Man in the Box
by MinsoPhoto

Comment:
I'm going through the entries, stopping at those images I feel have had the benefit of an unconventional eye and dwelling a little longer to try to see and appreciate what you saw. This is one of those images.

Positives: This is the third time I've typed out a long comment (lost it twice!) - let's try again. Not that I'm particularly familiar with you from this angle, I'm pretty convinced this is a MinsoPhoto self portrait. I find the image to be bold, brave and mighty fine! I like the stark lighting and the deep shadows so provided, I like the skirting and how it shows us that corner in a way the walls do not, I like the white squiggle bottom left and the textures of the surfaces and I very much like the ceiling vent and how that tames the space. Fantastic contrast too.

Critical stuff: Nope.

Overall: Bravo. I could see this hanging in a gallery - and this coming from someone who shoots very different nudes. I've given you a 9 - in lesser challenges I may have gone higher but for this one I'm reserving my 10s for just four shots that have knocked my socks off.

Sorceress
by LevT

Comment:
I'm going through the entries, stopping at those images I feel have had the benefit of an unconventional eye and dwelling a little longer to try to see and appreciate what you saw. This is one of those images.

Positives: This is an amazing portrait Lev - more so given the original file; I can't remember where I saw that, but to have seen the potential and then to pull off an edit to this effect is amazing. Toning and structure is just brilliant and the expression of the women priceless.

Critical stuff: I think the linearly textured background over her left shoulder is perhaps a little distracting - might it have been selectively blurred? (Nit-picking!)

Overall: A magnificent portrait - very well seen and masterfully edited.

Free
by LalliSig

Comment:
This looks like a Lallisig. I love the hyperfocalness!

I had given this a 9 - bumping to a 10. I know how pleased I'd be with this image if it were mine.

like a chord on a wire
by posthumous

Comment:
My only 10. Resonates with every harmonic of the challenge.

Take-away Concerto
by Paul

Comment:

Originally posted by blindjustice: I like this, I like the look of grain and high contrast. I also like the theme- and I am assuming that "take-away" is what we call "take-out" here in the states.

Indeed. I didn't consider that...

small town rodeo
by bigskyeye

Comment:
I'm going through the entries, stopping at those images I feel have had the benefit of an unconventional eye and dwelling a little longer to try to see and appreciate what you saw. This is one of those images.

Positives: Great dynamism couple with nailed focus - this makes for a very impressive image. The eye immediately sees the horses and then the cow before the wider rodeo context becomes apparent; it's like the image unwraps itself before our eyes. Great contrast and monochrome treatment too.

Critical stuff: Nope

Overall: Very, very well made image.

The Competition
by Melethia

Comment:
I'm going through the entries, stopping at those images I feel have had the benefit of an unconventional eye and dwelling a little longer to try to see and appreciate what you saw. This is one of those images.

Positives: I know this is yours Deb, but that isn't going to stop me giving this a comment and a score. Loads of lovely elements here - the pristinely sharp pelican, the long shadows, the gradient in the contrast as it washes out with the sun as the eye tracks up the frame, the degree t which the pelican remains aloof from the crowd and the way the fishermen pay it no heed. Then there's the toning - how absolutely perfectly judged.

Critical stuff: I can't think of a thing.

Overall: WOnderful scene, beautifully captured.

My world is after me ...
by Kine

Comment:
I'm going through the entries, stopping at those images I feel have had the benefit of an unconventional eye and dwelling a little longer to try to see and appreciate what you saw. This is one of those images.

Positives: Excellent eccentric (and eclectic) POV here - like we are falling; there is enough ambiguity in the scene to disorientate us - always a good thing! Is this an old mill? It looks like that. The blur of the rushing figure cuts a fine form and the textured surfaces provide an anchor for the barely discernible shadowed areas.

Critical stuff: Not much at all

Overall: Weird enough to be slightly unsettling. Great stuff.

wash him away
by tanguera

Comment:
WTG Johanna!

Head Back To The Forest, Boris
by jagar

Comment:
Well done on landing another Blue John. You should have set up a video camera too - your painful antics would have become a YouTube sensation.

I'm glad such commitment was rewarded.