Celestial Zone System
by charliebaker

Comment:
Revisiting and explaining my lower scores - I hope to be helpful, not insulting.

I only rated this a 4 because I really can't decide what you are up to. If this is a remake of an obscure AA print, I apologize for not understanding. You are very correct that there are excellent examples of most of the zones in the different stars, and I see that, but the photo holds absolutely no interest for me. There are no compositional features, no leading lines, no shapes, and no textures, all of which I regard to be crucial to a good black and white photo. So, if you mean this humorously and I missed it, I am sorry.

Best of luck!

Winter Pines
by drake217

Comment:
Revisiting and explaining my lower scores - I hope to be helpful, not insulting.

I only rated this a 4 because the photo feels very flat and cluttered. The snow is somewhat overexposed, and there is nothing to lead my eye into the photo. It feels like you should have taken one step to the left to open up a corridor and use it for a leading line.

Good luck!

Adams tree
by slingshot

Comment:
Revisiting and explaining my lower scores - I hope to be helpful, not insulting.

I only rated this a 4 because the blacks have no detail at all, becoming virtually a silhouette, and I would have preferred seeing the entire tree. I'm not intentionally punishing you for the noise in the sky, but it does distract. AA rarely had black with no detail.

Copperbridge Road is known for water and trees that stand on both sides
by tolovemoon

Comment:
Revisiting and explaining my lower scores - I hope to be helpful, not insulting.

I only rated this a 4because the photo seems very out of focus, with no clear subject at all. The colors are okay, but there is no feeling of depth or purpose.

The Bridge
by MAK

Comment:
Revisiting and explaining my lower scores - I hope to be helpful, not insulting.

I only rated this a 4 because the man's shirt is pretty well blown out and the photo seems very cluttered and haphazard, due to the brush. I understand you cannot control the brush, and you did a very good job of giving shadow detail, but the tonality of the grass and brush is distracting and confusing. Bumping up to a 5 due to good shadow detail

Half Moon Bay Sky
by LowLght

Comment:
Revisiting and explaining my lower scores - I hope to be helpful, not insulting.

I only rated this a 4 because there is absolutely no detail in either the foreground or the blacks. My studies of AA indicate he strove for great detail in both.

Closer
by eckoe

Comment:
Revisiting and explaining my lower scores - I hope to be helpful, not insulting.

I only rated this a 4 because it is very out of focus on my monitor, and I can find no evidence that Ansel EVER allowed OOF areas in his photos. Sorry :)

Adobe
by DPC-System

Comment:
Caughtcha, Ansel :) You go back and rest in peace, now.

Oil & Water - Natural Separation
by EricSorenW

Comment:
It's a good abstract, but it is kind of flat. The oil drops have no depth at all. 7

Leaving the toys behind
by olnos

Comment:
Good setup, lighting, and composition. 8