Hiker Overlook Chiricahua National Monumentby
RefleckshunsComment by glad2badad: Greetings from the Critique Club!
Ok. So how ironic is this. I was your only comment on this image prior to this coming up in the Critique queue. I'll dive a smidge deeper than my pass thru during the challenge.
I really like the color tone that this sunset / sunrise presents. You've captured it well.
The inclusion of the sun on the edge of the frame is a nice touch as is getting some soft, diffused star burst. The small bit of flare does not distract IMO, however some others may not feel the same. Flare in an image is somewhat debated. Higher scoring images will usually not have too many 'conflicts' ... the flare may have brought a few lower votes.
Having a person in your capture is a bonus and well considered.
The biggest things that hurt your entry from a scoring standpoint are:
- the big fat sensor dust spot. Those can be easily cloned or removed with a healing brush in post and it's legal to do for challenges.
- noise. A lot of noise in this image, which is a little surprising for ISO 400, although you don't list what camera this was shot with. Again, this could be cleaned up in post legally with several noise reduction tools.
In a nutshell - nice comp and location. Some post processing choices likely kept this from rising in score.
Best of luck to you. Look forward to seeing your future entries.
Regards,
Barry