Yesterday
by snaffles

Comment:
Yeah, both riot and Sid the Kid are right...I truly and badly mucked up in cloning out a line of electric fencing that was in the way. That'll learn me to rush the pp on an already-11th hour entry, esp cloning out a horse with a tricky bunch of coat patterns like this Appy mare had.

Silly me, I was hoping that voters would 1) not notice the lines, or 2) think the lines were deliberate and/or a flaw in my lens or something...I personally didn't notice them until a day into voting and didn't want to self-dq. Maybe I'll try and fix it with healing instead of cloning.

Off to self-flagellate now...*sigh*

Message edited by author 2016-12-08 14:35:41.

Torn Blue Paper
by clickodak

Comment:
Woohoo!! Congrats on a great pic Marcel - fantastic use of white space and the sardine can key in particular. Very well done and executed, and Coach Susan is very proud of you too :-)

Cabin in the Woods on a Foggy Morning
by Cyrilda

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Not a bad image but it looks like a snap, hastily shot and entered for the sake of having an entry in. Technically the composition is very safe, with the cabin being in the lower third, but otherwise it is under-exposed as opposed to being a true low-contrast shot (ie there should be no, or very little, black in the image). I would also like to see something with a pulse in this pic, beit a person sipping their morning coffee in their jammies on the deck, or a dog lounging around...something, anything, to draw our attention and provide a story.

Also, watch your work in the pp department...there is a gaping void of white on the left, and some on the right, where cloning could have filled in the missing areas.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: if uncertain as to what a challenge calls for, especially in such a technical challenge, there is nothing wrong with going to google images with the challenge descrip and seeing what turns up!

Apologies if this is a bit harsh but sometimes it pays to be blunt.

Hope this helps, feel free to pm me,

Susan

Grand Canyon South Rim 2016
by jeffh999

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

A very interesting and dramatic shot of the infamous Grand Canyon. If there is a slight tilt to the right, it doesn't bother me, but never hurts to know where the straighten tool is for when you do need to use it.

I have to admit, the uniform purple bands in the strata visible behind the main area pretty, but gives the whole pic a cartoonish look. General rule of thumb with pp is, if the pp is more noticeable than the photo, then you've gone too far, and the voters here let nothing get by them!

Still, a good pic of a famous fault that I would like to visit in person some day. Hope to see more of your entries soon!

Susan

Ghosts In The Machine
by Dr.Confuser

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Wow...that's a library?! I'm already twisting my head around trying to read the titles! Amazing architecture, it must have been a cathedral before,looking at those vaulted ceilings and Gothic arches. Lovely use of leading lines and thirds, the subtle gradients help draw the eye down to the nave, then all the way back to the viewer. Great technical detail, I am guessing you used focus stacking here. I just find this a little static, though, and the voters may have felt the same way.

It is indeed a machine, but where are the ghosts?

I think what would have made this image that much stronger, and all the more pertinent to the viewer with that title, would be to have some students actually there in the library...quite literally, get some of them to come in (promise them beer and pizza ;-) ghosting around during a long exposure, wandering the shelves or hunched at one of those gorgeous desks in study. That would have really launched this image further up the ratings, imnsho.

Hope this helps, feel free to PM me

Susan

Red-tail Hawk
by RulerZigzag

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

An absolutely lovely shot of a soaring redtail, with great light on it and spot-on exposure, plenty of nice punchy blue sky all around it so composition isn't a problem, razor-sharp detail in the bird itself, which is making eye contact with the camera...so why didn't it do better? And only score in the low 5s?

*scratching head*

All I can think is that, as Hidden Gems are basically just free-for-all free studies, with everyone pulling out the stops, that subject matter like a simple, perfect, basically untouched (in terms of pp) shot of a soaring hawk just literally gets overlooked. Had the hawk been coming in for a landing or takeoff, fighting another hawk for some food or perhaps just standing in a silly pose on a fencepost while it preened, it may have done better. Also, as it's just a shot of bird and sky, there is little else going on to look at, so once you see the hawk, that's pretty much it.

Still, this is a really good shot, so don't give up! Please keep shooting BIFs and enjoying that nice big lens and all it can do.

Susan

Yellow Billed Stork
by satux

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Having shot a fair amount of wildlife and birds equivalent to this, I can appreciate how much work went into capturing this image. Very well exposed and great use of the ambient light, the reflection is warped just enough in the water to show how still it is, and the stork's looking stuck in the mud brings an almost comical aspect to it. Overall an excellent capture. Composition is a bit on the safe side with an almost perfect 50/50 horizon, but I think you're forgiven! It can be tough to crop such a pic any other way, without getting in too close.

My main nitpick would be the whites along the top of the bird's back. ISO 1000 seems pretty high for a white bird shot during daylight hours; the tones of the bird's reflection in that same area shows no such bleachiness. This is more of a true wildlife shot than a National Parks entry; if you look at the images in the top 5 in this challenge, you can see that a sense of place helps to nail down the feel of those entries. Meeting the challenge criteria is a sticking point here!

Feel free to PM me with any questions and I hope to critique more of your entries in the near future

Susan

Morning Light on the Dunes at Parker River National Wildlife Refuge
by cindyleer

Comment:
Greetings from the critique Club!

First of all, huge kudos on getting up at a ridiculously early hour to get this shot...been there, done that! The light is gorgeous, and honestly I still can't quite tell if it's snow or sand, though I am guessing it's sand :-) Great use of that magical light.

I have to agree with the comment regarding the two T-posts on the left. Mind, cloning out the long shadow being cast by one could be a little tricky, but not undoable. My main problem with this shot is that it's quite static - you need something with a pulse, beit a seagull coaxed in with bread, or a human figure, to break up that wash of sand and not only give a sense of scale, but also to add some story to it...if there were a human in there we'd be wondering who they were and why they were there.

Hope this helps, and feel free to PM me with any questions,

Susan

Making the most of confinement
by CrysAk

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

This is a very sad and poignant image...as your title suggests, the primate here definitely seems resigned to their fate.

Technically, the exposure and use of ambient light is quite good and gives a natural feel to the image. The line of the hammock is a good place to start, but it is so far in towards the centre of the image that there is precious little room left for the subject. That screen of foliage across the face doesn't help much, and trying to eliminate same in post is almost impossible; trying to alter your stance might have let you get a clear shot. If the whole image were scooted over by 1/3, the image could be immeasurably improved.

In terms of meeting the challenge criteria, I don't think many voters would have thought of this as a National Parks shot. Even though it is a wild animal park, it basically translates as a zoo shot; we just don't have these primates scampering loose across North America anymore!

Overall a very good attempt, feel free to PM me with any questions. I do hope you choose to continue to enter challenges here.

Susan

The Chosen Path
by Silaenoz

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Hmm, so I have to critique a challenge winner...no pressure at all...:-)

Sebastien, this is a beautiful photo, incredible scenery with the mountains looming all around, the trees betray how big the mountains are by their puny size. Gorgeous lighting and classic composition for such a tiny lake dwarfed by its surroundings. I can see why others have favourably likened this to the work of Ansel Adams. Great use of b/w, true not only to Adams' style but i helps bring the photo down to form and line and detail in a way that colour never does. Funny how nobody else seems to have noticed that arrow painted on a rock in the left, pointing to the lake.

The only nitpick I can find is in the clouds immediately above the mountains, which are just a little on the bleachy side. Otherwise it's quite clear that you know what you're doing and scarcely in need of any help, which I offer to most noobs. Though of course I am always happy to offer my opinion.

Other than that, all I have to say is a huge congrats on your first ribbon, your first blue and a PB to boot! Please keep up the great work and I do look forward to more entries from you.

Susan