We're off to see the Wizard...
by timfythetoo

Comment:
Even at this distance I think I recognise the-too on the edges... Nice shot.
(Edited for the pun :P)

that's the way i like it uh huh uh huh
by whiteroom

Comment:
Lots of appeal to this shot! Excellent processing and subject.
It's difficult, for me especially, to take a shot like this with so much going on, but to have the focal point stationary on, in this case, the child. I normally cheat by using narrow DOF, but in a case like this I'd lose so much of what the story the photo would otherwise tell. So kudos!
Great pose. Great candid shot. Might come back and fav this later, but for now you're getting a 9.
Yeah. 10 and fav.

Homeless
by jazul02

Comment:
Great great shot, expression, texture lighting. I think perhaps one of the better ties to the challenge description in here. Wonderful. I think you're getting 10 and a fav for this.

Winter's Last Hurrah
by hahn23

Comment:
Who else could this be but Mr. Hahn?
Wonderful composure here. I think the shot would have benefitted if you were about 20 feet taller :-) But still great. I think it's the best of the landscapes in black and white here. The rest have made me want to see them in colour, but this doesn't need it for me.

Death
by MinsoPhoto

Comment:
My own personal view about this shot is that I'd like to have seen a bit more of the skull to the right. I can understand that you probably intentionally lit it like this (might incline a viewer to consider uncertainty about life/death etc) but for me it would have added to the shot.

smoke & mirrors
by kichu

Comment:
Again, the only thing I can think about saying is that the quality of the final jpeg isn't very good--looking at the lines going up it's quite stair-cased.
I think it's a nice image though. I like the tree on the bottom and the sky on top is nice. It's not the most interesting shot I've ever seen if I'm being honest. And you've got a nice perspective going on too.

Artichoke-1568
by Garry

Comment:
Congrats on top 10! Well deserved.

Tomato No. 42
by gyaban

Comment:
Mais out. Le bleu! Bien et felistations!
Malheureusement ce n'est pas l'un des bas(?) score de bleu que je suis regarde mais c'est pres(?).

Pride of the Aggie fleet
by Yo_Spiff

Comment:
5.2? Hmm. I didn't think it'd be in your front page, but did think it might be closer to 6 than 5.5. Never thought it'd be closer to 5.
Better luck next time I suppose :)

Why?
by PetRock

Comment:
Nice subject and textures. I like that branch--what an odd direction it's going in! I like the lines that the branches make. Especially the 'why'-ing branch. How bizarre nature is sometimes, eh? Interesting subject, and well captured. It's nicely in focus. Sharp. And black and white suits this quite well and encourages texturing--definitely suits the criteria of the challenge. No question in my book.

Critiques (these are my personal feelings about how I might have done things different... it doesn't mean they should be done or that they'd make it better--I'm far from being an experienced photographer myself--I just know what I like, and my critiques will tend to suggest editing towards that direction):
Somehow this image doesn't seem to... pop for me. Not saying it doesn't, but I don't feel as much depth in this as I think I could/should with the branch that's going backwards so far. That might have potential to seem really deep. If I was to try to get this I might run the image through topaz adjust. That does a really good job at it, in my opinion.
This is more of a personal thing, but I dig high contrasted images so I personally would have liked to have seen more contrast. Maybe just over the trunk though, because if done on the leaves it might make them too dark.
The crop doesn't do much for the image for me... were you to crop just to the left of where the 'why' branch branches off from the main left trunk (somewhere between a third and quarter from the left) it would have given a spiral effect on the tree which would have probably encouraged higher scoring.

It's a fine image. The leaves do you credit because if they weren't there I'd imaging the tree would be quite twiggy which would make the image far more difficult to look at and discern details.
I can't decide between 6 or 7 for this one. I'd say probably 6. But certainly 6.5 if it was there :-)