Light of Day
by HUETH

Comment by tnun:
of course. wherewith shall it be lighted but from carbon?

Transient Pod
by HUETH

Comment by sidpixel:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An interesting wildlife capture that does not meet the challenge.

I am saying that this does not meet the challenge from the point of view of the voter who would not have the benefit of your comments that explain this has in fact been taken during the golden hour. Regardless of the fact that technically it meets the challenge its important that your image alone should convey the feeling that it conforms rather than depending upon a written explanation.

As regards the image itself, its lovely to see what, for me here, is a very rare sight. Judging the size of the three whales it feels like a larger (mum) whale with two younger ones? The plumes also seem to suggest that. With regards to the composition, I think you could have improved it by excluding the rather boring sky, especially as it does not hint at the golden hour, it is not adding to the image at all, I would prefer to see more water instead.

Given your comments about the dismal light, which must be disappointing to have to experience on a regular basis, I would suggest that this is probably one challenge that ought to have been bypassed, your image would probably have fared much better in an open challenge. Thanks for your submission, Sid

FIRST SNOW
by HUETH

Comment by sidpixel:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

A landscape assumed to fulfil the challenge brief

Given your description I would say you have achieved your goal with the chosen scene. There are, however, a few things I would like to talk about in order to help you try and improve upon your end result.

First of all your image is smaller than it needs to be which would inevitably go against you with the voters here so always try and make the most of your image through the challenge dimensions allowed.

Your image has all of the qualities you were seeking, isolation, solitude and loneliness being ways of expressing the same thing this location does seem to fulfil that objective. Decay is also represented with the roof of the building, and all of this against the purity of the snow which is unfortunately greyer than pure white snow needs to be. As your camera meter is always designed to give an average result for the average scene (18% grey) it will inevitably underexpose the snow and need brightening up in post processing. The problem here is that you will need to select just the snow as you already have over-exposure in the sky so you cannot simply give more exposure throughout.

Your composition could be improved, the building is very central, it would have a lot more impact of you had used the rule of thirds for placement of the building. The whole scene feels as if could benefit from more contrast it is a little lacking at the moment. There is vignetting which may be deliberate but I think it would be better without.

Thank you for your submission, I hope my comments help, Sid

730 Sunday Morning
by HUETH

Comment by tnun:
it has its moments.

Who'll Stop The Rain
by HUETH

Comment by sidpixel:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

An interesting image that meets the challenge.

I am not familiar with the song so I'll be guided by your image and title to assume that it fulfils the challenge brief. Many photographers put their cameras away at the first hint of rain, I'm glad you didn't, rain creates many more possibilities. I love the ripples from the raindrops and I like the diagonal reflection, I think it adds interest. What I am not sure about is the red at the top right, it doesn't feel enough of a feature to add to the overall image it feels more like an intruder.

Excuse my ignorance but CCR doesn't mean anything to me so its not helping in my interpretation. If you imagine yourself as an insect this must appear like our oceans do to us and as such it has interesting features such as islands with the main one forming the focal point.

Thanks for your submission, Sid

RAILING
by HUETH

Comment by sidpixel:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

A fascinating abstract though not immediately obvious that it meets the challenge.

Because the subject is so abstract it is difficult to tell what we are looking at, so your title becomes essential in telling us. So now we know we are looking at a railing it could be taken at the same height as the railing as opposed to above so we have to take it at trust that the shot is above. This would have been a great shot for an abstract, bokeh or OOF challenge.

I do like the abstract nature of your image it is very effective, however, as you have already observed the top right is completely blown out so there is nothing you can do with it except crop it out. Towards that end I think a crop immediately below it would have given the shot a lot more impact with the focused area at the top of the frame but how well that would be interpreted in relation to the challenge theme is still in question.

It's quite a respectable score in respect of the comments I have made, thank you for an interesting submission, Sid

Silhouette I
by HUETH

Comment by paulwestmoreland1:
I like the synergy between the movements of the dancers, and the movement in the statues. Nice job of capturing that. The colors are also really nice, and textures. Somehow you captured color and silhouettes in a shot - my critiques would be that the focus could be sharper on the silhouettes (or they could be super blurry with more focus on the other elements) but the focus doesn't change much between them; and also maybe the silhouettes and foreground could have been sharper, and darker or with more contrast. I just love the overall composition though, and it's cool being able to see the people in the background subtlety behind the statues. I would give this a "5.5 - 5.8" but they only allow for 5 or 6

Silhouette I
by HUETH

Comment by Cuttooth:
Love all the Chihulys! Saw that blue when he had a show at the DeYoung in San Francisco awhle back.

AIR1
by HUETH

Comment by sidpixel:
*Hello from Sid and the Critique Club*

First impressions are of a good shot that meets the challenge well and appears to have been appreciated with a reasonable score from the voters

I like your viewpoint taking this flags pole structure to provide interest and lead you into the lovely sky background. You have chosen well to photograph it on such a day where the clouds add interest, it looks like you may have used a polariser filter? There are certainly nice contrasts between the clouds and the rich blue of the sky.

Having the main pole come in from the bottom right hand corner creates a strong diagonal which in itself makes the image stronger and more dynamic. Where I think you missed a good opportunity was to use a much slower shutter speed to create even more dynamic feel with the blurring of the flags in the wind. Given your exif you may well have needed a neutral density filter to slow things down, this would have also helped you to meet the challenge brief even better giving a real feeling of the air driving through the image and also your objective 'The waving flags depicting the movement of air.'

The sky's the limit… Sid

Mow Challenge
by HUETH

Comment by cowboy221977:
Hello from the critique club...

I think someone needs to mow their roof....lol I definitely like the idea of this shot. I do think it is a little oversaturated and a bit grainy. Also I would have brought the crop in a bit tighter on the right...eliminating that small triangle. I think that draws the eye too much. I do like the contrast between the sky and the roof. Definitely adds to the shot. Happy shooting.