I would like some more feedback on this photo, as most of the comments I received were about it not meeting the challenge. You can see how I thought it met the challenge in my comments on it. Outside of the challenge, did you find this photo appealing?
without knowledge of what the challenge was, I would say about a 6ish, maybe 7.
Its a great animal shot. My only suggestion might be to crop off a bit of the top, so this beast fills a larger % of the frame.
I gave it a 5. I assumed that it was in a cage and looking out, but the photo didn't show that.
The way I think about 'challenges' is that the photo needs to meet the challenge on its own without help or explanation. When a challenge theme is posted, I attempt (in most cases) to have the theme of the challenge very dominant in my photo. I never liked trying to get the viewer to assume anything.
An apt close-up of a bird, we do not see close up every day. This alone should make it interesting to most of us. The timing of the shot seems equally good, adding a 'candid' aspect. For reasons of overall balance, I too would have preferred the subject a little higher within the frame.
What appeals to me in particular, is the motion blur of the feathers in the foreground. What I found interesting was to see that the feathers are actually 'brown', and not all black! The exposure 'allows' highlights into the plumage, which works well here to emphasize depth and variation. The white background is perhaps less than ideal for this subject. A more subdued or less dominant contrast would, I am speculating, make a more mysteriously captivating whole?
Wether or not the challenge was met, I cannot say. As far as I'm concerned, topics are there to offer a direction to photographers, not to provide a substitute for voters' criteria.
Jason, I thought this shot didn't meet the challenge at all - since the subject seemed to be too busy to be looking anywhere but into its plumage!
Outside of the challenge it's a great shot which, despite some flash or very bright lighting, has managed to catch a lot of detail and texture in an unusual stance. I think your title generates a great impression of a caped fiend planning some wrong-doing, and the bird's expression seems to reflect this too. I particularly like the jagged feathers along the 'shoulder' area.
Other comments echo those below regarding position, height, etc.
PS. my son just woke me up and I can't sleep now - 4am! :(
I gave this one a 5. The reason is, it doesn't fit the challenge. Like John S. said, I assumed the bird was in a cage but since you can't see the cage, the topic (Inside looking out) is lost. I also thought about how the bird is "curled up" and appears to be "peeking" out from behind his feathers and how that could be the meaning, but it didn't really feel strong enough to me to fit the challenge either.
The shot of the bird itself is really good, but I don't like the background and shadow at all. It really doesn't "fit" with the image of the bird. Would be better out in the wild, or even just putting the cage out in your backyard with some trees or grass around, etc.
My vote was a 7. Great title. I liked the intentional shadow making it appear even bigger...like it was looming over the viewer. It seemed obvious to me that it was inside of something looking out. Good job.
