Enter/Exit
by NapCat

Comment by sfalice:
Greetings from the Critique Club

Welcome back to DPC, napcat! Glad you found the site again.

You entered a fascinating image in the Entrance Challenge - undecided as to which category to submit, I see, but it certainly fit either as an entrance or an exit.

Your crop was excellent here, and the two portals showed off that distant road perfectly. It was unfortunate that you were in strong sunlight as this seemed to dull the otherwise interesting details in the frame. Editing programs can help with this somewhat, so you might want to just go in there and experiment by moving those sliders around (eg: Hue & Saturation or Shadows & Highlights). Even with global editing, it could have been possible to create some strong definition between the front entrance and the back wall/entrance.

Keep 'em coming, napcat. I'll look forward to seeing more of your work.

Alice

Enter/Exit
by NapCat

Comment by NapCat:
Thanks all for the kind comments and advise.

Enter/Exit
by NapCat

Comment by Phil:
Ansel? Is that you?

In color?

Enter/Exit
by NapCat

Comment by kiwinick:
6 3 for each hole

Enter/Exit
by NapCat

Comment by fisheye:
The curving road in the background pulls me through the two doorways. I like it!

Enter/Exit
by NapCat

Comment by Yo_Spiff:
The harsh overhead sun is a problem for an otherwise interesting scene. I think just a modest amount of a tonemapping plugin could add some nice pop to this, though I am aware many people dislike such effects.

Enter/Exit
by NapCat

Comment by Spooky11:
Geef hier uw commentaar, en vervolgens uw stem uit ...

Azure Shadows
by NapCat

Comment by sarampo:
Hi Walter, greetings from the Critique Club!

So you decided to take the plunge and enter in the challenges, and for the first entry you landed a 37th place, very good!

Regarding your photo:

Composition
Although the tree in front does detract a bit from the image, the overall lines help to lessen this effect. Your eyes are attracted to the waves and a bit away from the trees, as if they are secondary.

Technique / Lighting
As mentioned below, with a shutter speed of 1/2000 you had some space to compromise in aperture and maybe a lower ISO (but I guess with minus 27 it was better not to have the picture shaken :)

Processing
Here is where I think it was a bit overdone. The levels and saturation caused that blue halo around the tree trunks, giving it a rather HDR feel to it (not in a good way). Probably you could have gone in the opposite direction, slightly desaturating it, and boosted the contrast, then you could've retained the original punch.

Overall
For this challenge this fitted perfectly, and you still got a 6.8 from commentators, so it pleased a lot of people.
I think that this picture with good processing could easily be in the top 20.

Continue sending in pictures :)
PS - if you want (since you're a member, you can do it) instead of putting your comments in the comment section, you can edit the details of the picture, and include it in the description.

If you have any questions feel free to contact me.
Regards,
Joao

Azure Shadows
by NapCat

Comment by NapCat:
Thanks all for your comments. After years of watching you folks, this was my first "dip in the pool". Placing at #38 pleases me no end.

I agree...increased DOF and less blue would have been better. Chill factor that day was on the order of -27...did not spend too much time "pondering" Ha!

Walter ('da NapCat)

Azure Shadows
by NapCat

Comment by Neat:
Really cool shadows, should do well in this challenge.