My quiet place
by Kelli

Comment:
There is serene and there is boring. This shot tends more towards the boring, I'm sorry to say. The lack of contrast throughout the picture and the predominance of that dull gray is what creates this effect. The waves on the water don't contribute to a serne feeling for me. Overall I think this might have been a nice idea but needs work to better meet the challenge. 4.

Holding Strong in Gentile Waters
by troylox

Comment:
Either a typo or a really ignorant title. Great picture but what an irritation.

Seeking its Own
by dahkota

Comment:
Like the colors and the placement of the rocks make for an interesting composition, if a little centered. Seems to suffer from some focus issues as nothing appears sharp. Perhaps this was your intent. It does meet the challenge scope well as it is is very serne and gives a good sense of harmony within nature. Shifting everything to the left would benefit the way the eye is drawn through the shot and, in my opinion, getting at least one thing in sharp focus would actually add to the sense of dreaminess as everything else would seem to fade away. Nice work. 5.

Zen-Like
by Chinabun

Comment:
Composition is too centered. Would like a shallower DOF to blur out the rocks a bit. Green is too saturated for my taste. It is a simple setting but does not give me a sense of harmony, balance, serenity. The jaggedness of the fern and its dominance of the frame are what detract from these things for me. 4.

Standing Still
by Tallbloke

Comment:
Nice to see some rocks that aren't stacked on top of each other. This is a very original shot and it meets the challenge well. Serene in nature, balanced, etc. Think it would benefit greatly from some additional saturation of the sky and particularly the orange/reds from the sun. A different angle on the stones to present a more even spacing between them would also help. Overall a nice photo, good job. 5.

meditation
by ursula

Comment:
Nice photo. To me, and I find myself saying this often, the bystander detracts from the image. This shot of nature perfectly meets the challenge of presenting a still, serene scene. The guy in there adds nothing and distracts the eye. Would also have liked to see a bit more blur on the waterfalls to really nail the dreamy feeling already established by the light coming through that fog. Composition is great, nature gave you some perfect lights. Very nice. 5.

.
by pointandshoot

Comment:
This shot will do well, I'm sure. Not the most original, but certainly well executed. I've been going back and forth on this debating wether or not the ripples detract from the sense of calm or add to it. I'm going to go with detracts. This image as a mirror effect over that gray gradient would have epitomized the challenge description of harmony, stillness, etc. 6.

Light and Dark
by bvoi

Comment:
Great shot. Like the dof, like the BW. Overall it is a little busy and could benefit from some additional negative space either outside or between bamboo shoots. At the same time it has a calm, ethereal quality that meets the challenge well. Good job, 6.

When mornings are born, silence falls upon the earth
by Titia

Comment:
Great photo. I really like the colors (or lack of colors) and it portrays the sense of that early morning calm perfectly. The copmosition is great, though I do wish the top and right of the foremost tree were not cropped off. 7.

Meditation
by L2

Comment:
This is going to do well, I'm sure. I'm giving it a 5. To me, even though it is smoke, it is very chaotic. I think the composition would have worked better by cropping in such a way that there was some negative (black) space on one side or the other. A nice idea overall, suprised there weren't more of these type of entries. Good job.