Ancient creature
by pall

Comment by macrothing:


Critique Club Critique

First Impressions
First impression is "oh cool, the Blue Ribbon image". That pushed aside, second is I admired this image the other day, my 'first impression' then was: what an awesome geological formation. Definitely well titled and indeed looks like a creature.

Photograph Information, Technicals & Composition Review
Composition wise I like the placement of the creature and also the placement of the colors within the image, they provide good visual balance. The reflection is well retained and the cloud formation leads the eye to the creature. The image overall looks like it needs a whisker nudge up on the left but could be a perspective correction option instead.

Despite not being able to see much detail in the rock itself, the mass and formation of it speak for itself. Part of the interest is in the shape the rock has formed, so going in closer would lose that aspect and be an entirely different image (although I'd hazard a guess, still very unique and interesting).

Comments, Score & Placement Review
First place - can't be complaining. I did look at the other image of this formation by Brin and, while an excellent image, shows a different scene and creates a different mood and feel entirely.

Some commenters mentioned the people, luckily I think they're subtle enough that you get away with it. Perhaps waiting for them to disappear next time - if that opportunity arises.

The commenters loved it - it's a Winner.

Summary
Nice lighting and capture of the hoovering mammothorhinotriceratopsyak. I like the bird elements and wonder about a slightly tighter crop to allow them to come into play more, but that is 'another image'. Thanks for sharing this image showcasing more of your country's amazing landscapes.

Symphony of colors
by pall

Comment by PGerst:
** Hello from the Critique Club **

First, very nice shot.

Composition
The use of complementary colors is a very prominent aspect of the composition of this photograph: blue and orange, violet and green. The placement of the center of the flower on the lower right 1/3 point adds proportionality to the photo. The very shallow DOF isolates the flower center well. The only issue with the DOF is that the leftmost petal falls right in the middle of the DOF plane making it seem slightly out of focus, even though this is due to DOF. With the angle and lens it is understandable how difficult of a shot this was. I also do like the tricolor background: green to blue to violet as this gives a sense of movement and progression. This photo is very calming, and attribute obtained from the colors used.

Technical
Focus is sharp, which is one reason why this scored so high. Sharpness in floral macro shots is the most important technical objective. I noticed that you shot this on a bright sunny day. That was probably the most important aspect for lighting as flowers tend to look more vibrant in sunlight than artificial. With that said, I'm wondering if a little off camera fill light would have been helpful for the center of the flower. Finally, the DOF suggestions above would have been minimized by using a different angle, slightly higher and aimed down; I don't think the composition strength would have been diminished.

Again, very nice shot, certainly one worthy of its score and position.

Jump
by pall

Comment by Ragga2000:
�gætis mynd - nafnið þitt er á bolnum þínum :o)

Ancient creature
by pall

Comment by sfmorris:
Great image congrats on your Blue!!

Ancient creature
by pall

Comment by captainkimo:
very cool shot, looks bigger than it is.

Ancient creature
by pall

Comment by gummist:
Snilld! Til hamingju með sigurinn !

Ancient creature
by pall

Comment by GregoryB:
Great shot - congrats on the blue

Ancient creature
by pall

Comment by Ken:
This is stunning - congrats on your ribbon.

Ancient creature
by pall

Comment by pall:
Thanks again for your comments and greetings :)
Takk fyrir góðar kveðjur og umsagnir, þetta er bara skemmtilegt :)

Ancient creature
by pall

Comment by dswann:
Beautiful image. Congrats on the blue!