Feeding Frenzy
by SherwinJames

Comment:
Excellent exposure control.

Oh to soar!
by smurfguy

Comment:
From a technical standpoint, the tack-sharp panning on the right skate is quite impressive, so kudos on that accomplishment.

I'm torn on how to rate this. One the one hand, it's quite a good photo. On the other, it doesn't strictly meet the definition of the challenge, and though the title makes the connection, this is a photo contest, not a title contest.

The girl's pose is more reminiscent of a runner than a bird... if the left arm was more fully outstretched, you might have me on that. Ordinaly I halve the score for a DNMC entry. I'm going to do that here, but add back a point for making me think outside the box, ending up at 5. Had you saved this for the Free Study, you would have received an 8 from me.

The Price of Freedom
by Breeee123

Comment:
Freedom costs a bird? ;-) Eagle-as-American-symbol notwithstanding, the title seems to just not quite fit. As to the photo itself, the technicals are very good, but I am not fond of the downward-looking pose. Perhaps the title and downward look are intended to convey sadness at our soldiers lost in battle? If so, the connection is just not quite getting there for me.

The Bird
by nikolaos

Comment:
The bird is quite difficult to find amongst the cluttered foreground and background.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet
by BeeCee

Comment:
The bird really stands out against the deep blue of the sky. The more I look at this, the more I like it.

Following
by raish

Comment:
I love the strong diagonals but the birds almost get lost in the water here. A polarizer probably would have been a tremendous help.

The Eagle (a softened rendition)
by louisp

Comment:
Sorry to say that photos of statues, especially straight-on ones rarely impress me. It just seems to me that they dodge the real, well, challenge of the challenge, which is to be creative with the subject matter.

The Raven
by jodis_eva

Comment:
Great silhouette effect against the sunset (sunrise?). Exposure is perfect and the bird is what makes this photo.

An Ordinary Duck
by train

Comment:
At first I was going to say this is a rather ordinary photo, but I do rather like how you've captured the ripples emanating out. A polarizer might have helped lessen the haze int he water at the top. I'd have also preferred to see the stray feather on the right side of the image cloned out. I say cloned rather than cropped, because cropping would have lost the symmetery of the ripples. The feather does seem to break the symmetry and the otherwise clean circles.

On the Wing
by jbsmithana

Comment:
Wow... great tone control. The left wing *almost* gets lost in the background, so I hope you're not getting clobbered by users with uncalibrated monitors. Kudos for such a great capture of this bird in flight, too.