Parrot Parrot
by theicequeen

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

A good attempt at an interesting challenge entry, especially in your first challenge and in one that can be very technically tricky. The colours are nice and poppy, you were careful to NOT oversharpen (and trust me, I've oversharpened many an entry esp in my early years here). Your settings are a tiny bit on the slow side for any kind of critter motion shot, a little bit faster would have helped to freeze the blur on that left parrot. Exposure and composition are ok; I think if there had been some interaction between the parrots, ie fighting over or sharing a piece of food, that this would have scored a bit higher. Voters here look for relatability. I personally am a little sad to see the parrots are chained to the cage.

Watch that the whites don't get too hard and flat, bleaching them out just makes for a mess that detracts the eye. Meanwhile you clearly do have an eye, keep entering and requesting critiques!

Susan

Among Giants
by mrjssims

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

I like the low POV, and the unusual choice of subject matter adds some interest, but there are a lot of technical problems. The odd combination of fast shutter speed, shallow aperture and high ISO are all completely opposite to the way you need to go when shooting something stationary. Anyway it has cost you in terms of the image grain visible, the bleachy areas of sky on the right and the chromatic aberration (aka purple fringeing in the areas of high contrast on the right). A desat to b/w may have helped because the basic composition is OK, but the bright colours detract from the sombreness of the fact that it's a grave marker. If the title helped explain the relevance of the interred, all the better.

FWIW: you may want to invest in a tripod.

Hope this helps, better luck next time.

Susan

-Leader-of-the-Pack-
by sfalice

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Decent pic, good exposure and the dogwalker is clearly the centre of attention...just wish that there had been more of a sense of being shot from the dog's pov looking up at him, so we could share what the dogs see. Pity he has the shades on, for all the number of dogs and him in the shot, there isn't a single set of eyes for us to help bridge that connection.

Hope this helps

Susan

Distorted Panorama Matrix ...must be 2 - 5 images wide and 2 - 5 images high
by WonderDude

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

*scratching head* I don't really get what Jake is on about, honestly I do not see the warped distortion - and it's shot with a fisheye which is the epitome of warped distortion!

Great exposure and tones, looks like a lot of thought went into where you were going to shoot, when and how...and I think it worked beautifully. Nice and crisp, lots of detail. Perhaps b/w might have come across in a more powerful fashion. I would attribute the low score less to the actual image and perhaps more to the challenge suggestion description - it's probably just a little too technical to actually become a real challenge.

Hope this helps

Susan

Charcoal
by riot

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Wildlife is always tough to shoot and big cranky birds like herons don't take direction well :-) However a largely blown-out background with harsh whites and many somewhat flat tones in the bird itself just add up to a hard lesson in contrasts. The wingtip blur I can live with, but sadly many think that no wing blur at all is acceptable. Finally the bird is on its way out of the frame. Compare this to Quicksilver and see what makes it a more appealing pic to look at.

Meantime please continue to shoot and enter!

Susan

Message edited by author 2016-05-21 19:04:01.

Panic !!!
by clickodak

Comment:
WOOHOO!! Wonderful shot, Marcel, huge congrats on the red (and everyone in Canada knows that red is first place, blue second) :-) Very well done!

Now where's did that designated driver go?
by WonderDude

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Daniel, this isn't as bad a shot as you think it is. Especially as this was a Minimal editinhg challenge, the exposure is pretty good - no blown hihglights, no areas of pure flat blackness. I just wish that a) the Dutch angle weren't quite so extreme, and b) that there were a human element in the pic to draw us in. A city shot like this in particular should have at least some people in the frame. Maybe pack along a tripod, set yourself up for a long exposure and catch cool shots of half-blurred people as they walk through...just an idea!

Hope this helps

Susan

Convergence
by sfalice

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

I have to agree with insteps here....I think this image would have benefited from conversion to b/w. This is the kind of image where form is everything, and the colour of the cool clay marbles is a bit of a distraction, because they draw the eye to...nothing! Sorry but nothing going on in the marbles, no wow! factor. There are however still plenty of nice tones and shapes amongst them, try a desat and see how it looks.

Otherwise image fits challenge nicely, the technicals are all there in terms of lighting and comp.

Hope this helps

Susan

Ancient Cutting Edge Technology
by jonchew

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

This looks a lot like the kind of stuff I entered, and sometimes will still do, because I like low POVs and dramatic imagery. Your comp is fine and lighting/exposure all work; I think the main problem here is the shallow depth of field that you used. With a shot like this, you need something to engage the viewer and keep them looking for more and more details to explore. That means using a generous dof, and letting some details hide in shadow to create a stronger image and a sense of mystery. Not that you want the image under-exposed, either, but with a simple $25 tripod from Wallyworld, you could set this shot up to get a strong, dramatic image out of an otherwise ordinary rusting piece of junque.

On a more personal note, I have driven through Adirondack Park a few times as it is near where I live, so I am intrigued as to whereabouts you found this!

Hope this critique has been helpful

Susan

Let's say hi.
by GeorgesBogaert

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Congrats on the top ten finish, Georges, don't know why it didn't score higher. Still, 8th place is nothing to scoff at. Love the energy of the leashed dog bounding at the trepidatious dog on the right, who though at liberty is playing it safe and styuing out of way of any potential harm! I also really like the legs and flowered dress of the woman owner of the white dog, there is something so grounding in that element that it adds a lot to the pic. So does the shadow of the dog on the right.

The high ISO is unavoidable, lucky for you Canon has enviable noise control so though I can see it, there aren't huge disruptive chunks of it floating around. The existing textures of the scene help to camouflage it nicely.

Overall a very well-seen and well-caught shot, you should be proud of it! Keep up the good work.

Susan