Winter Growth
by HighLight

Comment:
Very, very nice job on the luminosity of the ice; a difficult thing to do well. I don't feel that the foreground is doing the image justice. I find that by cropping off half the water I can make the composition MUCH stronger. Try it and see what you think.

Snow Forest
by PGerst

Comment:
It is unfortunate that the truncated, central tree is aligned with the aspen trunk behind it; moving the POV slightly to left or right would have avoided this and better expressed the depth in the scene. The snow's a little blown out in the center, also, so it competes with the very luminous aspen leaves. The filigree of twigs that define the foreground is unexpected and pleasing. A strong entry IMO, but one that could have been even stronger.

Mesa Arch Morning
by rjkstesch

Comment:
There's a LOT to like in this image, but it hasn't reached its fullest potential. I have basically two issues:

1. Overall the landscape tones are muddy, local area contrast is needed. Not a lot more, but some. If you look at it analytically, you'll realize that there's nearly as much contrast on the back of the arch as there is on the landscape itself, and that's just unnatural.

2. There's a basic sense of the two primary backlit portions of the image (the foreground and the arch) being "outlined" by lighter tonalities: see how the lightest portion of the near landscape is following the outline of the foreground rocks? And ditto the sky above the arch. It leaves the impression that you were dodging the arch and the rocks, and the dodging overlapped into the landscape and the sky. Even if this isn't the case, that's what it looks like, and it's a flaw, although not a seriously disturbing one. That is to say, the haloing is diffuse enough to not be totally distracting.

Withal, a strong entry and one of my good-scoring choices.

Day and Night
by spiritualspatula

Comment:
This one is beautifully rendered, with the deep foreground shadows fully detailed and expressed. For my tastes it's a little oversharpened, and the sky's a little too dark & even. I realize you had to take what you were given with the sky, but keeping it overall half a zone lighter then throwing a gradient in from the top would have given a little depth to the sky and made the imkage a bit more powerful, I think. Still, very nice work.

Taconic Cascade
by molinski4611

Comment:
This is one of the better renderings of snow/ice in the challenge, and that's one of the most difficult things to do well in post processing. The more so when you have deep shadows to contend with. Nice job!

Motorcycle Diary
by Germaine

Comment:
For some reason I'm thinking "Hans Arp" when I view this... Oddly compelling.

(Yah, I just googled him in Google Images, now I know why I was thinking that; try it yourself...)

The Sounds Of Silence
by pawdrix

Comment:
A new era for YOU, that's for sure! Whip it out and let it shout, Steve!

Pip
by Retroesque

Comment:
Oh, talk about isolating your SUBJECT! This is magnificent.

Rocky Point
by hihosilver

Comment:
Very nice zone system work, holding detail in the shadows and the bright areas both.

Vermillion
by Len Scap

Comment:
I'm really bothered by the fact that this image is leaning noticeably to the right. It could be significantly improved by squaring it up.