For the Love of Fun
by Charlene

Comment:
In so many ways this brings back memories of the fantastic 'Grace Kelly' portrait from the side challenge last year

Its just wonderful to see sisters playing together in this way and its a great mixture of action and stillness (I love Ashley's expression of normality and calm as her hair flies behind her) and childhood and growing up

As ever beautifully processed in B&W which really is your oeuvre

I'm not gone. I just went fishing.
by colorcarnival

Comment:
I felt that the best shots in this challenge were the ones which avoided too much bathos and this is one of them. To ne honest I had not seen the light as anything spiritual but I thought the picture evoked peace and tranquility which one hopes awaits us all. I will be honest and say I did not like the title but I did like the image and its way better that way round than the other

Nice tribute

Victory!
by colorcarnival

Comment:
I am glad this finished so well for you. One of those images that encapsulates what its like being a boy and having a brother. next time the kids are bouncing of the walls and driving you crazy its the sort of picture you should just look at and realise that the mayhem is temporary, but the love is forever

Neener Neener Neener
by BAMartin

Comment:
Barbara, Well in what was - perhaps for obvious reasons - quite a maudlin challenge, this was a breathe of fresh air. A great spur of the moment capture which is genuine humourous (all the more so because it is not 'posed'). I like the sepia treatment and the great sharpness. I really cant believe that anyone would be so mean as to score this a one, because even in times of sorry it is great to laugh

The Rookie Fireman
by citymars

Comment:
Larry, I am really glad I commented on this 'in challenge' because it means you know that it comes from the heart when I say that I thought this was a briilant portrait and abysmally under valued by the voters.

Congratulations on a new PB (and know if should have been much much higher) but most of all congratulations on creating such a wonderful image

Jon

Quechee Gorge
by bassbone

Comment:
Peter

Well first of all you need to take this out of the free study context and ask yourself is it a great landscape and the answer is without a doubt.

Beautifully composed, strong leading lines, visually very aestetic nice reflection etc.

I guess my one issue may be that it does not uniformedly have the pinpoint infinite sharpness that some landscapes do. Let me emphasise that this is a very small point but now taking it into a DPC context then the slightest flaw in a FS will be pounced upon. However lets also be honest and say that that is a pretty healthy looking scoring graph that you have there, no 1s or 2s and a 6 average (which is incidentally what I scored it)

One thought, I notice that you tonemapped this and I just wonder whether in this instance that was maybe a step to far and you could have stayed with 'traditional' techniques

Let me tell you Peter if I had taken this shot I would be very proud, I do think it is strong and striking but perhaps without the wow factor that will make it top 20

Nice job

Solitude
by Charlene

Comment:
Well you know that I think it is a beautiful shot and I love the PP.

Should have scored higher in my opinion, I love it

Rescued Red
by colorcarnival

Comment:
Great story (in the interesting rather than positive sense of the word) and a great image (as in the positive sense of the word). There were a couple of foxes in the free study and I thought that this stood out a mile. Super sharpness and wonderful rich colours. Thanks for explaining about the background, I had wondered but understand that it was circumstance and bot chice

Great finish in a FS - congratulations

Cool
by KarenNfld

Comment:
Well you know my views on this shot! I am glad that it rallied somewhat in the voting although at MINIMUM this was a top ten for me

Utter exquisite beauty

Golden Gate Vista
by BAMartin

Comment:
I like this shot in terms of the sheer number of strong lines that it contains.

An image with loads to look at and which draws the attention without being too busy