So Begins The Hunt
by debbiedsd

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

As a wildlife photographer - and my bf, Magnumphotography, shoots Canon too so I am well aware of what your gear can do - I can appreciate how tough it is to get a shot like this. Gave you a 7 in voting. Great downward glance of the hawk and fantastic capture with the wings not obscuring the face as can happen all too often. The light is gorgeous, I'm guessing golden hour.

Technically there is lots of room for the hawk to visually move into, which is important. Glad you shot with a high ISO and didn't go for wide-open...but I really feel your shutter speed is far too slow. Canon's top shutter speed is 1/8000. For a capture like this, you need start at around 1/1600 and be ready to go up to 1/3200, easy, to capture wingtip blur.

Apart from that minor nitpick, very nice shot and I like that you kept the pp fairly minimal. Good work and keep on entering and shooting!

Feel free to PM me,

Susan

Staying grounded
by Silent-Shooter

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Damn wind, how dare it blow those balloons horizontal - but glad to see it exceeded your expectations, 6.4 is a nice score on which to finish. I was one of your 8s and proudly so.

Hard to nitpick an image like this, but I'll try :-) I would personally have gone for either a more vertical or square crop, I think horizontal limits too much here, you need some visual room for the balloons to rise into. The ambient lighting and is fine for a shot like this, but I might have cranked up the ISO to 200 or more and used f5 or f5.6, as wide open is rarely a lens' best aperture. A lower POV could have helped too, to accentuate his being carried away as here I feel like I'm looking down at them a bit.

Otherwise, very nice shot and good work, keep shooting and entering!

Feel free to PM me,

Susan

Back in the day
by Art Roflmao

Comment:
Wow, hubba hubba!! :-)

Party is over
by Mister

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

I like this as it's a very straightforward idea but well executed. Candles are a great metaphor in this case as parties start off lively and interesting but by the end, well...they're burnt out. The tinsel(?) in the bg is a good touch, adds dof and atmoshpere. Composition isn't mind-blowing but doesn't need to be for a shot like this, and as you're new, I wouldn't blame you for playing it safe here the first few entries. A 5.4 is not bad at all for a first entry here and you finished in the top 50%, so you're already doing quite well :-)

So technically it looks like you know at least the basics, now push things a little more in the creative realm. This site can be very daunting if you take the challenges too seriously; think of it more as gym, a place to come and develop various aspects of your photography, and the challenges as a test of what you can do.

Feel free to PM me with any questions,

Susan

No Longer A Mystery
by Samantha_T

Comment:
Samantha, HUGE congrats on your 2nd ribbon in a week! gyaban, look to your laurels...;-)

The Morning After
by Samantha_T

Comment:
Excellent shot and capture of the morning after - well done on the blue! :-)

Power Nap
by PaulFrocchi

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

It's really tough to critique a ribbon wnner but I'll try :-)

I love this shot, and not just because I also shoot Nikon! It's funny, I think most of us can relate to this on some plane or another. The use of red/black/silver items scattered throughout the frame in a fairly plain setting, the tight vertical crop, the facelessness of the model (not to mention fearlessness too), the figure in the shower stall, the lighting...all just adds to a perfect storm imho.

And clearly the voters and commenters enjoyed it too. Keep up the creativity and good work!

Feel free to PM me,

Susan

Getting Lucky
by Shouten

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Always nice to see a new face/name on the site, so welcome. Your image scored in the top 50% on your first outing so that's not too shabby. I voted in this challenge and gave you a 5. That's because the technicals are fine - lighting, comp, use of pp...but yes, this image has been done many times before, though I am glad you used a dictionary and not a Bible. I suspect this was something of a bellwether entry so you could get some idea as to what to expect from this site and its somewhat rogue population of voters. I think you can do a whole lot more in creative terms, so keep the good technical skills which you already have, and start to stretch in creative terms.

Again, welcome to DPC, keep up the good work and take comments for what they're worth.

Feel free to PM me,

Susan

The struggle for the win.
by MattO

Comment:
Gaah! Uhm a little help here please? :-)

Fishing - An All Season Sport.
by jjbeguin

Comment:
wasn't this pic on the weather network recently?