Kokopelli
by Cyrilda

Comment:
Hello from the critique club

An appealing image that meets the challenge

It certainly seems good to me Susie, you have captured the light really well. I can see why you chose this subject it suits the raking light well, what a shame you missed the deadline but I’m pleased you were still able to submit it to this challenge. It is a lovely study but I do find the water a little distracting only because I can’t tell where the source is, I think I would probably have cloned it out. The other thing is your exposure is just about borderline on the highlights, a little less exposure would have suited it better I think.

All in all I think you’ve made a lovely job Susie, thanks for your entry

Oldest Town in Texas
by mowen

Comment:
Hello from the critique club

An appealing image that meets the challenge

I like your graphic image taken in good dusk light that still retains some interesting colour in the sky against the artificially lit street. Your viewpoint makes excellent use of symmetry and that centre gutter to lead us down into the scene. I like the darker brick street which forms a solid base to the entire image and on the street the reflections of the lights works really well. I actually think you could have given it a lot more atmosphere by reducing the whole exposure by at least a stop possibly two, try it and see what I mean…

Thanks for your entry, I see you are new in terms of entries, please keep them coming Michael.

Alpine Glow
by Ja-9

Comment:
Hello from the critique club

An appealing image that meets the challenge

I’m glad I tilted my laptop to see the truer colours at the angle I was viewing it it looked to have too strong a magenta tint but it looks much better now! A lovely landscape with the building forming a good strong focal point in an appropriately positioned composition. A good exposure with the whites well handled. The only minor criticism is that the foreground tree has a somewhat blocking effect being so large and dominant, it would be nice if we had a space that leads us naturally into the image but I suppose you left your chainsaw at home!

A lovely image Janine, thanks for your entry

Blind Reflexion
by clickodak

Comment:
Hello from the critique club

An appealing image that meets the challenge

A lovely use of light and shadow Marcel, well observed and captured. The shapes of the shadows particularly on the shelf are very appealing as is the play of light on the stalks of the dried flower. The muted colours suit the subject well and the overall exposure has been well handled. The composition is appropriate. All in all a very satisfactory result well done.

Woman cave
by snaffles

Comment:
Hello from the critique club

An appealing image that meets the challenge

Why not indeed! My equivalent, which unfortunately I don’t have, would be a man’s shed, so yes, a woman’s cave sounds good to me. And in that cave pride of place goes to your beloved syrop d’erable, along with other necessary prerequisites, pinups included. Your collage is so well executed its difficult to tell apart from the real thing, well done Susan. One thing that does intrigue me is the light bulb, why does it have that unusual appearance? You certainly looked relaxed and chilled in your cave, nice one, hope that stuff is good with you.

Water Tap
by clickodak

Comment:
Hello from the critique club

An appealing image that meets the challenge well.

This is a great example of raking light Marcel, well captured. Without the tap the wall would be good but not as interesting, the angle of the light is really bringing out the texture of the wall. Your composition is good with the tap close to a rule of thirds hotspot and the shadow forming a nice diagonal through the rest of the frame, it's all good. I think you've done the best job you can of what would otherwise be quite a boring subject, well done.

Young Robin
by RulerZigzag

Comment:
Hello from the critique club

An appealing image that does not meet the challenge

This is a lovely bird study but in terms of the challenge brief of 'raking light' I don't think it fulfils it, the light is shining directly on the bird's back, in order to meet the challenge it would need to be at a lower directional angle with the shadow at a more oblique angle. I do like your shot as a straightforward bird shot but with the sun at the correct angle the lovely feather detail would have featured more prominently and enhanced the end result. He certainly stands out well against the dark, soft focus background.

Thanks for your entry Tony, sorry you didn't get any comments during the challenge, I hope this makes up for it.

Into the Storm
by riot

Comment:
Hello from the critique club

An appealing image that meets the challenge well

Congratulations Eugene for your well deserved blue ribbon. Your image meets the challenge brief in an exemplary very appealing way and no, there is no problem with land as far as I am concerned. What a fascinating cloud structure at both levels made even more appealing with the sun’s dying rays to light it up, it looks beautiful, well captured. I think you chose the right one although the outtakes are also very good.

Thanks for a great entry, keep up the good work.

Storming Sky
by clickodak

Comment:
Hello from the critique club

An interesting image that meets the challenges

The plane adds interest to a fairly interesting cloudy sky, I like the varying shades of grey in the mono tones. I need to point out a couple of problems with the plane which is nicely positioned compositionally but it has been over-sharpened, there is a halo around it. Also, a slower shutter speed would have been more pleasing it would have rendered the prop’s motion blur instead of 1 leg sharply caught the way it is.

Thanks Marcel, your entry meets the challenge brief sorry you didn’t get any comments during the challenge, I hope this makes up for it.

Sight seeing
by RyanW

Comment:
Hello from the critique club

An appealing image that meets the challenge well

You have captured a great moment that expresses the friendship between these two guys well, with their expansive smiles it makes you want to smile yourself. I like that you have converted it to mono it works really. The DOF is good they are nicely isolated from the background but perhaps an even wider aperture would have reduced the background detail even better. The only thing that mars it in a fairly minor way are the blown highlights on top of their heads.

Thanks for your entry Ryan.