Fields
by birkin

Comment:
There's nothing to look at... By that I mean that there isn't a strong enough element to hold your attention. Ya got nice lines but they don't 'go' anywhere. Ya got a nice sky but it doesn't border anything. Ya got nice tones but no subject to paint them on. You hit the rule of thirds pretty well but the thirds have nothing on them. If there were a cow or a road going into the distance or just about anything else to look at or drive the eye, this would be very nice!
TC

Mount Nemo
by Strikeslip

Comment:
A dodge and burned in sky is not enough to really carry a shot on it's own. It's just an effect and needs a reason to be there. I don't see the reason in this shot...
TC

Fog Aloft
by HighNooner

Comment:
Very nice! Maybe a touch oversaturated on your greens but still very nice.
TC

Bonnie Scotland
by kevrobertson

Comment:
Way overprocessed...
TC

Towers
by bmartuch

Comment:
I don't understand why the sky is yellow...
TC

Yellow Rose of Texas
by psart

Comment:
I'm sorry, but I don't think you can use text...
TC

Dance of the Serpentine Belt
by scalvert

Comment:
Damn Shannon. Keep it up and we won't let you play anymore rein deer games! :-P Congrats on yet another (spelled ad nauseum) ribbon...
TC

Well, I got all the stuff.......now what the heck do I do with it??!!!!!
by taterbug

Comment:
LOL.... Dude, I saw this one and never even guessed that it was you. Now you're gonna have this stuck on your home page for a while! Gotta love THAT!
TC

Winter Tree
by taterbug

Comment:
Dude, after seeing your print get second at the club, you really need to lose the huge border and repost this shot...
TC

Winter Performance
by meyers

Comment:
From the Critique Club:

First of all let me congratulate you on a nice shot for the challenge and a decent score/placement. That said let's look deeper into this shot...

I like the feeling that you have here. The coldness and loneliness of the one person playing his sax in the snow. There is a story there that the viewer has to determine for themselves. The pose of the subject is excellent. He is playing his heart out for himself if for no one else. It looks like he doesn't care that no one is watching him. He plays for an audience of one.

What could make this even better? There are a couple of distractions in the shot that draw away from the emotion a little. This is basically a natural b/w shot. The blue sign on the right of the frame, the green sign towards the left of the frame, the yellow hat on the bike rider and the red tail lights of the cars all are little points of interest that draw the eye but do not add to the feeling of the shot. I think that this shot begs for the selective desat technique. What I mean by this is taking away all the color that is there except for the sax player. Removing, or even subdueing the unneeded color spots that draw the eye would help to keep the eye on the subject of the shot. This, I believe would help to emphasize the emotion of and the story behind the shot.

I think this would be an excellent shot to keep playing with in processing. Try different techniques of removing/subuing the unnecesary colors and see what you come up with. I hope you take this advice and post any results that you get for us to see.

Yours
TC