Industrial Relic
by RulerZigzag

Comment by photokariangel:
nicely composed, but seems a little cluttered in the frame. also, the border is a little too big for my taste, but that being said, what does my taste matter? hah.

The Day's Remnants
by RulerZigzag

Comment by KarenNfld:
Nice colours and sky.

Ground Up (outtake and advanced edit)
by RulerZigzag

Comment by jdannels:
Even though the voters didn't like it so much, I think I prefer the color version. Totally fit the photo.

Conan's first portrait
by RulerZigzag

Comment by vawendy:
It looked interesting on the thumbnail, but was a surprise when I opened it -- did expect it to be this wonderful -- made me grin!

Stranger in a strange land
by RulerZigzag

Comment by jcar:
imo i would have darkend it.

Industrial Relic
by RulerZigzag

Comment by JunieMoon:
Not really my kind of subject. Composition doesn't do much for me. Image also seems very flat for some reason. The strongest part of the image seems to be the smokestack. I like the defined ridges on it and the exposure.

Stranger in a strange land
by RulerZigzag

Comment by vawendy:
Ok, couldn't find it anywhere! Cool photo, nicely done, and, as far as I can tell, unique!

The Day's Remnants
by RulerZigzag

Comment by JimiRose:
Lovely sunset, I would have personally gone for less beach and more sky!

Up to Mars
by RulerZigzag

Comment by salmiakki:
Greetings from the Critique Club

Well I totally get what you were aiming for with this image, but have to say, I think the red is hurting you big time here. Yes, totally get it with the Mars connection and all, but it really does not enhance this image very much. I think there was enough red in the image to start out with for the concept to have worked.

Composition etc all work fine for this one, but the colour is what is dragging your score down for sure.

Sarah

Idle Waters
by RulerZigzag

Comment by salmiakki:
Greetings from the Critique Club

I think this image scored quite well for this challenge.

You said you hoped you had fooled the voters into thinking this was actually a night scene. Hmm. I don't think you did completely.

Things that could have improved your score.

Composition: Horizon is dead centre, always a good idea to offset it if you are looking for a higher score. I know I often choose to put the horizon dead centre, but I know I will always suffer with the score if I do.

Focus: Seems a bit off to me. Everything appears to be just a little bit on the soft side.

Exposure: The sun is over exposed which I suppose is what you were aiming for in trying to get it to mimic the moon. However, I think you could have achieved this better by reducing the brightness a little bit. It would have looked more realistic I think. You mentioned you didn't really do much editing to this apart from dodging the boats. I think if you had done some very minor tweaks with brightness and levels you would have achieved the look you were aiming for with better results.

I'm personally not a big fan of the blue stripe in your border. I think it detracts from the image. Certainly my eye is drawn to it, away from the image itself.

Overall I think you scored pretty well with this one, but could have scored higher with some very minor editing.