England toying with Australia
by millsa

Comment:
I think these tilt / shift images can be a little cliched - but you've picked such a great subject for it; it works perfectly.

And of course there are enough Australians here for this to be particularly welcome!! ;-)

Winter Wonderland
by ThingFish

Comment:
This is certainly a pretty scene and the colour gradient in the sky is tremendous. Personally though, this looks like you've been a bit heavy with the sharpening to me (something I'm prone to do myself) - I think this delicate scene would better suit a smooth rather than crisp treatment. This appearance is particularly prominent in the lower left foreground foliage which is also quite bright and thus accentuates the over-sharpened look.

Perhaps it is jpeg artifaction, if I look in the upper branches of the tree I can see a cross-hatch pattern...

Overall, clearly a beautiful scene with outstanding colour handling but for me, the sharpening / compression combination takes the shine off it.

Winter Wonderland
by cowtownmom

Comment:
This is certainly a very pretty tree and your choice of exposure shows it off to very good effect. The symmetrical composition certainly works buts I'm not sure it makes for the most interesting picture you could have got from this scene.

It is like you have bowed to the needs of the scene rather than manipulating the scene (through the photographic choices you make) to your own artistic intent.

Your comments help with that though - you have said you wanted to capture the efforts people go to - in that regard a straight-up presentation of the tree certainly remains true to that aim.

Very nicely executed image.

"Lucky" Lloyd
by tanguera

Comment:
This is a great image - works well as much for what is hidden as much as what is shown.

"Dashing Through the Snow"
by Lydia

Comment:
Takes the blue for me.

the lighthouse
by tate

Comment:
A great scene, well presented.

Watching for a Special Delivery
by dswann

Comment:
Superbly executed. Well deserved blue.

Bagged
by Melethia

Comment:
Very pleased to see this (and you) ribbon. Well done!

christmas spirit
by cowtownmom

Comment:
This is a lovely image but as others have said it may be a little suboptimal compositionally. if I crop the left and bottom of the image with my hands placing the figure at the lower left (third) sweet spot, I think the image looks stronger.

Having said all that, this is a really good looking image. As is I'd give a five in a Free Study, I'd be a six or may be a seen with a slightly different composition.

I Heard THe Bells On Christmas Day
by cowtownmom

Comment:
I think Wendy's advice is good - the composition here is so strong that even minor aberrations stand out. If I was being really fussy, I'd take a small slice off the top of the image too.

However, the overall feel of the image is lovely and the toning perfect. I'd give this a good 6 in a Free Study.

Very nicely done.