SR71 Blackbird
by WonderDude

Comment by WonderDude:
Thank you all for the comments! The comments really mean more to me than the votes. I've gained allot of knowledge from reading these comments!

SR71 Blackbird
by WonderDude

Comment by Yo_Spiff:
Nice shot of a great aircraft, but I'm not sure I can consider this either a panorama or a close up.

SR71 Blackbird
by WonderDude

Comment by Kodak:
Interesting and expansive

Returning To My Faith
by WonderDude

Comment by snaffles:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

I gave this a 6 in voting partly cause I'm a suckah for wide-angle stuff, and because I could see you put some effort into it. Again I can see lots of the same kind of mistakes I made. Like the edge of the church spire looks jagged - that usually means a little too much sharpening has been going on. There is a way to reduce the amount of sharpening you do, so you can still get the best of what sharpening can do without overdoing it.

I would watch for things like the glow around the cross atop the church; the fact that you used this church and a religious mural should do all the talking for you. Adding the glow seems to me belabouring the point.

Colours are good, look a little saturated but not overly so. The lack of human activity is both good and bad because this has a bit of an abandoned feel to it with no people there; but nor did you want to shoot just a parking lot full of cars.

Keep on shooting and entering!

Susan

Looking Out From The Mirror
by WonderDude

Comment by snaffles:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Let's see...125/126...ouch. Been there, done that. There is visible handshake here, blah lighting, nice focus on the lens but that's it. Free Studies are always pretty tough because you're up against everyone else's best work, so it's best to always bring your A game when you enter. Entering weak images is just shooting yourself(ie) in the footie.

Hope this helps, I know you can do a lot better!

Susan

All is Calm "Now"
by WonderDude

Comment by snaffles:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Intriguing image. Very glad that those who died in battle have found peace and the calm they deserve, in hallowed ground, but perturbed that nobody seems to have known who they were. The b/w works beautifully here and I like what appears to be a huge tree root to the right, breaks up what could otherwise look like too many leading lines without interrupting the flow of the eye. Meaning that I see it and register what it is but then keep going from there.

I had to smile when I read your notes. Way back when, Advanced editing was just one capture only, and now you can have up to 10 captures for an image, which is something I've never really been fond of. That's why some photogs ribbon so consistently, because they do nothing but focus stack the very best components of an image together to create a penultimate image. And I'm also a fan of cropping out stuff that doesn't need to be there.

Keep up the good work!

Susan

Circles of Christmas
by WonderDude

Comment by snaffles:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Definitely an image full of circles, so certainly meets the challenge description. Very poppy colours and saturation, nice clean leading lines, good focus esp for such a huge tree. A few hotspots here and there but quite understandable as this looks like a shot taken probably around noon or early afternoon on a bright, clear sunny day.

I think too many voters were put off by the triangular shape of tree and sky and saw the globes of the ornaments as secondary. Still, a vote not far shy off of 6 isn't anything to sneeze at.

Keep up the good work and keep entering!

Susan

SR71 Blackbird
by WonderDude

Comment by vawendy:
Be careful -- you're getting the same problem that I've been having a lot. When you put a circular gradient on, it's leaving circular lines all over your background...

SR71 Blackbird
by WonderDude

Comment by gipper11:
I can see a few places where the stitching is a bit off, and I think the sun has caused parts of the photo to be under exposed, I am okay with the composition and focus.

SR71 Blackbird
by WonderDude

Comment by shadowdoc31:
Nice, one of the few I've seen (so far) that in any way meets the spirit of the challenge.

- Need to get control of those highlights! (e.g., around the Alabama flag).
- May also have "clipped" your black in the jet engine exhaust.