Shades and shapes
by toutoungi

Comment:
The encompassing play of light and shadow creates a rich environment which can be entered, and enjoyed, at any point. I especially like the shadow tones on the flutes and facets of the left hand columns. I like how the shadows cast by the columns reveal the grain of the tiled floor as it connects up with the vast interior shadow. How the roof rafters catch the light. And of course how delicately the spacial recession flutters out.
Personal favorite of the challenge.

Escape
by vawendy

Comment:
A burst of action, almost shorthand for bird. Wonderfully captured, lovely composition, charming understated palette. Perfectly set off by the focused plant. Has the quality of a half-forgotten dream.

Inclined
by Paul

Comment:
Blur by grain. Rich inky image, minimal yet deftly emotional. Kind of a young Sisyphus checking out the terrain. I admire this greatly.
Personal favorite of the challenge.

Twins fan
by LevT

Comment:
Congratulations on winning the blue. In addition to the charming portrait, the composition is a compact delight.
My personal favorite of the challenge. So rare, don't know if it's a blessing or a curse.

Morning Ritual...
by thrumyiis

Comment:
The wondrous bright sky imbues the pool setting with a sense of isolation, a world unto itself. The uniformly older men suggest a club atmosphere, a relict and secret population. Okay, letting imagination run away a bit on this, but so it seems. Water and its endless swirling, always entrancing. The forward man, about to push off into a dive, is a powerful focal point, the about-to-be explosion of energy that we'll never see but will anticipate forever.
Personal favorite of the challenge.

The dining habits of others
by Paul

Comment:
A modern echo of Edward Hopper. The shadows, the distance, the attention to seemingly incidental details, the sense of isolation, all these are here in expressive sepia. The graininess and vignette work well. Lovely. Seven, sorry. But it's going into favorites, and happily so.

I'm just a little stink bug in the rhubarb
by Mona

Comment:
Last place. A gem. A seven from me, and I did tend to be in a surly mood as I rated this challenge. Just was. The colors, the processing of lovely dappling and imprecision, the composition. I am, right now, literally throwing up my arms in consternation.

family hour
by tvsometime

Comment:
We're dropped into intimacy in the animals' world, the Canada geese, and allowed to wander freely, a fine privilege. The human world, and of course this is an arbitrary dichotomy, is tucked up by the edge and with modest bearing on what spreads out below. The black and white, the generous shadows, the harsh precision all contribute to a mood, as I see it, of heightened reality. This image is forged of silver and carbon. Beautiful. It's my personal favorite of the challenge, the eight, and I'm embarrassed by my spendthrift disbursal of points.

here
by jmritz

Comment:
Aside from the hint of Waldo, the rocks and water are very interesting, with a kind of fuzzy luminosity. The rocks to the left, especially, are a pile-up of shapes reminiscent of Cezanne.

Elusive characters
by toutoungi

Comment:
I really like this image and outside the confines of this challenge, which isn't looking for several people, I would give it a much higher score. More's the pity.