Early Morning Sentinel
by maxaz1

Comment by ericwoo:
Hey there from the Critique Club

First of all, CONGRATS on your new personal best score!! It always excites me to surpass old scores, even just to get a new one on my profile page. Very nice work to beat the strong work you already have there.

Camera Work/Technical: Excellent focus and nice depth of field use, as well as color use, to isolate the subject from the sky background. I see that you were down at ISO 50, but I still think I see some graininess in the sky. Perhaps just a touch of neat image or noise ninja would have cleared that up.

Lighting: Terrific, even lighting gives this one a great warmth and makes it a very appealing image. I see that you added some contrast in your post-processing. I think even a little more would have benefited it. I took the liberty to make some minor adjustments to further illustrate what I am talking about. In the image below, I added a very small curves adjustment and a little bit of neat image, as well as a border (yeah, I am on that side of the never-ending border debate). I'll gladly remove your image if you'd like me too, but here it is.


Composition/Content: Great choice of subjects and well placed to fall nicely into the rule of thirds.

My Opinion: A well-deserved new personal best. With some very minor adjustments, I think this one might have jumped that 6 hurdle. Nice work, and I look forward to more new bests from you.

Thank you for the opportunity to provide a critique on your entry,
Eric

Early Morning Sentinel
by maxaz1

Comment by krnodil:
Congrats on a new personal best - a nice quiet, simple capture.

Early Morning Sentinel
by maxaz1

Comment by colorcarnival:
A very nice and simple shot. What a beautiful bird! Love the contrast of the subject with the beautiful sky.

At Least 100 Years Old - Made to Last Forever
by maxaz1

Comment by poser:
what a great item to have passed down to you.

At Least 100 Years Old - Made to Last Forever
by maxaz1

Comment by snaffles:
I'm one of your 7s, I love the solidity of that mortar and pestle.

Early Morning Sentinel
by maxaz1

Comment by Melethia:
Yay, Maxine! New PB! And I really like the shot - simple, but very engaging. Clouds and light were indeed perfect for it. Nicely done!

Early Morning Sentinel
by maxaz1

Comment by levyj413:
Congrats on your new personal best, Maxine! :) It's a really nice shot. Even better, now when you look at each other and say, "remember that bird," You'll be able to go look at it again. :)

Early Morning Sentinel
by maxaz1

Comment by meyers:
I like the warm color, and the sharpness of the cactus against the soft cloudy background.

At Least 100 Years Old - Made to Last Forever
by maxaz1

Comment by colorcarnival:
oh wow, I had no idea it was a mortar and pestle. What a great item to still have around. Looks like it is still in good condition. Since it is old, I wonder how the whole pic would have looked in sepia tone. Very interesting!

At Least 100 Years Old - Made to Last Forever
by maxaz1

Comment by krnodil:
Great take on kitchenware, I don't know how recognizable it is as a mortar and pestle though to the general public, and that might have hurt your score. But a really interesting piece, and shot well in natural light!