Reins
by GeneralE

Comment:
I like the compositon of the photo. Although some of the blurrines helps the photo, I wish more of it were in focus. Had I not read the thread on tacks yesterday, I'd probably not realize that the reins that control a horse - to which this camera strap alludes - are referred to as tack. And I think collectively all the reins in the world are referred to as 'tack' not 'tacks.' But I'm inclined to give as many points for thinking outside the box and presenting an offbeat image as I'd be to deduct for not meeting the challenge.

roots
by messerschmitt

Comment:
Beautiful and inspiring. It's reassuring to see someone else looking at water this way.

Black Beauty
by Albireo

Comment:
The lighting is exquisite, the color and texture beautiful, the framing inspired. Very nice shot.

cigar.jpg
by grigrigirl

Comment:
'Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.' - Freud
This isn't one of them.

Sorry don't know what got into me, just came from reading a thread on cliches.

Watch Your Step
by jpeters

Comment:
Nicely observed. I love the texture & color. Nice choice in getting close & low and looking up - it exaggerates the vertical distance.

The king no longer abides
by fstopopen

Comment:
A stone house with crenellations! Cool. I like the subject. I like the curved path leading to the door. and the diagonal line of the roof through the photo. I'm afraid what I am having a great difficulty with is the exporure and the final effect. The 'mostly desaturated and with no value greater than mid gray' look just looks too oppressive. I think the strong shadows in the doors are dark enough to give a dark look to the photo even if the sky were virtually white and there were no shadows elsewhere. I also thing this treatment doesn't let us see the texture in the stonework or the brush.

Brick & Tree
by napster

Comment:
Hmm. my vision seems to be failing. I see no brick and no tree. I see som wooden structure and some stone structure. There's some blurry strands that, if you told me were roots, I'd believe you. There are some subtle hints here that maybe something here was photographically interesting. Old things with texture stones with cracks and the patina of lichens, checked wood, galvanized metal with a good patina, even some stringy tree roots. Unfortunately pretty much everything is out of focus. And to the best of my ability to see, were it in focus the composition would be a little confusing, unfocussed and barely up to meeting the challenge.

For all the negative things that can be said about the photo, I believe that there is a great shot lurking in this collection of parts. That's the hardest part of being a good photographer, IMO - seeing great shots. I hope you will try again. And again until you find it.

Stairs to Nowhere
by sibeling

Comment:
Somehow the gap between what the title tells us and what the photo tells us frustrates. Something about the stark vertical and horizontal lines makes parsing the photo difficult - there's no natural movement from one place to the next. Don't know if there would have been a way to get away with that had some part of the photo really caught the eye, but it's so subtle and understated that it's really hard to get drawn in. I wonder if it would have been better a little oversharpened or oversaturated. Or whether the subtle textures would have been better expressed in B&W. Or whether the composition would be less static if the door were not centered in the photo.

Loneliness Takes its Toll on an ANCIENT Fort!
by doctabrez

Comment:
The contrast of the photo is a little low - there appear to be no colors darker than about 8-12% of full value. This could be fixed in about 3 seconds in Photoshop. I'm afraid the four guys wearing hats do nothing for the photo. We're a little too far away from the subject to see anything interesting about it. Even if the sky had been filled with a beautiful sunset, it would be hard to argue that the photo was about and abandoned building and the photo would not have worked well.

Old fort from 1897
by angiedl

Comment:
I like the textures and the repeating pattern of the doors. When it comes to photos that live or die on the quality of their textures - as I believe this one does - I tend to like things a little over-sharpened. It's a matter of taste, but too often an interesting texture will look a little too blurry when presented on screen with the same amount of texture as the real life subject