River of Dreams
by Neil

Comment:
Hey, way to go Neal! Told ya! Right onto your front page!

Harbour in winter
by flaviamariani

Comment:
You've GOT to learn how to take care of the halos if you want to do this kind of processing; they are KILLING you here. You may PM me if you want help with it...

I Heard THe Bells On Christmas Day
by cowtownmom

Comment:
"I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men."

Longfellow wrote it. It's a lovely poem and hymn. Interestingly, there are a 4th and 5th stanza to the hymn/poem that are always omitted when it is sung as a carol:

"Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound the carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn, the households born
Of peace on earth, good will to men."

Longfellow, you see, wrote this while the Civil War was raging, and the song in its entirety is more of a lament and a plea than a carol of joy. It's fascinating to me how things change over the years :-) But it's one of my favorite carols.

As to the picture, I like it very much, though I have to say it "means" more to me when coupled with the text than it would if I had encountered it in a regular challenge sans details. Nevertheless, the sense of snowfall, the understated processing, the quiet winsomeness of the entire presentation, work for me. Nice job.

Message edited by author 2011-01-11 00:48:46.

Holiday-Side
by cowtownmom

Comment:
I have no idea what the story is here, Gingerbread Man I presume? The girl's a cheerleader? Gingerbread men rank cheerleader girlfriends? Mascots rule? I have no idea, but the image makes me smile. The light's quite lovely, and the layers of sharpness are exactly where you need them. Good work!

Giving the Gift of Love
by cowtownmom

Comment:
This is really nice work with the bokeh, the out-of-focus parts of the background. Normally we'd prefer a rounder bokeh, from a lens with more blades on its aperture, but 5-sided bokeh is sort of star-like, and it fits the season. The light's a little harsh on the present itself. But, overall, the image does what you asked it to do, and that's the main thing :-)

My Christmas Tree
by cowtownmom

Comment:
That is a lovely tree, and the picture has a lot of mood, of ambiance; it's a soft, warm picture. I am particularly struck by what seems to be frost on the windows behind the tree; I like that. I also like imagining all the presents that soon will be piled under that tree; it's like a prelude to Christmas, in a way. Nice work.

Sleeper at Sunset
by joebok

Comment:
awesome! placement of the tree shadow couldn't be better.

"Dashing Through the Snow"
by Lydia

Comment:
Awesome! Fluffy flagged a blue!

White Christmas
by TrollMan

Comment:
Well, there ya go! That's just plain lovely. Beautiful color rendering, especially.

Inversion to the East
by hahn23

Comment:
Nicely done, Richard. Perfectly on-topic, non-exaggerated landscape layering. Sometimes I wish I had your restraint :-) But then, I spent most of my photographic life being uber-restrained, so I do enjoy busting a move or three now in my dotage...