Twilight Begins at Sunset
by riversong

Comment:
gorgeous chiaroscuro. Like the hills and the good focus, coour and tonality. Lacking a bit in "x" factor - great, but maybe needs something more as a focus point to move to the next level.

in the beginning there was ... only the two of us
by anotherday

Comment:
Nice idea - but hard to carry off and make link with the theme very strong. Central figures are lacking a bit in contrast. The image seems to be on a tilt - LHS down, which is a little disconcerting. Background house is in sharp focus and distracting.

In the begining of the Egyptian history
by hossam

Comment:
Great subject and link to the challenge. I have many photos of this pyramid (proposed to my fiancee in front of it).

The car really detracts from the scale - I know that pramid is huge, and a person on the lower tier stands would stand only a block and a half high. And you have some distracting tourists walking out of frame on the LHS. Might have been more impressive with a person or two near to the base, to show scale, rather than the car (which is not very "beginning"-y). Also, when the sun is coming around the pyramid, there is a great moment when the light is touching the tips of the stones leaving long shadows - gives a great sense of depth (you have got the sun behind you, I think). Combine this with slight underexposure and you can get the sky a deep blue and the pyramid full of contrast and looking huge! Also, there is a causeway from the sphinx to it on the other side - that makes for an interesting foreground.

I Want to Be An Idahoan Hash Brown "When I Grow Up"
by SamT

Comment:
Idea is captured well - though not the most aesthetically pleasing subject matter in the world! Did you know that potatoes are part of the deadly nightshade family and the green-ness of a potato indicates the level of deadly toxins? Those potatoes look like they are growing and will be pretty untasty (and poisonous)!

Quite a bit of white space in the frame that could be eliminated. Focus could be brought onto the potatoes by bringing them into the foregroundand have the box as a background element (currently all in the mid-ground). Your studio set-up is showing a distracting crack on the LHS. And your prop box is showing signs of wear - only relevant because this looks a bit like like a commercial prodiuct shoot, which we are used to seeing as perfect (might be an interesting idea to make this as "imperfect" as possible in a commercial style - those potatoes are nearly there...!)

Starting a long journey
by DogAngel

Comment:
Gorgeous model! Great baby pic - like the composition, lighting, DoF, detail. Great photo.

There was chaos.
by toadtheprince

Comment:
Nice idea - like the composition. Very slight blurriness in the bit that I think is supposedto be in focus (maybe fixable by sharpening).

Creation
by taterbug

Comment:
clever effect and a bold image. contrast is very high inthe hands, and highlights seem a bit strong on my monitor. Like the shot and execution, however.

Tribute to 'Creation of Adam'
by Simonkasprzak

Comment:
Maybe not enough "beginning" without the title [EDIT: me being slow: nice replica of Michelangelo's ceiling pattern! Good idea, shame about the v slight blur.] Maybe a bit of an angle would have made this more interesting - god (if that is the intention) from the top left and Adam from the bottom right (adding a signifier).

Nighthawk
by Matthew

Comment:
thanks - should have been, of course, a 1/6 second exposure.

Still remembered
by dragonlady

Comment:
Have said on a couple of other flag images that "Without wishing to offend, the patriotic call implicit in the flag may switch off some non-US voters - very slightly cheapens the image for me as it feels as though the symbol is being used to evoke an emotive response that the picture would not otherwise demand." Not sure about this one - the flags do add the interest. My response would vary depending on whether I knew the flags were there before you took the shot, or whether you added them for interest (the latter would make me feel that the image was "hollow").

Nice use of light and shadow, though. good colouration.

EDIT: Glad to hear by PM that my cynical thoughts are unfounded (hope no offence caused!). Flags add the needed interest point.