Bike Ride to Happiness
by clickodak

Comment by Lydia:
*spews my drink all over my monitor*

Forest fires
by clickodak

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

A very intriguing image that meets the challenge.

As with the other submissions I've critiqued for this challenge, I have to begin by admitting that I am not familiar enough with JJBeguin's work to be able to comment with any authority, however, I will do my best. Your comments are a good guide as to his and your aims with your work, thank you.

I have to say that after the initial confusion which made me look harder and then to see and appreciate better the image itself, I like what I see, I find it quite fascinating. You have done well to find the scene and transform it the way you have. quite simple yet effective. I love the shapes and the reflections and the eventual giveaway of the upside down nature of what we're looking at. Your exposure is good, you have got the snow white without too much sacrifice of the water's highlights, though I detect a blue tint that might benefit from some white balance correction.

I like your composition it works very well indeed and so to do the people here, a very respectable score for a very respectable entry, well done Sid.

Duck Truck MTL
by clickodak

Comment by Nicht:
The lady looks like she's (as we say where I'm from) lus for something lekker!

You Name It........
by clickodak

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

A well executed image that meets the challenge.

A fun challenge that gives you complete free reign without even having to think of a title. Wouldn̢۪t it be nice if all challenges generated this amount of response from the viewers! Haven't you generated a lot of responses and despite that your own suggestion wasn't used.

I very much like the fact that you probably had to use +EC to get that snow looking the way it should do – white! Well done. Too often the whites of snow come out a horrible murky grey through too little thought and effort. I like the focal point of the foreground stump of a tree, I rather wish the orange sign wasn't there in such lovely natural surroundings. I like the way the snow trails lead us into the forest.

So, I reckon you want a tile from me? What about
eeny, meeny, miny, moâ€Â¦
Sid

Watering Flowers
by clickodak

Comment by quiche:
Nicely sparkly. Might be a bit stronger if you cloned out some of the smaller light spots that look more like dust than water.

Downtown street before daily traffic
by clickodak

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

A literal translation of the challenge theme that meets the challenge

It makes a change to be looking down on the street instead of from the normal street level looking up at the tall buildings so it makes for an interesting perspective. Your composition is good with the two blocks framing the street which is closed by the building at the top of the frame.

I'm sorry to say that the one thing that really lets it down is camera shake, there is softness throughout what ought to have been a very crisp and sharp image. I also think you missed a great opportunity to transform it into a much more dynamic image with your camera well supported and a slower shutter speed, probably about 1/2s. You could have made a feature of the motion of the traffic and people and emphasised how the city is always on the move against the permanently static buildings.

With a little more thought and attention to detail you would have improved the end result significantly, all part of the learning process, good luck with your future submissions, Sid

Sunset on the Anthriscus sylvestris
by clickodak

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

A reasonable attempt that meets the challenge

I am a great fan of contre-jour lighting which as you observed can bring out details previously unnoticed it can however, present you with exposure problems. The camera meter has done the best it can and averaged out everything so what you end up with is something in between two camps neither of which gives you the best result.

I would have used some minus exposure compensation (-1 EC) probably 1 stop this would have created silhouettes of the flower heads which being such distinct shapes would work well, it would also saturate the background sky which given your title would probably be nearer to what you intended. Alternatively, +1 EC would have exposed the flowers themselves at the expense of a washed out sky which is, in my opinion, the less effective option.

There is not much going on in terms of composition, there is no strong focal point and too much going on in the lower half of the frame. Simplicity would have been much more effective, if you were to crop with the main flower to the left of the frame excluding everything up to it down to the top half of the flower to its lower right you would have a much simpler more effective composition that would have a lot more impact.

You might try the suggested crop together with lower exposure to a silhouette? Sid

Sunset on the Anthriscus sylvestris
by clickodak

Comment by skewsme:
pretty, would be tempted to do a little shadow/highlight on this...

Pine Needles
by clickodak

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

An image with impact that meets the challenge

Your choice of a wide aperture has enabled you to blur the background into soft focus thus meeting the challenge. The aperture has also enhanced the image by creating some quite interesting bokeh into the highlights. The ice crystals have a jewel like appearance in the bright sunlight which gives your image more impact.

I know the challenge is blur and you may have deliberately created some foreground blur but it doesn't really work for me, I think it would have been more effective to get the front sharp and as a result introduce even more blur into the background. Composition wise I like the implied diagonal of the ice and again I think you could have improved it by bringing it further to the lower right, I don't think cropping some of the front pine leaves would have hurt.

I would have preferred it if the chromatic aberrations had been given some attention during the processing, the colours are a little distracting. The two lumps of brown are a bit discordant to the image overall.

Its a shame you didn't get any comments I hope this helps, Sid

Watering Flowers
by clickodak

Comment by Barroness:
water with a bling!