Silence
by aprudhomme

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 do like you concept here - I like a bit of oddness and the juxtaposition of hat and wood definitely offers that. I like your high contrast handling too.

Critical stuff: Not too much really - I like the way the forest is a bit blown, I wonder how it would have looked with a white vignette, I think this may have helped accentuate the look you have started to create here.

Overall: pretty effective image.

Simply Diamonds
by JulietNN

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 this - I like the way it references / pokes fun(?) at Damien Hirst's For The Love of God. I love the clarity of the jewellery and how its 'man-madeness' contrasts with the small skull and the earthy tones of the background. I also like that you have shot this - by that I mean the boldness of the work and how it is completely contrived. All photography is contrived since it is consciously framed in both space and time. This work is far more honest in that regard than most.

Critical stuff: Nothing at all.

Overall: Great image; really refreshing too!

Old and Weird!
by grgkopanas

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 really, really like this - I see this colour palette and I immediately think clive_patric_nolan, I wonder if it is. There is much to recommend the image, to an English speaker, the lettering fascinates and the light and processing communicates much texture. I really like the vignette too - it keeps the focus tight.

Critical stuff: Nothing really, I wonder whether the blurred foreground is distracting but imagining it without diminishes it.

Overall: I really like it - guaranteed to not do as well as it deserves!

A Delicate Balance
by njsabs

Comment:
Must be a njsabs image. Beautifully executed - great light, wonderful toning. Characteristically crafted.

Respect
by laposto

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: There are so many elements I like in this image and I like the drama and story it suggests too. Technically it is excellent - great clarity and very effective lighting. Nothing too valuable is lost in shadow. The background graffiti coupled with the tattoos and the contrast you have created between skin and white walls is amazing. The markings on the models face add to the drama of the scene and offers a cinematic feel... a story to be told here.

Critical stuff: Nothing

Overall: Masterful stuff

Forever Young
by Senay

Comment:
This is n exceptionally well lit and executed portrait.

Beachcombers
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: This is a great image, the shadowy figures are perfectly silhouetted and the overall light you've captured here is superb. The very slight coloration (or is that my screen playing tricks!?) is very effective - if this is a monochrome image then the toning you have applied works so well to convey warmth and depth.

Critical stuff: Nothing

Overall: A really great image, I'm glad I got to look at it for a while.

A Quiet Hideaway in the Big Apple
by Sioux

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: An interesting POV and one that works really well - it combines scale very nicely; the small body of water placed onto the big city. It must have been really tempting to invert this vertically and I respect your choice to keep it this way up.

Critical stuff: Personally, I think it has more impact the other way up, the branches then becoming a visually metaphor for being rooted in the city and (for me) they become less dominant in the image.

Overall: Effective work - nicely found.

Urban Dreams
by mzrowan

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: There is certainly some visual glue that holds this piece together - it feels consistent and holistic. I'm really not sure what the mark on the ground is but its angular curves resonates with the painted message. The inclusion of the tree gives a sense of scale to the scene.

Critical stuff: I think the toning here is a bit flat and the overall clarity of the image is (probably deliberately) muted. The overall intrinsic interest in the scene doesn't excite me too much but I can see that much of the appeal is in the capture an presentation of this quite ordinary part of the world and how that might contrast (or offer ironic reflection) when placed against the meaning of the message.

Overall: Thought provoking but ultimately (for me) visually unsatisfying.

Ominous
by Retroesque

Comment:
You have the measure of this scene, the clouds are the star and you have composed the frame perfectly, with exactly the optimal mix of sea, city and sky.

The contrast handling in the cloud area is just flat out brilliant and the sense of darkness at the left of the image really is ominous.

I think I know who's image this is but that's not going to stop me giving a score - great work.