Holiday Tanzanite Ice
by LadeeM

Comment:
Too much of the picture plane is dominated by the white and red background. The red clashes with the color of the stones. This would have really benefited from bringing the lens much closer to the subject and perhaps from a lower angle of view to make the earrings look larger or more dramatic. Shooting down on a subject tends to make it look smaller. The color and clarity of foremost stone is almost obliterated by the huge glare. This is a nice subject for the challenge and you clearly attempted to create a sophisticated still-life as is evident in that you took care to set up some sort of lighting and backdrop. Good effort.

Probably doesn't meet the challenge, but Merry Christmas from Me!
by bandit

Comment:
This cat really looks like he is trying to maintain his dignity while wearing what looks like a birthday party hat. I'm sure you were aware going in that you weren't go to win any ribbons with this effort. It's an amusing portrait of a cat but there is no relationship to the challenge. If it were wearing a Santa hat or reindeer ears or some other Christmas-y get-up it would be more appropriate to the challenge since I can certainly find that type of thing in a catalog.

Perfect for Grandpa
by Elaine

Comment:
There is a lack of color harmony here. The plum colored sweatshirt just does not relate well to the colors of the ornaments. The greenery is rather sparce and stingy looking and it looks kind of tired and faded. The elements all look too neatly arranged without actually harmonizing into an engaging composition.

Christmas Stockings
by idnic

Comment:
This is a fun image. My only beefs are a) I feel like either all the legs should be showing skin or none of them should, and b) the socks should be roughly the same length---the short pair bothers me. I like the high key background as a foil for the bright colors.

The Glare From the Window
by sacs

Comment:
This is a very nice abstract composition. I like the tension created by the tilted format. Black and white was a good choice. It's probably stretching the theme a bit but I do get a sense of early morning light so you won't get any real protest from me in terms of meeting the challenge.

Them Fishies are Late Again!
by ramil

Comment:
Without the title this photo doesn't convey anything about earliness. Even with the title it's laboring an idea that the photographer is asking the viewer to accept based soley on invention, not on what the image actually portrays. It's an interesting composition. I like the sharp contrast and the expanse of water although this is a bit extreme. A tighter cropping would bring more focus to the bird without sacrificing the composition. I'd like to see the rock outcropping eliminated from the frame to clean things up a bit.

Can't Wait for Spring
by Elaine

Comment:
Decent composition, although the ball should be lower in the frame to avoid the top-heavy feeling. The foucs on the ball is crisp. The red in the stitching could be much more vibrant. I'd like to see more dramatic lighting or perhaps a different colored background. Overall this fails to engage my interest in part due to the "I've seen this shot way to often" factor. It meets the challenge in the sense that it is too early for baseball season at the present, but viewed strictly as a photograph, without consideration of the time of year, it doesn't convey much about earliness.

It seems too early
by Hafi

Comment:
Interesting subject and good composition. I would like sharper focus, more contrast, and more color saturation in the distant trees. I'm not quite seeing a connection to the challenge--it seems foggy but not necessarily 'too early'.

Keep ur head straight, Honey!!!!
by doctabrez

Comment:
I'm not getting the connection to the challenge. In terms of asthetics, the composition is good. The focus could be a bit sharper. This is just a decent snap shot to me.

For Sunrise
by MAK

Comment:
Very nice and it certainly meets the theme. Very nice mood you've captured. It manages to not be just another sunrise/sunset picture. Great job.