Alpha
by Phocal

Comment by Phocal:
snaffles Thank you for the critique. I am careful around my gators, not suggesting anyone do what I do without lots of experience being around them (they are wild and dangerous after all). Unprovoked gator attacks are highly unusual as they tend to leave people alone. 90% of the attacks are from gators that have come to associate people with food because people think it's cute to feed the gators. Unfortunately this always results in the gator having to be taken care of, yes this means killed. This is also one of the reasons you should not clean your fish at the lake and throw the remains in the water, gators don't take long to find places that people do this and this also leads to their association of people and food.

In this photo he was bellowing at me. Here is a video I took of a different gator bellowing. They don't always open and close their mouth but the up and down action is part of the bellow and that is what this gator was doing when I took the photograph. I also have the color version and it may show better that he was a wild gator, not sure. I went black and white because I had not done a B&W edit of a gator shot in awhile and I like how it shows the texture of these wonderful and amazing animals.



Here is a link to my gallery of gator shots

Alpha
by Phocal

Comment by snaffles:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Holy liftin, you don't hold back when you shoot wildlife...I think I speak for many of us when I warn you to PLEASE be careful when shooting beasties from the dinosaur age! There's a reason why they're still around millions of years later.

Ok lecture done. Now, sadly without seeing more of the bg as proof, there is just no way to look at this pic and see that the alligator is actually in the wild and not a zoo critter. After all zoo enclosures are always kept pretty clean and just never look real enough to pass as the wild. True we can see some mud and shoots, but imnsho you have to show more to drive the point home.

Very cool pic, like the bokeh well-used to isolate the eyes. The b/w is an interesting choice, I wouldn't mind seeing the colour version for comparison. The fact that you seem to be at eyelevel with this guy is scary, and may add to the impression that this is a zoo shot, cause surely nobody would try to get this shot in the wild...right? I wish there had been some way to catch him bellowing and menacing you, sure sounds like he really meant to chase you off, if not make you dinner.

Hope this has been helpful

Susan

Yellow Foot
by Phocal

Comment by eniko:
Amazing how so little yellow can have such an effect. In my top 5. Good luck!

Alpha
by Phocal

Comment by MeMex2:
wow!!! I hope you have a very long lens. This guy looks ferocious. I am glad that you lived to post this photo!

The Yellow Rose of Texas
by Phocal

Comment by snaffles:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

I have to admit to some feelings of conflict over this image. On the one hand, from an artistic stand, I understand the tradition of painting pinups on the noses of bombers and fighters, and the plain and simple fact that most aviators are male. But this shot seems to be more about the full-bodied Yellow Rose than the men in the cockpit. A closer crop of them that either omitted or minimized the Yellow Rose may have resulted in a lower score, but one truer to the idea of the challenge. I just feel that the Rose is stealing the spotlight in all her flawless glory from the much more weathered men flying her!

The hard lighting on the men seems to show a high-noon shadow or close to that, but I honestly think it works to advantage here on the man in the cockpit window closest to us. Some more contrast could have helped separate the glass of the plane from the background, which looks like a hazy summer day. Comp feels a little on the snapshot side; I think a little more planning could have resulted in a much better shot.

Hope this critique has been helpful, feel free to PM me

Susan

The Yellow Rose of Texas
by Phocal

Comment by stuartjonathangray:
Original and well composed aviation advanced processed shot

The Yellow Rose of Texas
by Phocal

Comment by clickodak:
One of my favorite. Give 9

The Yellow Rose of Texas
by Phocal

Comment by Lydia:
I love the composition of this image. Well done!

I wish, though, that the focus were on the men's faces (or at least the one in front) instead of the painting of the girl.

That would make it more of an "environmental portrait" in my view of the term.

The Yellow Rose of Texas
by Phocal

Comment by DaylightMagic:
need more space at the bottom of the image

The Turn
by Phocal

Comment by snaffles:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

I should have guessed this was one of yours, Ronnie...as others have already noticed, the biceps on her are something else! Frankly I love this shot, I'm surprised it didn't ribbon. The relative softness of the backdrop of rooster tail, coupled with the lines of her body, the flying ponytail, the concentration on her face. Even the knee brace tells its own story, obviously this girl is one not to be easily stopped despite having done something to her knee, probably while she was doing exactly what she is doing right now.

The only thing I don't like is that blue-and-black thing on the line to the left. Even though the towrope obviously continues out of frame, for me that one little thing kind of halts the otherwise nice clean lines here prematurely.

Otherwise a very well-deserved top ten finish and hey, you even beat out a nekkid cyclist with this! ;-)

Susan