LegalBeagle Canary Wharf
by Kavey

Comment:
Thanks Kavey - "crippled by photography". At least my pants weren't showing. Though my photo from that angle didn't really work!

heads!
by p2jvr

Comment:
Congratulations on the top 40 (nearly top 30) finish!

Kate
by BobsterLobster

Comment:
Very nice image. Skin tones excellent. I like the abstraction.

My POV is drawn very slightly away from the hand by the slightly lighter patch just to the right of the hand: the skin and background appear to be close to matching (on my monitor), which is slightly distracting. There is the lightest of red marks (a thin line) half way between the hand and the waistline, which could be cloned out. These points are only of relevance because the image is minimalistic in nature, and any minor imperfection becomes more noticeable (though the small freckles and moles add to the picture).

Galleria Umberto I
by BobsterLobster

Comment:
I do now want a 12mm lens. Wow.

This is a great example of perspective, but also of distortion at the extremes. The ceiling is spectacular, though I might experiment with reducing the distortion in the top half of the image: the dome looks a little too round to me, and I wonder if compressing the top third of the image might create a more natural perspective (though that is probably not what you are aiming for here). If I were bbeing very fussy, I note that the RHS is cropped fractionally more than the LHS.

Gondolas
by BobsterLobster

Comment:
It is always interesting to see a new take on an old image. I have a couple of gondolas shots like this but with them fading into the mist on a stock still day.

There is a bit of grain in the posts, which look a little oddly exposed: to confirm that the only things moving in the image are the boats and the water (and to show that the blur is intentional), the posts need (for me) to be solid and cleanly photgraphed. The flash on the LH boat is a little uneven compared to the boat on the RHS (if desired, this could be fixed in PS, I am sure). The movement on the RHS is a little odd: the boat further back looks as though it has been cut off at its midpoint.

I am not sure that this is an image that I would buy over a more traditional shot - the gondola's shape and sweeping motion is not well conveyed by the up/down movement of the swell, creating a tension in this image that I find very interesting but not aesthetically pleasing. Artistically I think that it has a lot of value (though I would like to see the moorings absolutely crisp, solid and unmoving from that perspective).

Evening Dance
by brianlh

Comment:
beautiful shot and colours - great composition. Would like to see a higher res version.

Ironic on the challenge/timing front!

3-5 or Express
by DKYoungJr

Comment:
I am making this comment on a number of votes, but please don't hold that against me: I just wanted to let you know why I gave you a relatively low score in this challenge. I have approached voting with the starting point that the photograph should stand on its own (ie without the title), and have as a focal point a decision (ie I should look at this photo and one of the main things that I should be thinking about when looking at the photo is, "there is a decision just made, being made, or about to be made, and this photo captures that moment". Ideally, I'd love to be provoked by the image into thinking that "the essence of this photo is the decision it portrays".

Unfortunately, absent the title, I would not have guessed that your photo was intended to capture a "decision". As the rules state, I am voting with high regard to the challenge description. However, I am explaining why in case you were left wondering why your score is not doing was well as you expected!

Specific to your picture, I would add that the postboxes are a little underexposed - increasing the contrast and reducing brightness might help. Wonder if you might have been able to find prettier specimens, and perhaps try a few different angels. maybe a model posing to demonstrate a decision more obviously?

Up or Down?
by thomaspeople

Comment:
I am making this comment on a number of votes, but please don't hold that against me: I just wanted to let you know why I gave you a relatively low score in this challenge. I have approached voting with the starting point that the photograph should stand on its own (ie without the title), and have as a focal point a decision (ie I should look at this photo and one of the main things that I should be thinking about when looking at the photo is, "there is a decision just made, being made, or about to be made, and this photo captures that moment". Ideally, I'd love to be provoked by the image into thinking that "the essence of this photo is the decision it portrays".

Unfortunately, absent the title, I would not have guessed that your photo was intended to capture a "decision". As the rules state, I am voting with high regard to the challenge description. However, I am explaining why in case you were left wondering why your score is not doing was well as you expected!

Specific to your picture, I would add that
the highlights in the controller are overexposed and the image might have been more interesting if we coud have seen the model's face (eg game reflecting in his eyes...)

In two minds
by Riponlady

Comment:
This feels strangely familiar...

Horizon feels very slightly tilted, and the viewer might have gotten a better idea of the decision being taken if the crop had been a little tighter, so as to show more detail of the box and papers. This could have been done, while retaining the reflection, using portrait orientation. You can correct the horizon in Photoshop - hold the mouse button down over the eyedroppper tool until you are given a selection of three tools: choose the ruler. Use the ruler to map what should be a horizontal line on the image (eg the edges of the table) and go to Image/Rotate/Arbitrary. The correct angle should already be in the box for you (from the ruler tool) and you need only press okay, and use the crop tool to make your selection.

Although looking at it, it may be the table that is not quite straight to the window ledge.

In any case, I think that this should do reasonably well, as it at the very least shows a decision being made (unlike many of the others!).

Wings on flower
by bkvel

Comment:
The shoe horn you have used is a little oversized, here...!