Fine trees
by otto22

Comment by snaffles:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Always a pleasure, trying to find fault with a ribbonning image...but I'll try ;-)

Absolutely breathtaking capture of the aurora borealis. Love the front-to-back dof...or did you use focus stacking? The play of the lights on the ice especially is just fantastic; they are so fluid in the sky then look more jagged on the ice. Wonderful. Gorgeous otherworldly tones in the sky, barely any star blur...btw I assume you mean a 1/15th of a second exposure? It would seem to me that at ISO 1600 and 15 seconds you would definitely have some blown areas, but none that I can see here. Canon's ISO is the one thing about that brand that I truly envy :-)

What would I change about this image? If I were lucky enough to be there I might try something rash like a circular star blur, which would take a few minutes. If you had the lights going that night too, could make for some really trippy effects.

Keep up the great work and congrats on the yellow!

Susan

Aurora bow
by otto22

Comment by sidpixel:
Hello from the Critique club

An appealing landscape that meets the challenge.

Ah, those good old Northern lights, they always work well and this is no exception, what a gorgeous framing arc they make here. The landscape is well chosen and interesting and the cloudscape adds more interest too. I find myself, however, drawn to the bright light in the right half and the way it is illuminating your subject, at first I thought it was the midnight sun and realised immediately, no, its the wrong time of year for that. I'm assuming its a strong light you have placed there to illuminate that part of the scene? It's the base that whatever it is that is holding my attention trying to work out what it is. Because of this it is losing some of its effect on me I'm finding it too distracting, but for all that it it is still essentially an excellent panorama.

Congratulations on the ribbon, well deserved.

Aurora bow
by otto22

Comment by Dennisheckman:
This takes some talent. Longer exposures blended for a pano don't always go according to plan. Congrats on the Red!

Ugly puddle
by otto22

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

A beautiful natural scene that meets the challenge well.

A very colourful shot that has some glorious hues in both the landscape and the skyscape, an excellent capture. I'm intrigued by your sky given the five separate exposures, everything seems to register perfectly giving no hint at all that there are 5 exposures that make up the image, however you have done it, well done.

I like your composition with the jutting rock breaking up the uniform perimeter of the water as it does. I find the colours quite amazing but I know that your image is accurately representative of the amazing landscapes that are only to be found in this gorgeous corner of the world.

Like your commenters, I am baffled that this did not score higher than it did, there is no way it cannot be easily recognised as the golden hour. I can only think that those low voters have never seen Iceland for themselves and therefore find its colours beyond belief. Anyway, thank you for another excellent contribution, Sid

Little grass
by otto22

Comment by ciaeagle:
That's not grass ... those are mossy sea monsters! I love the other worldly feel of this picture.

The most famous mountain in Iceland
by otto22

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

1st of all let me say congrats on the ribbon. This shot is stunning. I am a sucker when it comes to waterfall shots. I love the water....the sky...oh and last but not least, the subject of the shot, the mountain. The only place in the shot that could use improvement is almost dead center. The sun is a bit bright there. For me that is pretty minor. Again congrats and happy shooting

Mountains
by otto22

Comment by Dennisheckman:
Hikfingo mainglo al placagao . Have no idea what that means! You Icelanders are have an unfair advantage. Congrats on a great piece and your first ribbon!

up/down
by otto22

Comment by posthumous:
Great example of how a lot of detail and texture can still be Minimalist. Funny, the patterns of light are almost Expressionist (which Minimalism was reacting against), but they are more meditative than expressive. The vertical line is the assertion of the artist, "I am here." Other vertical lines exist as ghosts throughout, evoked as though by some law of physics by all that horizontal power. The horizontal lines are actually much more fragile than they appear, just as they are not truly parallel. As I said, this image does not express emotion, it is meditative, and any emotion comes from that meditation, perhaps as one sees the horizontal and vertical vying, unable to ever settle, always losing, loss, loss loss.

Beautiful lake
by otto22

Comment by spiritualspatula:
Though I'd expect a little bit more detail in the foreground rocks, this is a great sunset photo. Colors are not out of control, and the sky has a pleasing dreamscape essence.

Beautiful lake
by otto22

Comment by littlegett:
Lovely sunset over the lake image. However it is common and for me it appears overly smoothed. The rocks seem as if they are missing texture and as such part of their personality. It is a nice image, just not for me.