Charcoal
by riot

Comment by snaffles:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Wildlife is always tough to shoot and big cranky birds like herons don't take direction well :-) However a largely blown-out background with harsh whites and many somewhat flat tones in the bird itself just add up to a hard lesson in contrasts. The wingtip blur I can live with, but sadly many think that no wing blur at all is acceptable. Finally the bird is on its way out of the frame. Compare this to Quicksilver and see what makes it a more appealing pic to look at.

Meantime please continue to shoot and enter!

Susan

Message edited by author 2016-05-21 19:04:01.

Auburn
by riot

Comment by clickodak:
Nice portrait I give 7

Above the City Lights
by riot

Comment by bmartuch:
Beautiful composition.

Quicksilver
by riot

Comment by ciaeagle:
Critique Club Comments from Cia,

I've spent a significant amount of time stalking herons as well... I completely agree that getting the lighting right to capture their beauty is a challenging endeavor. I can't say that I am a huge fan of the "egret-like" processing as I love the blues and grays of the heron. But this picture does call to me ... I love the clarity of the eye and beak. This clarity draws you in and encourages you to scan the body and wings. The contrast between bird and trees is terrific. It really pops and does solve the blending into the background problem. I particularly like the lightness of one wing paired with the darkness of the other. I'd love to see more details in the feathers but the silkiness creates a nice effect and brings the motion of flight to mind, which certainly works in this context.

In terms of the challenge ... Your click is a great fit for the Vawendy challenge. A nice match with content from her portfolio. Beautiful.

Charcoal
by riot

Comment by jim29028:
appropriately named, seems like a drawing, nice action capture

Quicksilver
by riot

Comment by MelonMusketeer:
Well thought out, and great result in this one.
Thanks for the read as well.

Auburn
by riot

Comment by Tiny:
i like this very much,works a treat

Quicksilver
by riot

Comment by clickodak:
Wow Superb shooting I give 8

Possession of the Summoner
by riot

Comment by snaffles:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

I am afraid that there is just far too much going on in this image to make it a strong contender in this challenge. Should the challenge have been 'pagan worship' or something similar, it may have done much better. But with the horns, which were meant to be the focal point, having to compete with both a fire swirl and naked women...well...not much chance of anyone thinking too much about horns at that point! It's just far too busy in terms of comp. Also, honestly, 20 outtakes are far too many to show your thought processes. One or two would suffice.

Overall an interesting approach to the challenge, but again, far too many elements competing for attention. Choose one, and only one, and make that the focal point.

Hope this helps

Susan

Message edited by author 2016-05-11 21:45:33.

Extinguished but not Forgotten
by riot

Comment by riot:

Originally posted by tanguera: Taking a walk through your great port. Love the fantastic notes you've provided. Nobody does that anymore. Quite the setup!

Thank you. This shot was over a decade ago, now! It's a shame that nobody does that here anymore, but maybe I can bring it back ;)