set upon a golden bough to sing
by KMcC

Comment by JakeKurdsjuk:
Sharpness (or lack, thereof) is killing this otherwise nice shot.

zip zip
by KMcC

Comment by MadMan2k:
I like the tones and textures in this one, and the depth of field is just right.

COLORATION
by KMcC

Comment by Jules1x:
I love this. Definitely abstract, and appears to be nice and close-up. I have no idea what this could be.

Let the sparks fly
by KMcC

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

This really is a very nice shot, and I think your score showed that. The lights (sparks) dance nicely through the image. In fact, I would have been nervous about getting hot slag on my camera / lens.

Overall nicely done. Keep it up

~l o o k o u t~
by KMcC

Comment by JakeKurdsjuk:
Critique Club Comment:

This is really a lovely photo in a beautiful setting. The soft feel plays very well into the subject, and I think this works very well as a black and white. I do think a couple compositional and post processing changes could have greatly improved it, however.

One of the first things that will always kill a photo for me is a crooked horizon, and you have one. Even with the various skewed lines you have working here (particularly the line made by the sun reflecting on the water against the upward flight of the bird), correcting the faint horizon in the rear anchors the photo for the viewer - or for me at least (it's my #1 critique point when leaving comments).

My only other comment about the processing would be that I find many of the blacks to be "too black", particularly at the base of the upright shrub and in the shadows of the grasses. With the softness of everything else it feels too aggressive, as if it was overly backlit, which it obviously wasn't looking at the details in the birds.

Otherwise, compositionally there are a few things I could wish were different. I'd love for there to be a little more room to the right to give the bird more room to "fly" within the frame. I would have also loved to have seen a little more room under the reflection of the shrub and grasses - maybe another half-as-much. If I had my way I'd love to be able to grab the bottom-right corner and expand the crop down and to the right, landing the birds as close as I could to the left and right 1/3 lines of the photo. Or, choosing a different crop within the current view that brings the seated bird a little closer to the left edge so there's as much open space to the left as to the right. This would also eliminate some of the foreground grass that I find just a little distracting.

~l o o k o u t~
by KMcC

Comment by tnun:
flown and blown. lovely.

Old Words
by KMcC

Comment by wbanning:
Critique Club Comment

Evocative of an earlier time when printed words weren't limited by character, or screen size, or attention span. When handwriting was an art form. As a "vintage" photo, I'm not sure the color variation between the Autograph book and the smaller (redder) one above it, really works. Compositionally, I think it might have been better to eliminate the dark empty area in the center left. Overall, an attractive image that works to bring my imagination to the past.

~l o o k o u t~
by KMcC

Comment by Pangurban:
Beautiful soft picture and lovely subject.

r e a d y
by KMcC

Comment by Pangurban:
Really like the graininess of this and the splash of colour at the end of the pencil.

set upon a golden bough to sing
by KMcC

Comment by MadMan2k:
This could have improved by composing to avoid the tree for a cleaner background. Also, the statue might have been soft to begin with, or it was over processed and made it look that way, I can't really tell. I don't know that I'm a fan of the sepia tone on this one either.