sid.

Dinosaur rock
by Gudjonotto

Comment:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An excellent image that fits the challenge well.

Well, you've certainly found a most appropriate subject for the challenge here, and the timing is such that the tide forms some interest in the middle distance beyond the dry shore. The long exposure has calmed the waters which seems to be the chosen way nowadays, personally I prefer something in between, a little more animated.

Although you have made an excellent job in terms of composition I do have a couple of issues with the image, the main one being the blown highlights. I know its inevitable that when you are including the sun you are going to get a certain amount of blown highlights but the long exposure has blown out too much of value here. I do like the starburst effect of the suns rays from the small aperture. The other problem for me is the unfortunate nature of the cloud bank which at first sight gives the impression of a sloping sea which would obviously be a definite no no. I'm pleased to see one of your commenters making the effort to expand upon the normal one liners, he adds another interesting perspective.

Well done with your deserved high placing for yet another excellent image, Sid.