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.

SR71 Blackbird
by WonderDude

Comment by giantmike:
Seems more like it was shot with a super wide lens instead of being a panoramic.

Run of The Mail
by WonderDude

Comment by snaffles:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Hmm the truck is in focus and the dominant elelment...but that is pretty much it! Sadly this image looks too much like a snapshot. The light wash over the front of the truck is a bit odd, and the reflection in the window distracts. The tilt is a little disconcerting...I keep waiting for the parking brake to go and bye-bye truck :-)

Finally the lack of a human in the shot just gives this a rather impersonal look. A passerby glancing at, a dogwalker letting their dog pee on a tire, a weary-looking mailman clambering up into the truck...that wouldn't guarantee a ribbon by any means, but would pull you up a little.

Hope this helps

Susan

Pink Kryptonite
by WonderDude

Comment by snaffles:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

I recognized that type of lantern right away, someone in the area makes them! Nice trippy colours, the way they're designed certainly helps you meet the challenge, and if you look at it for awhile it looks like it starts to rotate (or maybe that's just me :-) So what if it is a teeny bit of an easy way to get an entry, sometimes stuff like this works, and even if you didn't win you still did pretty well.

Keep up the good work, I think we're going to be seeing more of you on the front page!

Susan

Weathered
by WonderDude

Comment by snaffles:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

I wish this image had done better in voting but there is no accounting for voters' tastes. That poor tree isn't weathered, though it was the weather (tornadoes) that did the damage. That tree had been stripped to its bones.

Basically the tree itself is fantastic, with all those broken limbs and strong lines everywhere. The lighting is great (overcast skies have some use after all). The focal point is clear, composition simple, focus is great looking at your settings, small wonder you're loving that setup you now have.The background buildings don't really detract...yes they are there, but they're not drawing attention away from the tree.

So why didn't this image do better, it didn't even get any comments during voting? Well, it is a safe image, there are no dark corners for us to probe and explore. A nighttime shot of this tree, perhaps with the moon caught in its branches, could have taken things an entirely different direction. Also, I think too many voters just simply saw the title and just didn't realize that this was a tree that had simply weathered quietly and died, but in fact had undergone some severe trauma in that death. It must've taken a lot of tornado power to rip the bark off of a tree!

Hope this helps, and please keep on entering - you clearly have an eye and some good gear to play with, so please make the most of both!

Susan