Head Jerk
by SSonnentag

Comment by justine:
Hee, hee. Cute capture. You were sure there at the righ time. Great going.

Head Jerk
by SSonnentag

Comment by NHCameraMan:
more like head BANG. this picture is hilarious.

Head Jerk
by SSonnentag

Comment by Ricky Cleave:
Yes, sometimes you have to feed them to get there picture

Head Jerk
by SSonnentag

Comment by basia03:
too blurry...

Big Dipper Attacked By Leonid Meteor
by SSonnentag

Comment by myqyl:
Critique Club Comment ~ Mike (MyQyl) Clark

Composition : I really like the use of the earth (foreground) and sky (background) and the proportions of each. While the horizon line doesn't exactly cross the 'third', the portion of the sky that is brighter does and i think it does it very effectively.

Exposure/Lighting : The full moon really was your friend for this shot as it lit the ground quite nicely :) Very nice catch of the meteor. The stars have hardly any rotational 'tail' at all! I see this is a combination of the 30 secs exposure and of shooting North (where the rotation is far less noticeable in the northern hemisphere). Excellent!

Focus : The smallest of nitpicks would be to point to the bush and ground just to the left of the center on the bottom as being 'soft' focus. I'm curious to know if that was someone(thing) moving there during the exposure? Otherwise, excellent!

Emotion/Challenge : I can think of MANY publications that would use this kind of shot in a heartbeat, so in my book, you nailed the challenge. I have to admit that I thought the title took away from the effectiveness of the shot though. It was a Sky and Telescope picture with a National Inquirer title. But it's not a title challenge :)

Opinion : I absolutely love this shot and hope to emulate it someday. Terrific capture! Congrats on 6th place.

Big Dipper Attacked By Leonid Meteor
by SSonnentag

Comment by timj351:
I'm still trying to determine how I feel about this photo in regards to the photojournalism topic. I think I am leaning more towards it successfully meeting the challenge. I feel it is a strong photo with some very nice subtleties to it with the detail in the hills, the stars, and of course, the meteor. Even the stars form a nice shape. what bothers me a little bit is the blurred bush in the foerground clearly due to the long exposure and I'm sure, unavoidable. I may have cropped the photo at the base of the mountains but I'm not sure. The colors are true and I'm glad you didn't try to oversaturate them. The beauty of this photo lies in it's simplicity. It does not overpower you yet it drws you in to explore the details. Nice job.

Tim Jensen

Big Dipper Attacked By Leonid Meteor
by SSonnentag

Comment by SSonnentag:
Thanks for all of the positive and constructive comments guys! I've been out of town for the past week for Thanksgiving and was welcomed home by a 6th place finish! Wow! What a surprise! Thanks everyone.

I spent about 1.5 hours and 80-100 attempts before giving up and accepting only three shots with a meteor in them. This was the best of the three.

Shawn

Big Dipper Attacked By Leonid Meteor
by SSonnentag

Comment by drewmedia:
The lighting on this shot is unreal -- great job.

Big Dipper Attacked By Leonid Meteor
by SSonnentag

Comment by Arachnophilia:
beautiful photo, but not a headline sort of title. 9.

Big Dipper Attacked By Leonid Meteor
by SSonnentag

Comment by IGJOE:
Great example of the use of negative space. This would have been my choice for the winner in that challenge.