Furious Skies
by sacredspirit

Comment:
Hello from the Critique club

An interesting image that makes a significant contribution to the free challenge

A great capture of the lightening strikes, it works well in subtly toned mono. I’m not sure if this is one or multiple exposures? Anyway, the end result is very effective though I feel a little frustrated that I cannot see more of the water reflecting the lightening, I know it would have been difficult to predict where the strikes would sit but given the end result it might have been more effective in portrait orientation so that we could see more of the water. That aside it is still an interesting composition and a great end result well done.

Thanks for your entry Jason

Autumn garden
by tigerluong

Comment:
Hello from the Critique club

An interesting image that makes a contribution to the free challenge

It looks an interesting location with some variety of foliage. The time of day has made the light very difficult to work with it is very high contrast and in order to retain some detail in the shadows it looks as though you have probably had to use some plus exposure compensation? This has affected the highlights blowing them in important parts of the image particularly badly on the tree stump. I would suggest that a little less +EC would have been advisable to avoid the overexposure and the shadows have quite some leeway for darkening. You might try reducing the exposure in PS and compare the results I think you will probably favour the darker version?

Thanks for your entry Frank

Hvalnes, april 10, 5.45am.
by EgillP

Comment:
Hello from the Critique club

An interesting image that makes contributes well to the free challenge

A very appealing landscape that shouts Iceland! What really gives this image its impact are the tiny buildings at the foot of the immense hills behind them. Because of that I think the composition could have been substantially improved to emphasise that aspect of the image much more effectively. I find myself very distracted by the two posts and their reflections, they are negating the effect that you are after so I would crop them out completely in favour of more of the hill on the right. Also, I would remove the immediate land in the foreground in favour of the water, this again would emphasise the tiny nature of the buildings in relation to their surroundings. I think if you had stood nearer the water and tilted your camera down to include more water and less sky this would have improved the overall result.

Thanks for your entry Egill

Lunar Textures
by Drake

Comment:
Hello from the Critique club

An interesting image that makes a contribution to the free challenge

The level of detail is, as you have remarked, quite amazing. Looking at your technical details 1/400 at f5.6 at ISO 100 you’re right, it was brightly lit, wow! Whilst you have a very competent shot with lots of surface detail its low contrast detracts somewhat, I think you could have given it more impact by raising the contrast so that the moon really shone out from the black background. There’s not a lot you can do compositionally but I think placing it slightly off-centre does improve it a little.

Thanks for your entry Drake

purity • strength • dignity
by Ja-9

Comment:
Hello from the Critique club

An appealing image that contributes well to the free challenge

As this was revealing itself to me on my screen I said to myself ‘this has the Janine look of quality about it’, your work is identifiable for all the right reasons. The flower has a three dimensional feel to it that gives it impact, it stands out very effectively against the dark background which in itself has just the right level of detail. There are a few small highlights on the tips of the petals that are a bit borderline but that would be my only minor criticism. There is good DOF throughout and the composition is slightly off-centre which also adds, really not a lot wrong here.

Thanks for another lovely entry Janine

My nest
by nacho_are

Comment:
Hello from the critique club

A lovely bird study that meets the challenge

I like your shot, you have taken the effort to get low down, we are able to engage with the scene at the bird level which is always much more effective. I also like your composition, with the bird on the lower right vertical of the rule of thirds and the eggs in the background next to her. However, the object in the background is a little distracting, cropping it out is a possibility but cloning would probably be a better choice to leave a little more space around the bird. This is also an effective study because it is showing the birds behaviour in protecting its eggs she has adopted an aggressive posture. What does let the shot down is the white balance, instead of lovely crisp whites there is a blue tint that spoils the effect, this should be corrected by adjusting the white balance in PS.

Thank you for a lovely entry Yazid

Mist at sundown
by gmink

Comment:
Hello from the critique club

An interesting image that meets the challenge

This looks like an interesting scene caught during the ‘golden hour’ with a lovely sunset. Unfortunately, this is a classic example of the light controlling the exposure and underexposing important detail in your foreground. Some plus exposure compensation, at least a stop, would have rescued the foreground but at the expense of the sky but you could have merged the two together in PS to get the best of both exposures. Alternatively, if you only have the one exposure you can still do the same with two versions at different exposures within PS. Or you could select the foreground and dodge it back to lighten it up. Whichever method you choose to use the end result you need to aim for is more detail in the foreground, it is just too dark.

Thank you for your entry Gaylord.

Love of the earth
by mcurregog

Comment:


Hello from the critique club

An appealing image that meets the challenge well

Any shot that includes young, in this case, ducks is bound to tug at the heart strings of the viewer so well done in exploiting this potential. The shot itself is competent the focus on the birds is good, the lighting is a little flat but the colours are strong throughout. Your crop has left space for them to move into which is good. Unfortunately, the wow factor is missing that elevates the shot to something even more delightful. I think a lower viewpoint would have helped to make us feel more engaged with the subject and to include perhaps a distant soft focus shore in the background?

Welcome to the community with this, your virgin entry Carolina, we look forward to seeing many more from you.

Junk Yard Island
by CameliaM

Comment:
Hello from the Critique club

An appealing image that meets the challenge well.

As Aimee says, ‘what a great find’. These sort of places are an endless source of fascination, anticipation and surprise. I like the creative way you have approached the subject by introducing a deliberate angle but a crop would improve it. The telegraph pole on the right is superfluous and distracting and we don’t really need any sky above. A crop that includes the 140 sign at the bottom right but excludes the pole, you would need to clone out the two power lines from it, and removing the top to just below the weatherboard, in my mind, improves the end result. If you do that I would also clone out the two spotlights at the top of the frame or else they would then become distracting, you could also ease the detail out in the foreground with a little dodging.

Thanks for an interesting entry Camelia

Flying High
by dpeden182

Comment:
Hello from the Critique club

An appealing image that meets the challenge well.

Yes, very contre-jour! I like the dynamic feel to it, you can sense the wind blowing. I don't know if you did but you can often take many images because the shape is constantly changing just to get the right shape, I think you've got it here, well done. I can see why you've done the desat but, to be honest, I can't say I like it, as opposed to total desat I think a subtle desat of the flags to make them less dominant would have worked better together and the colours in the flag itself are starting to look unnatural. There are some blown highlights particularly on the middle flag that detract.

Thank you for your entry Daniel, you're doing ok.