High Plains Thunderhead
by Dennisheckman

Comment:
Lovely image, Dennis!! Congrats on the red.

The Three Amigos
by patches

Comment:
Why, oh why, did you find the need to Topaz (Glow, right? Is it the "Fur & Feathers" or "Cuddly Creatures" preset?) the lovely details of these chicks into oblivion?! Giving you a 6 for the capture and taking away 1 for the processing of what might have otherwise easily been a top 3. There's ways to use those presets to enhance areas in a shot like this, but the overall effect adds too much noise where there it shouldn't be and that canvas texture to an otherwise nicely bokeh'd background. I'm not scolding you, I'm speaking as someone who has gone back and reprocessed a dozen photos that I love that once looked very much like this.

Barred owl
by snaffles

Comment:
As a "bird photograph" I hate the choice of this B&W treatment as you utterly lose the bird. I like it significantly more as I consider it in the abstract, but even then I find myself wishing you'd done it differently as I believe it could have been amazing. Need to come back to give this one a number.

Leaking Life
by westford

Comment:
I love this image and thought for sure it would take the Blue. Well done.

Permission to Land
by MeMex2

Comment:
Dropping in on my way back out to let Jane know just how proud I am of her accomplishment. I had a bunch of goals here before I left and the only one I never got was winning a Free Study (though I notice that the people who managed to relegate me to 2nd multiple times didn't enter - but this ain't about me. And hey, I DID win the unofficial yearly crown so... LOL). Regardless, having been a part of this adventure with Jane it's a pure testimony to "It's not the tool, it's the craftsman", and Jane is an Amish beachgoers magnet, which is a surefire recipe for amazing shots.

This is the epitome of street photography meets beach/bird photography and I love the heck out of it. It deserves to be celebrated and you all did just that. Congrats, Jane!!

Bull-y
by LevT

Comment:
I almost didn't vote on this one for several reasons, none of them political. Mainly because while I appreciate your "animal" interpretation I was looking at this from the standpoint in which it was laid out and that caused me to knock points from anything that was constructed (I've seen others have said the same) and not an actual animal (which we could certainly debate). Still a brilliant assemblage.

Loch Ness Karela
by ecmguy

Comment:
So the world knows, this is what Rob does when he decides to go for the Brown. :)

Still love it. Congrats on the TT.

Cannibals
by vawendy

Comment:
Would have been my top choice if I hadn't dinged you a point for a lack of an "animal". Really creative and deserving of the front page though. Congrats.

Manatee
by Lydia

Comment:
My favorite in the challenge. Well done on the HM!!

Yellow Crookneck Squacker Squad
by grahamgator

Comment:
So glad this did this well, Mary Ann. Gotta love a soggy gourd. Congratulations!!