Atlantic Seal
by KOKOCAT

Comment:
Great subject that couldn't have been easy to capture. The seal is not quite in focus enough to really make this work for me, unfortunately. It almost looks like the digital zoom was used to capture this which may account for the overall graininess of the image.

Great Egrets Circling
by flip89

Comment:
I don't think the human element is needed here. Or if he is to add to the visual interest he should be placed in a less central position in the frame. My eye keeps being drawn to him yet he isn't really that interesting. What's worse is that there is an area around his middle that makes it look to me as if his pants are falling down (the second thing I noticed about this photo after the birds). It is probably just some kind of belt or something but once an idea has formed it hard to shake it when you can't make out enough detail to make sense of something). The problem is the person is just too small to really make a strong visual impact on the image but his white clothes against the green background make him stand out and grab the viewer's attention away from the birds. I think the intent was to show the birds circling around the person and add some human interest to a wildlife shot. Ultimately, it looks like the photographer was too far away from the subject. The birds just aren't quite sharp enough and there isn't quite the sense of drama to really evoke an emotional response in me. Nice effort though.

Starfish
by gingerninja

Comment:
Nice color and interesting subject. I'm not sure if I love this angle of view. I realize it helps the viewer see the star shape but it looks a bit flat to me. I would suggest a much lower angle of view to capture the light slanting across the starfish which would bring out more detail in the texture and heighten the drama a bit. It also solves the problem of the photographer casting a shadow over the subject which looks like what might have happened here.

So thirsty...
by ClaudiaMaria

Comment:
Sweet little birdie. I like the soft yellow of the blurred background in contrast with the bird's drab feathers. I think that is what saves this photo for me since I would like to see much sharper focus on the bird and on the branch that it is perched on. If it weren't for that yellow making the bird stand out a bit this wouldn't work for me because of the lack of crisp detail in the main subject. My other suggestion would be a tighter crop to eliminate some of the twigs that are pulling focus away from the bird, particularly the area over its head.

Night Stalker
by Kris287

Comment:
Very cool spider. Is it actually that white or is this a bit overexposed? There seems to be a lot of loss of detail in the hairs of the spider. I'm just guessing but perhaps this is overexposed due to flash? This probably wasn't an easy shot to get and the composition is good so I'd call this a great effort if not entirely successful in terms of image quality.

Butterfly
by dinwald

Comment:
I'm surprised this is still up since it shows the photographer's name quite clearly (the entries are meant to be anonymous during the voting). This is a bit small to really evaluate the image quality. In terms of composition, it a nice, if a bit humdrum, capture of a monarch. It's a nice addition to your portfolio if not something that is really going to grab the DPC audience.

Elegant landing
by Gaia

Comment:
This is a nice capture. It looks like detail in the swan's feathers may have been sacrificed a bit for greater detail in the water. The detail on the outer edges of its right wing is quite nice but the information gets a bit lost elsewhere. The back of its head blends right in to his left wing. In terms of composition I like an angle that gets closer to the subjects viewpoint or even a bit lower for added drama. This is not easy of course if this isn't right near the shore (unless you can walk on water?). Very nice overall.

Turkey volture
by Ajutte

Comment:
This is a fun shot. I just wish so much of its beak wasn't blurred. I'd like to see the yellow skin part in focus (I don't know what that is called :D). Also, it's a little blown out at the top. I'd like to see the prickly feathers standing out in sharp contrast to the background. I don't really like the way its head is blending in with background here. Love the eyes though. On an emotional level this is a really good shot. Also, be careful of your spelling (vulture is spelled with a 'u'). I don't mean to come off as a smartypants and I know people get in a hurry and get impatient with the process of uploading a challenge entry but there's something about mispelled words in entry titles that bugs me. It doesn't effect my voting of course but who knows what it does to voters on a subconscious level. It's worth getting as much right as possible in an entry. :D

Fish Eagle
by AlanBes

Comment:
Nice clean detail and great glint in its eye. The color of its beak (?? never really know if it is beak or bill :D) really stands out. Can't tell if you employed selective desat or if the grey-ish background is just due to nice blurring and the time of year. Either way, it works for me (which I don't usually say about selective desat).

Get Off My Back
by yakatme

Comment:
Nice capture. With all that algae covering it it looks like a creature from an old sci-fi film. The composition is nice and uncluttered. I'd like to see the focus a bit sharper in its eye.