basking
by Tiberius

Comment:
Poor Snowy still looks sad from the last challenge...you better cheer her up, Tiberius! :-)

7 Months
by Samantha_T

Comment:
If this can make me smile, you're bound to win :-)

Daydream Believer
by Luciemac

Comment:
Interesting colour of the raggie's face...very dark sealpoint?

Sometimes I feel like somebody's watching me
by Sisto

Comment:
*counting*...yeah, Abra's right...that's like 17 guys standing and one on the table...but it's worth it, isn't it? :-)

4 Way Stop Sign
by Wildpurple

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

I like the angle you shot the sign from, you filled the frame, and it is a truncated sign so it fits the challenge, and it's that universal shade of red so everyone knows it's a stop sign. It has great detail with all those little microreflectors in the surface. So why didn't this do better?

Honestly I feel that the main problem is that there is a lot of noise visible, mostly to the left of the image. Using denoise and then sharpening is a very tricky thing to do well, because the sharpening essentially brings back the noise you tried to get rid of!

Hope this helps

Susan

Eye on You
by Phocal

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Glad it finished as high as it did, for not being a *true* macro. But considering what your subject is and how close you were - flat on your belly, 8ft away - well, sure makes it a much more interesting close up than just flowers or food. Love how the gator's eye is reflecting so much detail. Kinda freaky too how much the gator looks like dragon of yore, or a rocky primeval landscape with a little forest of duckweed growing on it :-)

Also glad to see that you know the importance of getting eye-level and then some with wildlife shots, it adds so much more than being shot from just a standing position.

Keep up the good work! :-)

Susan

-flowering-jade-Crassula-argentea-
by sfalice

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Nice macro, especially with such a small subject! That lens did a good job, it looks sharp where it should be, good lighting and exposure and composition. I think that the viewers want to see the fg petals and this side of the pistils (I think that's what they're called) in focus, though; it seems that oof or blurred-out bg stuff is acceptable but people just don't like oof fg elements as much.

Susan

It is so cold outside.
by clickodak

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Hah, love the minions and their teeny little scarves and the snow atop their heads and goggles. Looks like the focus stacking experiment worked well!

The one thing you may want to do next time, in the outdoor studio especially, is remember that the light source (here, the sun) moves. Here it is up and behind the left minion and though it helps light the right minion's face (do they have faces?) the left one is in a relative amount of shadow. Just turning them around and shooting with the sun at your back may have helped, though you would then want to watch out for harsh shadows and too much glare. There are a few hot areas on the snow on the minions and the background snow; shooting at 1/400 or 1/500 should help.

hope this helps

Susan

Where Colorado Mountains Touch the Sky
by Ja-9

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Gorgeous b/w tones here, lovely scene, very picturesque. I love that you shot so fast and yet the sky has that blurry long-exposure look! The only thing I'm not crazy about is the lack of a truly dominant element. The sky and mountains are competing with the forest and the open expanse of the foreground. Almost a true 50/50 split. I find the trees form a visual barrier between the mountains and foreground.

Hope this helps

Susan

warning
by Tiberius

Comment:
Josh? If so, I hope you're getting your mojo back...and if not Josh, consider a compliment to be mistaken for him. 8