Summer and Aurora Borealis
by otto22

Comment by sidpixel:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An appealing image that contributes well to the open challenge.

Another stunning capture of this wonderful natural phenomenon that is rarely captured during the long daylight you have there as well as you have here. Given the exposure necessary for this you do have a little overexposure which is unavoidable but may have benefited from some post processing. The landscape and clouds add more interest to the image as a whole but the right of the image feels a little on the weak side..

I think the image as it is would probably benefit from a square crop where the clouds end at the top right but I think there was an opportunity here for a portrait orientation to include a lot more water and the lovely reflections in the foreground.

Thank you for another lovely entry Otto.

Summer and Aurora Borealis
by otto22

Comment by RKT:
I love seeing the green of the grasses and trees in contrast with the green of the aurora...I'm so used to looking at these skies above frozen landscapes...very pretty.

Summer and Aurora Borealis
by otto22

Comment by Kroburg:
Wow, aurora borealis during daylight? Lucky you!

Summer and Aurora Borealis
by otto22

Comment by streetpigeon:
Magical image which embraces both day and night. The sense is that anything can happen. What a beautiful part of the world.

Hello there
by otto22

Comment by sidpixel:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An appealing nature study that is assumed to meet the challenge.

A lovely capture of a Ptarmigan? The detail is lovely, his front on pose is very engaging. I like your composition and the use of the empty space which gives us a feel for the freedom has to be able to fly into that space at will. On the other hand, a think a square crop would also work well here. The colours are all very striking and natural looking.

It's a shame you didn't score higher but perhaps if you had engaged the viewer more with a reference to the type of bird through your title it may have helped? You have made very good use of that superb lens, well done, Sid

Summer and Aurora Borealis
by otto22

Comment by Denise:
WOW, northern lights with a reflection, great stuff

Hello there
by otto22

Comment by MeMex2:
great capture!

Blue ice
by otto22

Comment by sidpixel:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

A lovely landscape suitable for this open challenge.

Your wide angle perspective suitably emphasises the lovely vivid blue ice in the foreground in a totally dominating way which works well. The wide angle combined with the aperture has resulted in a huge encompassing DOF appropriate for the image. These blues really are blue! There's nothing to add really its beautiful.

I see I voted high at the time, it still looks good to me, Sid

The power of light
by otto22

Comment by sidpixel:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An original submission that meets the challenge very well

What a unique and original take on the light, I like it a lot and so did everyone here by the looks of it, well done. Your moonlit landscape is a wonderful image in its own right but together with this very clever concept it is excellent.

I have to say that I think this would have been even more effective with just the one light shining towards the moon as though forming the spotlight in space as it cleverly does. The other light is so much less effective that it detracts from the power of the first light.

Having said all that it is still a magic image, well done Otto, Sid

Inside the ice cave
by otto22

Comment by sidpixel:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An amazing natural scene assumed to meet the challenge.

What an enormous ice cave this is and our perception of it is hugely enhanced by the essential addition of the person to give it all a sense of scale, it then becomes something quite staggeringly phenomenal. If I hadn't had the wonderful experience of Iceland and its amazing colours I would be bound to question that it really was this blue, but with the benefit of that experience I can easily imagine that this is how it really is.

I am amazed at how much light there is in there, you have been able to stop the lens down for a larger DOF and at ISO 100 you are still only ½ a second. If you have used any artificial light then you've done a masterful job of it because it looks 100% natural to me, so well done if you have. It's really quite captivating all the amazing folds and shapes and textures there are in the icy surroundings, I hope to see this or similar one day soon.

Thank you for an amazing image Otto, Sid