Capturing the moments before Hermine
by WonderDude

Comment by snaffles:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Overall this is a very good, well-exposed capture of a nice angry storm coming in. Love the colours in the clouds, you can see the strength and energy in them and as the tide is out a little, the waves look they're almost cowering in anticipation, and the jetty to the left with that teeny little shack (lifeguard station?) on the end just reminds us how small we are...the surfers are pretty much an afterthought at this point, with the weather looming...this is the kind of shot that, with a judicious amount of pp, ends up on the front page.

But then...Daniel, dude! There's this photog coming in from the left and his presence immediately draws all the attention away from Hermione and all that beautifully played-out drama in the waves and sky. Now, I can see that you wanted to use a photog to document the storm coming in, but there are other ways to do it. Usually as a silhouetted figure in the distance, with a tripod helping to establish their presence. Up close and personal, in this fashion, just isn't the way to go.

I want you to try this exercise: cover up the photog (and figure walking on the sand, too) with your left hand. Got it? Now, cover up the bottom third of the pic with your right hand. See the difference between the original and this hand-cropped version? Keep in mind that you will lose nothing by doing exactly this in pp, before you enter: put the best two crops of an entry, side by side, and see which one captures your attention more. And why.

Hope this helps, feel free to pm me (esp as I was having a Yoda moment in the last couple sentences)

Susan

Young soul in an old man...
by WonderDude

Comment by sidpixel:
Hello from the critique club

An appealing image that fulfils the challenge brief

A nice pleasing portrait of your father that conveys a happy gentle nature at peace with himself. The bokeh and flare of the background works well but that same flare is also its undoing, there is just too much of it in the important areas of detail, ie., his face. The flare is such that it is not flattering indeed, it is to the detriment of cleanly portraying his facial features. I think also, wide open is too shallow a DOF especially with the flare everything is just too soft. Having said all that Daniel, you have a lovely portrait that will continue to mean a lot to you in the coming years, well done.

Young soul in an old man...
by WonderDude

Comment by GeorgesBogaert:
too much sun flare. The bokeh is nice. A 6 from me

Capturing the moments before Hermine
by WonderDude

Comment by gipper11:
I don't know that the photographer on the left side of your photograph does it justice and the horizon seems to be a bit lopsided. I do like the angry looking clouds out in the distance.

Capturing the moments before Hermine
by WonderDude

Comment by Teafran:
A very intriguing image - I like the HDR effect (not sure if it is HDR - it has aspects of being an HDR image), but a very effective image. There is a little bit of perspective magic happening on the right with the curve in the beach - it almost looks like a wave curling over - interesting. A solid entry.

Classic Cat
by WonderDude

Comment by pixelpig:
aww, it's so cute!

Classic Cat
by WonderDude

Comment by bvy:
Processing is too heavy handed. A car like that needs no help standing out.

Downtown Sunset
by WonderDude

Comment by snaffles:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Ouch, coming in 2nd from last...been there, done that, not much fun. I think in this instance you may not have realize what 'painting with light' is, and when you look at the homepage you realize it's the controlled use of light to enhance a subject, whether it is with a flashlight or tiny LEDs.

Still this is quite a good cityscape-at-sunset shot, and I do find my eye going from the neon sign to the tree on the right and then up to the setting sun. It has a dreamy feel to it, but sadly not a painted light feel :-/ This is one of those learning-curve challenges, so hopefully next time a painted light challenge is announced you have an idea as to what to shoot for.

Hope this helps, please keep shooting and entering!

Susan

Fireworks At The Space Museum
by WonderDude

Comment by snaffles:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Daniel, my most sincere apologies for not congratulting you sooner on this shot - and your first ribbon to boot! Very well caught, great comp, even the lights at the bottom don't beat out the fireworks for attention. The rocket draws it all together and you got nice colour drift to the right of the fireworks, and of course the iconic red/white/blue.

Now just go out there and keep shooting and entering challenges, glad to see you doing so well!

((hugs)) Susan

Fireworks At The Space Museum
by WonderDude

Comment by Lydia:
Oh! Nicely done!