The Pentagon controls everything....
by thatsanicepicture

Comment:
Nice image.

STS-135; The Big Send-Off
by HawkinsT

Comment:
Orbiter is just a smidge out of focus, but the plume is great. A great shot we'll never get another chance at...

Power Station
by amnon

Comment:
While I like the bridge over and the power station in the distance, I find the blurred bicyclist to be very distracting from the overall image.

Dad's turn to cook
by vawendy

Comment:

Macho Pico
by MacDonald

Comment:
I feel like there is a bit too much space to the left, but love the beak striation and feather detail in the greenwing.

Tropical Parrots, June: Ara ararauna
by songermj

Comment:

Originally posted by mbrutus2009: I would say the only thing here that is a bit distracting is the flash reflected in the eye. (I think this because the eye is right where my eye went).

Thank you for the comment. I also found the eyeflash a little distracting. After comparing the original side by side with an edit where I took out the flash in the eye, it looked less natural and I went with the original - ultimtely because I liked it better. Even in near darkness and no flash I've found it difficult to limit eye reflections in these birds.

The Wild
by AllenP

Comment:
Really like how you have the silouetted against the dark but lighter sky. Great shot!

Ruffled
by sfmorris

Comment:
Really like this and love the feather detail. Having the eye a little out of focus keeps just keeps this from being a 10.

Yellow Billed Stork
by songermj

Comment:
Thank you for the comments. Considering I'm usually in the 4s, I'm happy with the almost 6. As this was a bokeh challenge and I realize that the noticible water reflections from the pond behind the stork are not smooth and could be a distraction to those looking for one. The stork and I did sit and watch each other for some time to get a pose and lighting I liked.

Cell [Culture]
by Garry

Comment:
Overall I really like this. May have been slightly more effective if the petri plates in the back left were not truncated: either by pulling back slightly to get them in, or removing the excess plates from the top to get them in the frame. At the same time, shooting in a hood means having to work with confined space.