A circle of squash
by gmink

Comment by giantmike:
I think a more creative shot could have done much better. Maybe get closer so the valleys of the squash start at the edge of your frame. That could be cool.

Alaskan sunrise
by gmink

Comment by RianBotes:
From the Critique Club

Skyscape challenge met. Good colours, layers of clouds and FG Mountains. There is a strong mood in this image which always helps.

Already noted is the fact that the Skyline dont seem to be level. It's possible of course that the mountains are running diagonally away but this is of little concern to the viewer and with very little detail in the image to convince the viewer otherwise.. it becomes disorienting and the most logical conclusion the lazy viewer can come to is.. it's not level

It's a pity that the sun could not be more sharper and more Starburst effect. Even at F19 the lens you used did not help much and this is always the case with longer focal lenses - BUT there seems to be a definite softness not only to the sun bit also the mountain line.. A further drawback to the image.

Finally the crop seems a bit of a pano which in itself is not a problem. Certainly helps strengthen the horisontal lines in the images where rythm and layers are used to good effect.. yet the blacks on both bottom and top gives the viewer very little to look at and I find myself bouncing back and forth between lines and what also could further distract the O.O.F cloud line. In a wider perspective image this is not a problem but because this is the main scene... it doe snot help.

That in a nutshell from me and I hope it helps a little. Enjoy your travels and photography
Rian

Anatomy of a wave
by gmink

Comment by Lydia:
Fabulous colors and motion!

Alaskan sunrise
by gmink

Comment by JohnFord:
Great color and light

Right angles
by gmink

Comment by aliqui:
I can tell there's some texture on the blue surface, but otherwise, I think this has gone too graphical for a photography challenge.

Alaskan sunrise
by gmink

Comment by ShutterRev:
Good tones and colors, would have been a higher for me if the horizon line was level.

Alaskan sunrise
by gmink

Comment by MadMan2k:
Very dramatic contrast and colors, but it looks a little unsharp to me. The horizon also doesn't look level, but I can't tell if it's because the mountains are taller on the right.

Alaskan sunrise
by gmink

Comment by nygold:
Did someone say ORANGE? Very nice job on this. It's like looking into a volcano.

That is no country for old men
by gmink

Comment by aliqui:
That's a big dust devil! I might even go so far to call that a baby tornado. Excellent capture.

That is no country for old men
by gmink

Comment by JakeKurdsjuk:
Critique Club Comment:

Very interesting capture in the face of impending, um, dust!! Given your description there was obviously some sense of urgency to capture this, and ultimately avoid it, so realize that I am aware of that as a factor within my critique.

I really like the tonality of the photo and how the gold plays off the blue. While one of the previous comments states that they love how it fills the frame, I actually would prefer a bit more space around it so I could see the full extent of the storm. I'd also would have loved something there to give me a sense of scale. Having never seen one personally I have trouble deciding if this is truly as massive as it looks if I consider the dark area to the left is foothills of some type, or if what I'm looking at is just a bunch of dry earth kicking up in a 2 acre field. I'm also troubled by what I'm interpreting as noise. Obviously, in a dust storm like this what appears to be noise could be REAL noise within the cloud, but it reminds me of artifacts that come from boosting structure and clarity. Across the top of the cloud I'm also seeing what appears to be repeated lines that typically show when something has been cloned out, like a power line may have run across the image originally. I'm not convinced that's what I'm seeing as it could possibly be white clouds beyond the dust storm, but regardless it gives that illusion.

Given that the crop is flatter than the 3:2 ratio you'd get straight out of camera you have obviously eliminated some of the original image, and if in fact this is a severe crop that would also explain why I'm perceiving this level of noise in an image shot at ISO 250.

All that said it is still a very fine capture. That said, I will admit to giving you a 5, primarily because I felt that the image did not fit the poem, at least not the line you chose for it. Perhaps more fitting for the movie/book whose title was taken from the line, but not as it exists in the poem. Not quite DNMC area, but close for me, as were a lot in this challenge. Now, had you gone with "perne in a gyre" I would have likely given you a 7 as did most others.