Great Blue Heron, Delicate Desert Habitat
by phinbob

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club...

Hi Phinbob...

I think you are quite lucky. There are great blue herons in my area but they are all so incredibly skiddish that it's nearly impossible to get close enough to get good photos. I have tried on multiple occasions myself with no luck. I consider myself lucky if I can get within 50 yards of one. They are gorgeous creatures... graceful... serene... not to mention, delicate :)

I think you have a good capture here. I'm not very fond of the light/time of day condition for the photo, but it's still a good shot. Let's talk about your title for a moment.

"Great Blue Heron, Delicate Desert Habitat."

What's delicate here? The Heron or the Habitat? This particular title choice creates some internal conflict I think. Another conflict that could arise from this title is that this particular desert is standing in water :) I know that there are lots of desert oasis areas, but the theme of desert generally conjures up notions of sandy arid land... Don't you think?

This is just some food for thought. Sometimes titles play a more important role in an image than you may realize :)

Keep up the good work...

John Setzler

speek no evil
by mandyturner

Comment:
excellent work... I love the look and feel, as well as the idea here.

In The Beginning...
by jrjr

Comment:
In my personal opinion, grain does not work well in a shot like this one. I'm sure its a lovely and strong simple color photo though. I can't interpret how the grain creates strength here.

EEK ! DIRT!
by susi

Comment:
This is a great shot. I would love to have seen a stronger title to go with it :)

Her Serenity Mask
by rwouthuis

Comment:
Beautiful black and white... great shot :)

Antiquity
by lwkimages

Comment:
Beautiful work... excellent subject and toning choice for grain :)

The Minstrel
by aerogurl

Comment:
Dale Brook from Gastonia, NC :) You must have been to the renaissance festival... I haven't made it out there yet but I hope to go the last weekend of this month :)

Anniversary
by rwouthuis

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club...

Hi woutje...

I press the 'give me an image to critique' button around here occasionally. I'm usually immediately blasted with some lame photograph that appears to have no rhyme or reason to it other than meeting the challenge. Sometimes the challenge is even sketchy in the image. I actually voted on this challenge, and I gave this photo a 10. I liked it just as much as the photo that got first place.

I can't really offer you much critique. I like the image just the way it is. All I can do is offer you some ideas that you may not have thought about. I like to evaluate post processing choices. When I modify a photograph, I do it for a reason usually. I am also a fan of black and white. I think removing the color from this image was probably a strong choice. When you can have a successful image with the color removed, you know you have a strong subject and composition. Color often distracts a viewer from the subtleties of a photo that actually create the impact of the image.

This image is about love. The image projects the feeling of love very nicely. Black and white, in most cases, projects a cool or cold feeling. In your case, it doesn't really do that so much because of the subject. I believe you could warm the image up somewhat with a little additional color toning such as a sepia or a very faint red. It may be worth some experimenting :)

Congrats on a great score...

John Setzler

64° 09' North 21° 58' West
by arngrimur

Comment:
This is an excellent photo and one of my few tens for this challenge. This object has appeared in challenges here before and I know it's some sort of modern sculpture in Iceland. I would love to find out what/why it is. If you could tell me or link me to some information about it's origin and purpose, I would appreciate it. It's truly a beautiful work. I have yet to see a photo of this that creates a perspective to show it's true size. I imagine that it's rather large...

Friendship
by Travis99

Comment:
This is a beautiful and captivating photo... well deserved blue ribbon on this one for sure :) I really enjoy great black and white images, and this one is no exception. It's one of the few photos in this challenge that really stirred emotion for me when I viewed it. Congratulations :)