On the way Home
by Structor

Comment:
Ladies and gentlemen, please assume the crash position...the pilot has balied out.

Lux: a study in stone, water, and light
by wyverndragon

Comment:
Reminds me of the cover from one of those "pyramid power" books from the '70's

Mustang Sally
by HarveyG

Comment:
Great job freezing the plane in mid-air, unfortunately, you also froze the prop. Some blur there would have conveyed the feeling that the plane was running and not gliding with its engine off

Wet Side Wave Rider
by BrianR

Comment:
You effectively used a fast shutter speed to stop the water, but the orientation of the image makes it look like he's going uphill and is bothersome.

seconds ?
by BrennanOB

Comment:
Excellent! You're putting that camera to good use I see.

Arrived the easy way
by MistyMucky

Comment:
From the Critique Club

First of all, this is well done and I think the score and ranking reflect that. It certainly meets the challenge and from a technical standpoint, the B&W looks great. I think you made the right choice with B&W. The composition, using the near mountains, the far mountains and the sky to divide the image into thirds is excellent.

I'm going to make a few suggestions and technical comments on some other possibilities to consider.

First, the paraglider. I didn't know what it was until I read the comments. I thought the canopy was a bird. I'd like to have seen it directly from the front or back and then it would have been more identifiable. Unless you're working with the pilot, there's not much you could have done though aside from hope.

Second, the foreground. The closest thing to the viewer in the image is the mountains at the bottom, which are still pretty far away. It makes me feel like I'm flying. It would be nice to try some closer foreground in the bottom of the shot. You might have to lay down on the ground...

Overall though this is a solid image and I just want to give you some things to consider for the future or in processing another shot you might have made on this same trip.

Spork

Offense, Defense, Goalkeeper: Soccer
by amsterdamman

Comment:
I think some of them are working against each other...bonus points for the goalie's expression.

Of all things visible
by jjbeguin

Comment:
JJ, you never cease to amaze me.

A Different Type of Crop
by mbrutus2009

Comment:
There are balloons in this shot?

Oh look, there they are, I was looking at something else...

Anyway, this is a good idea and a pretty good image to boot, I like the idea. You're lucky to have such a model. Hopefully, you can shoot her again.

On the technical side, a reflector or a touch of flash to fill some light into the shadows on the model (and the balloons too) would help make it really pop. Just don't overdo it or it starts looking cheesy. While I like the idea with the title and the setting, the fruit trees in the BG should be more prominent/evident. Perhaps getting closer to one of the trees to make the fruit bigger, using only orange/yellow balloons and/or having the model wear orange/yellow to tie the three elements together.

Anyway, that's my $0.02, YMMV

Poised
by Transit

Comment:
Tremendously surreal.

The only thing that might improve it would be to have removed the scuffs and other marks on the pedestal...could have just used black spraypaint, but maybe easy to do later in post