The lake
by otto22

Comment by giantmike:
I love seeing into the water.

The lake
by otto22

Comment by RabidCoydog:
I love this image, but it is somewhat difficult to look at and I'm not sure what can be done to fix it. Maybe a slightly shorter shutter speed would help. This is a beautiful image though.

The man
by otto22

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

Congratulations on your ribbon, well deserved and easily meeting the challenge brief

I seem to be having the pleasure of critiquing several of your excellent images and here we have another. Your choice of subject and processing very clearly meet the challenge objectives in an appealing and very competent way. I love that you have used mono allowing us to concentrate on the lovely tones throughout the image without the distraction of colour.

The viewpoint and the way the landscape leads us to our focal point, the man, is an excellent choice, his inclusion also gives us a sense of scale and a feeling of the insignificance of man against the grandeur of nature. The gorgeous backdrop of the stormy sky and diffused sun is magnificent and completes the image.

Although you have a high contrast image you have managed to retain detail throughout, except quite obviously the sun itself, well done. I think it is a well executed submission that has been justifiably appreciated here. Your making my job most enjoyable, thank you, Sid

Reflection
by otto22

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

Congratulations on your yellow/red ribbon. First impressions, gorgeous!

I'm always very envious of you Icelanders and the wonderful photographic opportunities your tremendous landscape offers. It also takes talented individuals to be able to bring out those wonderful qualities to best effect, undoubtedly you are one of those individuals.

Your deliberate choice of viewpoint with the mirror-like reflections of the Aurora Borealis (AB) works really well in doubling our perception and pleasure from this unique natural phenomenon. You have obviously used a small aperture though I'm unsure just how small, instead of a starburst effect we are getting spiky flares from the brightest light sources which is probably the only very minor criticism I could make of the whole result.

Your exposure gives a lovely degree of movement in the AB itself without too much elongation of the stars themselves. The colours are marvellous. I'm assuming the most prominent specks on the water do not appear to tie up with the upper sky and are therefore debris on the water's surface these would probably have been best to clone out.

I've just noticed you got a two!!! Words fail me.

My one visit to Iceland was virtually AB free but everything else there made up for it, I hope to repeat a return trip there before too long. Anyway, thank you for a gorgeous image and the hopes it evokes in me, Sid

Lines in clouds
by otto22

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

A strong image with very bold colours that arguably meets the challenge but not in a strong way.

Given my boating background it always upsets me to see a boat in this state, however, that aside it forms a strong foreground which is perhaps part of the problem for this particular challenge. I would like that foreground to form the leading lines that take me into the rest of the image. I'm not sure that your leading lines of the sky lead me into the image because of this strong foreground that needs no leading into. I'm probably not explaining myself very well, I hope you understand what I am trying to say.

An unfortunate problem with the boat is the large metal structure in the immediate foreground it is blocking the way into the image beyond so, in effect, acting against the leading lines objective. The very long exposure has certainly 'flattened' the water and enabled your leading lines in the sky but you also have some overexposure which is less desirable but wisely placed on the edge of the image.

I think the image has impact and I would like to like it more but I don't think it works that well particularly for the challenge brief, sorry. Sid

The Dark World
by otto22

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

Congratulations on your 7th place finish with your high impact image that meets the challenge well.

I assume this is some sort of catherine wheel type firework? Anyway, you have chosen a very suitable subject and handled it very well with your sufficeintly long exposure to display it in a very interesting way. You have also wisely decided to include its reflection in the water thus making it more than doubly interesting because of the ripples on the waters surface, it works very well indeed.

Unfortunately I find myself inexorably drawn to the centre of the bright oval trying to work out the detail therein instead of admiring the rest of the image as fully as I want. I think there's an argument for cloning out this part of the image to avoid the distraction, funnliy enough the reflected part is nowhere near as distracting but for conformity you would probably need to remove that too.

I'm not sure I agree with one of your commenters about the photographers on the right, they are discrete enough not to interfere with the main interest and indeed you would expect something like this to be enjoyed by others as well and so it adds a human element to the story, so I like it.

The light from the firework adds a nice touch of light to the surrounding areas and against that rich blackness of the water and the navy of the sky with its specks of starlight works really well. You made an excellent job which has been justifiably rewarded by your voters, well done. Sid

Fire in the clouds
by otto22

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

Let me begin by congratulating you on your red ribbon, very well done.

You have chosen a tremendous vantage point and waited for an interesting sky to add impact to your image. Your composition is faultless, the range of tones complete and the landscape fascinatingly interesting.

I can understand why the waterfall is the colour it is, absorbing light as it does from the sunset but I do agree with one of the rare questioning comments that its colour is a little off-putting. Although its in the interests of the natural light to accurately reflect what you see before you I might have been tempted to keep it but to reduce its effect. I would probably have also given it a shorter exposure to bring some detail back into the waterfall. I do love the base of the waterfall and the rich blacks of the water fringed with the icy sprayed surrounding grasses.

There's not a lot else I would have done differently here. I know from own experience what fascinating colours there are in the natural landscape of Iceland, I would dearly love to return in the very near future, it would be great to meet up.

More of the same! Regards Sid

The most famous mountain in Iceland
by otto22

Comment by P-A-U-L:
Wow very impressive scene and well captured. Congrats on the yellow.

The most famous mountain in Iceland
by otto22

Comment by Ivory:
Lovely! Congratulations on your yellow ribbon.

Hot sunset
by otto22

Comment by cowboy221977:
Hello from the critique club...

This is another outstanding shot you have here. Again nothing much to critique. I will say that the sun in this one is nicer than the other shot I saw. Also looks like a very similar location. Good job. Happy shooting