Incoming
by Phocal

Comment by gipper11:
Great capture and very suiting for this competition, very nice depth of field.

Incoming
by Phocal

Comment by MeMex2:
great shot!!!

70's
by Phocal

Comment by snaffles:
trippy, man, just missin some tie-dye! :-) 7

70's
by Phocal

Comment by bmartuch:
sometimes, it's the simple things.

70's
by Phocal

Comment by Lydia:
This definitely fits the topic well. I love the color combos.

The Unknown
by Phocal

Comment by Ivory:
Simple yet beautiful, congratulations on your yellow ribbon.

SSSHHH
by Phocal

Comment by Phocal:
Lydia Thanks Lydia,

Thank you, wildlife is my favorite subject to photograph and I am glad that it shows. Did not have much choice in the blown out sky...........it was super cloudy and overcast with the occasional sprinkle coming down, the photo shows the exact color of the sky that day. I know that in a lot of ways the photo does not show calm, unless you think from the birds perspective. You can see how anyone prey looking at this bird would feel the opposite of calm and even people looking at this photo can an intense feeling (result of anthropomorphism). As I sat a few feet from him taking the photographs I could not help but sense how calm this bird was with what is probably his greatest threat so close. Even when he would look at me because of the sound of my shutter he was calm, even tho occasionally he would look at me when the shutter went off.

Ronnie

The Unknown
by Phocal

Comment by Phocal:
Snaffles Thanks Susan,

I really struggled with the crop on this one. I only had one lens with me (an equivalent 35mm prime) so was pretty limited in what was included in frame. I really liked the natural vignetting that came out in the photo. If I cropped to place the trees higher the photo seemed to dark with all the black at the bottom and if I cropped to place them lower I lost the black on the bottom that I really liked. So.......in the end I went with no crop........really should have shot a few more frames with a bit different composition but was standing on a busy bridge in heavy fog with cars doing 70mph past me and wanted to get the shot and get out of there. With µ4/3 you have twice the DoF compared to full frame so I really shot higher then Æ’5.6, in this shot I went with Æ’4.0 and the resulting shutter speed. I could have stopped down more but I am a wildlife photographer and never really think about how landscape people shoot at those crazy small apertures.....I prefer wide and fast :-)

SSSHHH
by Phocal

Comment by Lydia:
Greetings from the Critique Club, Ronnie!

How interesting that just today, I was enjoing through your portfolio and then... I've been assigned one of your images to critique. Ha!

I love your wildlife images.

In this image, I really enjoy the blown sky... as if he were in front of a white posterboard to highlight his features. I enjoy the wonderful focus right where it should be... right on his eyes.

I like the detail you've captured in his feathers.

Such a good job on all of these.

I think that the intense stare of his eyes... a raptor... keen eyesight watching and waiting for prey... isn't the perfect fit for a "Calm" image. The tension we feel seeing his alert gaze is probably what lowered your score on this moving image.

So... my "diagnosis" is that this is a wonderful image... but not in this particular challenge.

I can't wait to see your next entry, Ronnie.

The Unknown
by Phocal

Comment by snaffles:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Aw dang, a ribbon winner....always the toughest to critique as the vox populi have already spoken and voted. So will do my best. *looking for flaws*.....hmmmm....this could take awhile. *off to refill wineglass*

OK. Your comp is a little centred, but that happens a lot in images where the minimalistic approach rules, as it does here. I recognized the birds as cormorants because we have them here too though I don't think in the winter months. Nice gentle leading motion from left to right with a variety of scale in terms of the silhouettes. Nice that you have a perfectly calm surface to work with. A little surprised that you shot so fast, but who am I to argue? There is almost a natural level of vignetting happening too here, both above and below. You did a great job here, congrats on the ribbon and keep up the good work!

Susan