the first time can be magic.
by mrsamsa

Comment:
Nice capture of a special moment. The red cheeks and look on the face of the girl is very pleasant. The background with the lights falling outside the zone of focus works really well. Would have been a good one for the bokeh challenge, altough the bokeh is not of such a high quality in this particular photo.
I see that the people in the foreground were very dark. There is an obvious glow of sloppy dodging. There are better ways to bring out the shadows (the technique mentioned in the tutorials or Fred Mirand SR Pro) and you can use the history brush to apply that locally.

Electric Avenue
by sher

Comment:
Nice motion and activity in this photo. I like the effect, certainly as an ' electric avenue'.

Sweet Embrace
by redmoon

Comment:
The emotion that this photo shows is classic and timeless. It is a great B&W. For me this is the winner in this challenge and a very good photo on its own.

Soldiers at Birzhevaya Ploschad
by Azrifel

Comment:

Originally posted by sher9204: Sander! this is an awesome look! now i want to learn this technique. :)

Thanks Sher. :)
It might take some practice but in the end it isn't that hard. I think that for example your challenge entry with those federation graves and their crosses might benefit from such a technique.

Not To Feel Blue When I Get Bad Comments
by Mona

Comment:
This looks great, I don't like the blue tone but nevertheless the composition is quite good.

Learn to be nice, not nasty
by steinar

Comment:
His face looks to smooth to make him look really nasty, on the other hand the guy from 'Cruel Intentions' looked babyface but was nasty. So what the heck, sod it, you should be nicer dude!

I like it how the light falls on the face and how the balance is between the lit side and the shadow side. In this setting the frontal portraiture works very well. The smoke or fog makes it look very interesting.

More time looking; less time shooting
by e301

Comment:
Hmm, mine is the reverse: Stop looking, start shooting. :)

I like the dark mood and how the stream and sides of the hills leads me down. The clouds in the sky are not of a very interesting nature, I don't like it how they look. The orange and green colors of the foliage however look quite interesting. 8

I will learn to ski
by ursula

Comment:
Nice work.
There is just enough detail on the right to show what kind of slope there is. That all other detail is blown away (or replaced with a very mild gray) works great. It creates space and the tiny figure gives a good scale to that space. I like the toning. 8

I resolve to travel more across Europe
by jonpink

Comment:
Good composition and excellent B&W conversion. The exposure is spot on and there are some interesting lines and light balance to help the eye around the frame. Good to have those clouds in, because it adds some interest to the sky. The only negative is that I can't decide if my eye wants to rest at the building on the riverside or the church on top. For a travel photograph it is very good. 9

I will stop photographing flags!
by samtrundle

Comment:
What a great idea, good eye!
I'm also intrigued by the question what the object in the middle is. Am I looking at something huge or something relatively small? And it has this grate zigzag pattern. 9