Sailing Thru Gradients
by macwilyum

Comment:
Unusually well balanced in so many ways.

Boys of Summer
by npasel

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 am a fan of Lensbaby images, so you have a headstart - additionally, I like the subject matter and the high contrast, I'm glad you've let the highlights blow.

Critical stuff: More here than I'd like to put down, but here goes.... Although the selective focus is in the right place, it is missed slightly - I wonder what aperture ring you used... I know how tricky the LB can be to use. I do respect your use of colour here and in a way it does bring something unique to the image but my poor conditioned brain yearns for this to be in monochrome, with a vignette... Does that make me complicit in the propagation of a cliched image.... Probably.

Overall: I like your overall vision here, but I perhaps need to evolve my own tastes before I can fully appreciate it's merits.

Failing Light
by hesitant

Comment:
Subtle tones and the leading lines make this a standout landscape.

Mysterium tremendum et fascinans.
by rooum

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 like that this is here in the Free Study offering - it stands out from the crowd. Coloring is fairly gorgeous and the lighting is perfect for the scene. The compositional elements are of course eclectic. I also like the way the texture of the individual pieces are apparent.

Critical stuff: The image is perhaps over-contrived; not really a problem in itself, whenever we point a camera at something and choose our framing we create something that is contrived. Here though, it seems a little forced... Almost cynical, and of course the title doesn't help. It hasn't escaped me it could just be an ironic image and by me even attempting to construct a comment like this for a bunch of stuff in a basement I fall into the trap.

Overall: Whatever your intention with this image, it has engaged me, it has made me question what we / I value in an image, surely forcing that reflection upon a viewer constitutes art. Here, viewing has become dialogue - and that dialogue (if not the image) was emergent and natural, not contrived.

Gold in Blue Waters
by haze

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: Very effectively done, the bold framing offer by the architecture, the dividing line between your air and water elelements, the subtle reflection - all good stuff. Of course the fish is the star.

Critical stuff: Should the fish (singlular) be the star? Or should the fish (pleural) be the stars. I 'm not sure.... I feel a little cheated - perhaps this one was a different colour, but the overall effect is one of it escaping selctiving coloring / desaturation.

Overall: I do like this, but not quite as much as I would like to have.

The Offering
by Simms

Comment:
Beautifully done.

This Land is our Land
by Dennisheckman

Comment:
Nice scene, but a ruinous border. I know I'm generally border phobic, but I can't be the only person who thinks this.

Foggy Morning on the River
by GIS_boy

Comment:
Beautifully captured and presented.

Terminal Eye
by salmiakki

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 a very nice image - I really like the coloration and the composition is bang on, I like how you have maintained the prominence both the architecture and the figure. The latticing of the glass contributes an immense amount to the image.

Critical stuff: Nothing really.

Overall: A very nice, high impact image.

Tail
by bvy

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: Lovely stuff! Great high contrast image that tells a story but leaves much to the imagination. It makes me wonder what they thought of you as you walked by.

Critical stuff: I think I might have been tempted to set the highlight level a little higher.

Overall: Nice work - always a joy to see such pieces in a FS.