Dragons Breath
by Phocal

Comment by bvy:
An inviting sort of hell.

Pleasure Wheel
by Phocal

Comment by gipper11:
Here is what I like about this photograph: Great composition, extremely nice focus, very nicely processed and that it looks HDR i.e. shows all the different shade without losing any details by either dark shadows or blown out highlights. The horizon is level and everything is clean and sharp for the most part.

What I don't like: This is just a nit-pick but there seems to be a lot of noise showing in the clouds.

This is very nice and I hope it does well.

Pleasure Wheel
by Phocal

Comment by Lydia:
What is the point of focus stacking... or... HDR ... and combing images... to get all of the details in one image...

When all of the details can be gotten with one shot?


I love the image... but... not for this challenge.

Dragons Breath
by Phocal

Comment by SEG:
Color are on point.

Golden Shadows
by Phocal

Comment by snaffles:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Congrats on the well-earned top ten finish, and also kudos for shooting so much to get that one shot in 500 or so in 1 hr to get it. Small flitty birds like this are a pain to shoot, but it was well worth it! Love the golden tones in the bg and great detail on the gnatcatcher. Nice simple comp and proof that you don't always need a BIF to do well here.

My only gnitpick is the left side where the sky must've been starting to lighten with sunrise, it's starting to edge towards glariness. Didn't hurt your score though :-)

Keep on keepin' on, my friend!

Susan

Golden Shadows
by Phocal

Comment by tvsometime:
Lovely shades of silhouette.

Golden Shadows
by Phocal

Comment by dahkota:
Overall, a pleasing photograph. I score on a sliding scale and this a one of my higher picks. Bumped8

Golden Shadows
by Phocal

Comment by grahamgator:
Love this sweet image.

Golden Shadows
by Phocal

Comment by PennyStreet:
Beautiful against the light.

Dragons Breath
by Phocal

Comment by IreneM:
In my top 3. Good luck.