Nuns on Ice
by Coley

Comment:
Voted earlier coming back to leave comments now. The B&W treatment is absolutely wonderful! The thing that stands out most to me is their expressions and how they are all bundled up. They are absolutely freezing in that cold chilly wintery wind! I can feel the cold just by looking at these three. The 'nun' on the far right is none too happy and actually looks as if her teeth are going to chatter in the next second. I can't decide between two different interpretations of what her expression says. The first impression is that she is freezing and her teeth ARE chattering. The other expression is of impatience...'hurry up and take the bleeding shot!' perhaps?:-) The possible story of why these three nuns are out in the cold has me wondering why ARE they there. Perhaps they are doing penance....Perhaps the cold is symbolic of the fact that they are doubting their religion and have been left 'cold' with no answers but only more questions...the story possibilities are endless.

My Only Regret
by bucket

Comment:
Voted earlier coming back to leave comments. The B&W tones and contrasts are eye-poppingly dynamic!! Absolutely stunning! The widescreen border just complements the look and feel of a cinema scene that this photo invokes. I feel that this is a still from a movie where we are watching the main protagonist take a seat at the bar/bistro. He sits alone for there is no one to celebrate with him. His birthday - 50. He realizes, he is old. Old and alone. He reflects upon the one special lady he let slip away decades ago. And he regrets...regrets that he has no one close to his heart to be there with him on this day. This is the scene I see being played out. This is what story the photo speaks to me. Very mood driven and has a powerful story to tell...and not just what I think as that there are sure to be others who see a story here that might differ from mine or share in some same elements. Wonderful work here - bumping up to 9.

Longing for the sea
by ekmai

Comment:
Voted earlier coming back to leave comments. I LOVE how you composed all your elements here to tell a story!!! You have a great eye to have spotted the potential of all three elements together. The seastar, the lone person, and the ship in the distance could all have a longing to be at sea and they all seek it in different ways. The ship 'longs' to be out in the deeper waters for she is a ship meant to travel to far distant and deep waters. The lone man stands there looking in the direction of the ship. He longs to get back to the sea and feel the freedom of open air and wide expanse of blue. The seastar longs to return to the ocean bottom. The shore is far from it's familiar home of the deep ocean floor. Three main subjects all with a story to tell. Well done in showing us this story!

the alpha dandelion
by bcenu

Comment:
Voted earlier coming back to leave comments. Wow, I love the very sharp details of the water laced dandelion. I can see all the pristine white spokes and the waterdrops that have landed on them. The bokeh really works beautifully for it allow the dandelion in the forefront to really pop off the springtime greens. Love the brilliancy of the colors. I also like the capture of action here. The water drops in the top left corner are blurred as they speed towards the dandelion. The dandelion seems to lean in like someone with arms open (although with that many spokes it is a multi-armed person:-) ) a ready to catch the falling drops. This happy capture really projects a springtime feel with the spring greens and perhaps and 'april shower'.

In love?
by gr33nphoto

Comment:
Voted earlier coming back to leave comments. Great composition of the elements in this shot! Love how you have it a square crop to call attention to the diagonal position of these two butterflies. The diagonal 'visual' line that runs from bottom left to top right corner really adds more visual interest in the photograph. You have some nice sharp details on the butterflies from the antenae, to the legs and head to some portions of the wings. Now the critique...sigh, now she has to get nitpicky about it right;-) The butterfly in the left corner, his top wing looks a bit soft. That comes from the tight macro you needed to shot this at to get the wonderful detail on the main bodies of the butterflies. The wing was probably slightly further away from the area focused on. Using a smaller aperature and adjusting to a longer shutter time will increase the depth of field but because the butterflies might move you risk blur due to motion. But if they do not move you manage to capture some wonderful details of the full body and perhaps even get more of the backdrop to be in sharper focus rather than the bokeh look. Though that would be a drawback for I think that these two butterflies really pop off the page more with that soft focus. So any attempts in the future would meant experimentation with different setting to settle on what works best at the time of capture. Nonetheless a wonderful above average photo - 7.

The Sunshine Boy
by gsal

Comment:
Voted earlier coming back to leave comments. This is a spectacular portrait of this boy. It is completely natural in that he is either not aware of the camera or very comfortable in front of it. Shading and lighting are great for we see the light fall mostly just upon his face. Like shining a spotlight on just him to call attention to his eyes and his expression. He is looking away at something off in the distance. What it is, we know not, but we wonder just what has captured his attention. As we wonder the boy continues to hold our attention. The bokeh of the backdrop is perfect because it adds very warm hues of orange and golds to this casual portrait. The colors bring in the hues of the sun and they become a halo to envelop this boy and crown him the 'sunshine boy'.

The Old Man And The Sea
by zaflabout

Comment:
Voted earlier coming back to leave comments. The B&W processing is spectacular. The tones and contrasts are very dynamic. Love the clouds and the gleam on the water's surface that looks like a pathway. Speaking of the pathway it leads our eye to the main subject of the composition. We see the outpost first but then our eye spots the human element. The man that is sitting there watching...but watching what we ask? Perhaps he is a lookout or perhaps he is like us, just watching the fantastic display on storm clouds. A storm seems to be brewing and there might be a spectacular light show off in the distance of cloud to cloud lightning or lightning strikes upon the water. The composition's mood and feel really draws us in. This holds many story elements. Well done!

Industrial Door Contractors: Machinist
by Rook3000

Comment:
Voted earlier coming back to leave comments. Wow! The processing really makes this composition pop! The boost in contrasts and tones really calls attention to all the objects in the workshop, but where I our eye instantly travels is to the Machinist. He is in the center of the composition and he dominates it as the main focus. It also helps that the colors of his jeans and shirt are about the only other color differing from the grays, rusts, and blacks. The steel and denim blues stand out from all the other hues. I really like this portrait that places him in his work environment. Great work 8.

The Watchful Mother
by UrfaK

Comment:
Voted earlier coming back to leave comments now. What a great out in the wild shot of these two monkeys! The mother does indeed have a watchful an protective look as her young one happy sits nearby munching on the corn cob oblivious to any danger that maybe nearby. The details and focus are wonderful...I can almost reach out and touch the downy softness of the fur. Now I do have one critique...I know, I know does she have to be picky!;-) The colors are good but I think that the photo could do with a little boost in contrasts. The differences in light and dark are not as dynamic as they could be for they look a little washed out. Giving it a slight boost (not too much mind you) would help make this pop visually all the more.

Jaguar in jade.
by see

Comment:
Voted earlier coming back to leave comments. Some may not like the motion blur that obscures the sharp details on this predator but I like it for it adds a high degree of movement to what could be static. This jaguar looks like he is running at top speed perhaps we are watching as he is running down his prey. He is on the hunt and the motion blur strongly emphasizes that action to me. The colors are fabulous! One other thing I want to mention is that the longer I look I think of another way to look at your composition. With the blur it takes on an impressionistic look to it. Like the painter had to use quick brushstrokes to capture what he/she saw as it was occuring or mayhap from memory of what was seen that day.