Rainbow In The Fountain
by TommyMoe21

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

A knobbled attempt that I assume meets the challenge.

I say assume because the assumption is that this is your best art shot of the year and a very good one it was too, I also say was, because what you started with had enough potential and attraction to just tweak it in a minor way to get the very best quality out of it. Unfortunately what you have done in post processing is, for me, far too heavy handed it has destroyed most of the original quality that was surely there for perfecting.

I can see why you were tempted to take it too far you obviously wanted to get the best out of the lovely rainbow but to get it to this you have sacrificed everything else in the image. I don't want to labour the point anymore than I already have, I'll just say, sorry, the end result is just not for me, as you can see from one of your commenters who loves it we are not all the same, Sid.

Soaring
by TommyMoe21

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

Congratulations on your ribbon for an excellent wildlife shot.

I like your subject matter very much indeed, I'm keen on wildlife, particularly action shots. You have captured some great detail in the face and the feathers, I particularly like the dirt and translucency in the tail feathers.

I am here to give you my honest opinion and having identified what I do like I also need to point out what I am less keen on. I find the vivid blue background of the sky too saturated and would prefer it to be more subdued, at the moment it is competing too strongly with the bird itself. Although I like the wing shape he appears to be hanging motionless as though on a string, I really prefer to see some motion blur in the wingtips through a slower shutter speed. The composition is very central and frame filling I would have preferred a smaller bird with space for him to fly into. It appears to me to be over-sharpened, there are distinct halos all around the edges of the whole bird.

Your image has been very well received here, an excellent result for you, well done, Sid

The Old Coal Plant
by TommyMoe21

Comment by salmiakki:
Greetings from the Critique Club

We have run out of fresh images to critique at the moment, so catching up on some older ones from the queue.

For the challenge topic the building hits the mark, no question there. I find the composition could be improved a bit. The dull colour of the Chicago River does not really add any value to the image. It's not very interesting and I would have cropped a bit tighter to place a bit more emphasis on the building yet still retaining Similarly with the trees, I would have cropped some of those out.

I'm not sure about the grain (and neither I think were most of the voters). I totally get why you added it, but it feels a bit too artificial. Main thing for me is the flatness - I think a contrast boost would have helped a bit, quite often after using HDR software images tend to look a bit "flat" and I think this is one of those cases.

Take this with a pinch of salt, just one person's point of view, but maybe explains the 5.2 score.

Goodnight Joshua Tree
by TommyMoe21

Comment by tolovemoon:
I really like the colors here how they balance out from top to bottom. I also like how the sky is so much in focused. Wondering what it would look like with out photoshop tools. Because sometimes I try things like focusing or noise reduction and it only seems to make the image look fake. So if you tried not doing anything to so that the bottom where the grass and rocks are soft more natural even with out focus it would still be a really pleasing photo.

Hope my comment was helpful I chose this from the critique club...

Goodnight Joshua Tree
by TommyMoe21

Comment by buzzrock:
Love the location.
This one is strange to me. It looks like there is alot of Noise in the trees and bushes yet the sky has none?

Goodnight Joshua Tree
by TommyMoe21

Comment by illini75:
Lovely light

Goodnight Joshua Tree
by TommyMoe21

Comment by Zeus:
Sure looks like a nuclear detonation in the background. I remember these from Lancaster, CA.

The Old Coal Plant
by TommyMoe21

Comment by Zita:
The grain is perfect. The smokestacks appear oddly flat, but it is probably a function of the processing and is really not a large fault. I like the leading line of the green trees to the subject. Well framed. Good composition.

The Old Coal Plant
by TommyMoe21

Comment by bmartuch:
I love the grain.

The Old Coal Plant
by TommyMoe21

Comment by oldbimmercoupe:
nicely composed - effect left lots of noise behind but that was your call - gl.