Here's my latest rejection and the comments. I can see some of
what's being said (in fact I saw something about the photo while
waiting for results that I hadn't seen while processing it, a
bit of chromatic abberation, which the judges didn't comment
on), but some of it I feel is flat wrong due to assumptions being made
on the part of the judge(s). Here's the photo as submitted (now in
the user's gallery). Judges' comments below in bold and my
thoughts about them.
Not a compelling capture of this ordinary subject. Not much texture rendered here - PP has taken much of the clarity away from the image.
I would agree ordinary subject, but how often does one get to
see a seagull in this pose? Normally they scatter unless you're
feeding them. Maybe not enough on its own to justify acceptance, but I
also wouldn't consider this just an so-so capture. PP had
nothing to do with the "lack" of texture. The bird was all
"balled" up. Feathers preen to a very smooth texture. The
texture in the sand behind the gull fades away due to DOF (a long telephoto of 300mm, DOF is going to be narrow and helps isolate the subject).
Don't like this one much. b/w does not get it for me. And the oof body, isn't much appealing.
THIS IS A COLOR PHOTO! Notice the bluish tint to the grey in
the feathers, the yellow eyes, the brownish sand with other
speckles in the grain of ISO400. No B/W conversion was done at all, nor any selective desaturation. I'll admit that on an overcast day, a greyish, white and black bird isn't the most colorful thing, but a photo shouldn't be knocked based on a faulty assumption. I also don't quite see the whole body being OOF, tail feathers yes as either DOF or some lens distortion at the edge of the frame is coming into play, but the eye's pretty sharp and that was my main concern when I took the shot. I suppose I could have sharpened a bit more after resizing, but I'm OK with a rejection if the judge feels it should have been sharper. See below also.
Interesting subject, but head feathers are soft.
I understand this comment completely and agree with the judge's comment here.
This could have worked with some directional lighting.
Well, sometimes you have to take what you can get, so I think this sort of comment, for this type of subject, really isn't helpful. Can't change that it was a cloudy, windy day, or that in the middle of a beach you wouldn't even have a chance to even set up lighting before the subject would move. This sort of comment or critique is completely correct for a still life/portrait/etc...
Another keeper!
I think so! And that's why I submitted it. And like I said earlier, after my submission, I noticed some chroma around the bird's head and some of the upper feathers which have become more of a distraction to me. Why I like this photo though is the feeling of a cold and miserable day and nature's reaction to it.