In any weather
by kyagudin

Comment by photoboy19:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Great photo and congrats on 4th place, you just missed out on a ribbon. What I really liked about the photo is a) the composition and b) the story that the photo tells and I think you did a great job. I love the fog and the wetness and the terrible weather in this photo because it really does show that he'll work in any weather.

Technical: The composition is great. The bit of blur on the mans shovel shows that he's moving and doing his work instead of just posing for you. The amount of detail in the water is incredible.

If you have any questions feel free to PM me!

Last trip
by kyagudin

Comment by glad2badad:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

First let me say I've enjoyed looking at this image. It's a interesting and lovely part of the world to travel in. I look at those 'monuments' and can't help but wonder how long they've been there and what did this place look like 1,000 or 20,000 years ago.

As for the image particulars; it's a well contemplated composition with a nicely balanced scene. The road lends a leading line element into the valley in a good way, although with an abrupt ending.

That ending begs the question; what was going on down there? The red tail lights are moving so well and then end in a smudgy blur. Did the vehicle stop? Was it full of tourists stopping for a photo op? The lights could have stopped for any variety of other reasons I suppose - will we ever know? For me, this piece of the image is a large part of the story. The scenery is still beautiful, yes, but the intrigue is in those red lights.

Now for the challenge theme. The 'light' in this case appears to actually be the tail lights. Yes / No? I say that as the title implies it with 'Last trip'. However, when I read the photographers comments you mention trying to capture the last bit of light on top of the rocks. So, the car was a happy bonus? :-)

All of the above banter aside, this was again, a very strongly contested challenge with some very good images gracing the front page. I think most viewers / voters were expecting 'light' to play a stronger role in the image subject context (as least I was) and honestly, I think this image did quite well overall given the competition.

I've enjoyed spending some time with your photo. Look forward to seeing more of your work in the future.

Regards,
Barry

Stella
by kyagudin

Comment by glad2badad:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

This is a splendid capture of Spider Rock at just the right time of day with beautiful red light. F8 captured the detail very well throughout.

From the other images of this location I've seen, yours is right up there with the best IMO. The composition is well balanced with a good choice of land vs sky.

I'm hard pressed to nitpik much on this really. Perhaps the voters were looking for less rock and more 'pop'?

Sorry, but this is a difficult 'critique' ... can't find a lot "wrong" with it or much that could have been handled much differently. It was a tough, competitive challenge, and you did well overall.

Best of luck to you in future challenges!

Regards,
Barry

Life is good, even when it's not great
by kyagudin

Comment by Mitch55:
Nice portrait, toothy smile, great lighting. I don't care for the wall color, but that was probably out of your control. But the pipes out of the head do degrade the end result. A 7.

Life is good, even when it's not great
by kyagudin

Comment by duartix:
Could be much better without camerea shake / motion blur.