My Little Chickadee
by vtruan

Comment by channeled:
Awesome capture!!! 10

Ready, Aim....
by vtruan

Comment by Harz_Joerg:
Greetings from the Critique Club

Initial thoughts/My opinion
To be honest, I do not like hunting, especially on birds, but that's my personal taste. The image is somewhat nervous and grainy and dark.

Content/Composition
I (as probably many) didn't get that there was a shotgun barrel at the lower left. Only by reading your comment I noticed it. Had the exactly same experience once with my "four" submission :(.
As mentioned above the image is somewhat nervous for the following reason: there are too many ducks to get them with a single view, but on the other hand the individual ducks are to large and detailed to see them just as a swarm of ducks. Hence the viewers eye walks around the image searching for something special, which can actually not be found.
Getting less close might have been better. Cropping out most of them and showing only the two left once would have given probably too many difficulties with the graininess (unless digitally taken away)

Camera work -technically
Focus seems a bit off, but I'm not really sure. Exposure is too much on the dark side, but you had probably problems getting enough light anyway as I can see from the camera settings.

Digital Processing - Technical
You could have made the image brighter digitally and of course the barrel more pronounced (though I'm actually not sure if the way you made is allowed, probably yes).
You could have sharpened the ducks more using "smart sharpening" and also blurred using the same inverted selection the noise away. I tried it on the image, works well.
Also some more colour saturation would have brought some more structure to the ducks.

Fits the challenge
Needs the title, but then it fits.

Good luck for your further submissions

Feed the Hungry
by vtruan

Comment by Konador:
Critique Club

Hi Van. I think this is a fantastic photo! It definatly fits the challenge, and the idea is great. The somewhat muted colours work really well, with it mostly b&w with hits of orange in the carrot and hair. I'm not sure if that's the natural colours, or if you desaturated green from the background, but whatever it is works fantasticly in giving a wintery atmosphere.

The composition you chose works very well, using varying levels. I would be tempted to flip the image so that your wife is on the left, but that's a minor thing, and it can look rather odd when you know the person in the photo :) The exposure and contrast unfortunatly hide any detail that the coat may have had, making it solid black, and over exposed the button of the mule's chin, but I actually like that in this case. I think it may have effected your score though.

As one final note, I think another tiny thing that would improve the score is a light USM to make it really crisp and sharp. I actually really like it slightly soft though, it adds to the kind of magical atmosphere that this photo gives out. I just think DPC voters prefer things to be very sharp.

My Little Chickadee
by vtruan

Comment by ahaze:
much as I've tried to see it, I don't feel that this is a unique or interesting point of view. It's a nice photo of a bird, though awfully blue and grainy. Sorry, doesn't do it for me. 3.

My Little Chickadee
by vtruan

Comment by ninerfan:
A classic bird shot - the white balance seems off (the white is too blue), but tha'ts just it... it's a bit too "classic." The POV doesn't seem to add to the picture.

My Little Chickadee
by vtruan

Comment by WhidbeyPix:
very beautiful.

Feed the Hungry
by vtruan

Comment by vtruan:
By the way, it was a carrot flavored hotdog.

My Little Chickadee
by vtruan

Comment by kiwiness:
Very convincing winter color tones, The blues and whites bring through the feeling of coldness. The graininess helps a little but I think there is slightly too much in your image. I wish I could see the eye, or at least a glint or something to tell me there is actually an eye there instead of a empty black area. As for the point of view aspect, well there isn't anything unusual or different in the perspective you have chosen. (7)

My Little Chickadee
by vtruan

Comment by f0rTyLeGz:
nice very nice

Feed the Hungry
by vtruan

Comment by pacumeni:
Wow, that's a lucky shot!