Trashing the Dress
by Ristyz

Comment:
Saw this in the 'most fav'ed thread'. Wow, beautiful capture. Love how you captured the flow of the waves and the splashes which show a moment frozen in time. The duotones also compliment the scene with calling attention to the contrasts (shading of light & dark) and also heightening our awareness on the textures/shapes (the horse's coat and folds of the dress & curves of the waves)

Ben Nevis ( the NZ one.. )
by dougi555

Comment:
This is just jaw drop to the floor and stay there for hours gorgeous! Love the colors, the lighting and the sheer beauty of this place that you captured so wonderfully! Don't know if I am going to have much time to comment on entries but I just HAD too on this one. Beautifully captured and beautifully done! I can easily see this in the top 5. Beautiful!!! ....hmmm if you have other photos that are of this caliber showcasing the beauty of other locations in New Zealand it would make a wonderful calendar.

Poison Dart Frog
by Kelli

Comment:
Great color and sharp focus so we get to see all the lovely details of this Dart Poison Frog! Your lighting is excellent too - much better than my attempt for I did not get good eye color like you did. Again great capture - these little buggers don't stay still long enough for one to focus on them before they hop off (they are constantly moving).

Arabian Stallion
by sfmorris

Comment:
LIghting is fabulous! Love how the light shines and picks up all the highlights in the horse's rich reddish brown coat. This horse gets proper grooming and his coat just gleams. That rich red/brown tone is beautiful and the lighting plays it up well. Composition is good for it captures the main subject well and is a well done portrait style that showcases this beautiful animal. Nice DOF with the backdrop of greens blurred such that the horse can visually pop off of it's environment. Focus is nice and sharp on the main subject so that the viewer can fully appreciate all the lovely details of this horse. Well done.

Ó sole mio
by Structor

Comment:
LIghting is fabulous! Love how the light shines and picks up all the highlights in the pony's mane and rich color variations of red/gold/brown in the hide. Composition is good for it captures the main subject well and also plays up that pose of the pony in full 'singing' form. Colors are wonderful. Well done; 9.

Full Speed Ahead!
by smjbmw

Comment:
Nice capture of this horse galloping! Love how you captured the tail and mane being blown back by the speed of the wind as this horse runs full gallop. An above average shot but there are a few points of improvement that would push this composition score higher. First, showing the horse's environment sometimes can compliment the subject but here it does not and there is too much. The main action is the horse at full gallop - show us more of that and less of the barn and hedge. Bringing us closer to the action will greatly increase the visual interest. The two ways to do this is to either zoom in closer to have your subject fill the frame as much as possible when capturing a fast moving object OR crop so that your main subject fills the frame. Crop out the top 1/4 of the photo to rid the composition of the barn that is not doing anything to compliment the photo. What you are then left with is a composition that is akin to a widescreen view that shows us the running horse and the space it runs in. You still might want to crop a tad from behind the horse and a tad in front of the horse to bring us even closer to the running horse. But be careful to not crop too much that you box the horse in! Leaving space before your moving object shows the viewer where your subject is moving to and gives the photo a feeling of open space for the action to happen rather than it being close cropped that would project the idea of cramped space with nowhere to move. Lastly the zoom or closer crop not only would show us the action of this horse but it would increase the visual interest because the viewer would then be able to make out more details in the face and the body.

why the long face?
by skewsme

Comment:
Holy cow! Er or rather Holy Horse! First reaction is to jump back when the image came up because the way the composition is composed that mouth & nose of the horse seems to be coming right at you. Very different and unique composition that draws the viewer in because the main subject appears to be coming at them. Nice details and lighting is wonderful. Color tones are spot on. Backdrop compliments the subject and shows us this horse's natural environment (when we can get past that face that is:-)!) I keep coming back to the horse's head that dominates the scene - a good thing. I will also add that you also captured a look in the eyes of this horse that looks (at least to me) concerned when it asks the question "Why the long face?" Good title as well that perfectly compliments the scene. Bumping up to an 8.

Portrait of a Horse
by tfarrell23

Comment:
Wow, lovely deep tones here especially in the rich red-brown tones of the horse. The lighting is superb with the horse illuminated wonderfully so that we can look at all the lovely details of this beautiful animal. Love the sharp details you can see and appreciate from hairs in the mane to the hairs by the mouth to the horses nose and mouth. The backdrop is also rich in color and it compliments PERFECTLY your main subject. This horse is in it's natural surroundings which has rich greens in the grass and lovely trees for shade. Plus you have wooden fences in the backdrop which also play into the horse's natural surroundings of him/her being raised and kept on a well tended and largely open ranch. Well composed and well done portrait of a horse; 8.

Against An Angry Sky
by LadyK

Comment:
Love this dark moody composition. The clouds are dark and somber which creates a mood of foreboding or darkness to come. But light seems to act as a halo that gathers around the silhouette of the cowboy and to a lesser degree the horse. That gathering of light invokes the idea that out from the plains comes a 'knight in shining armor' (or in a cowboy's case - a knight in leather & denim )to fight the darkness/evil. Ironically we think of the man dressed in black as evil while the one in white is the hero. Here in your composition the dark horse and rider through that ideal out the door because of the way you composed your shot to have the light gather around them acting as angelic halos. Love the silhouettes of the horse and rider. The pose of the horse seems to me as one that is scanning the horizon for danger while the rider turns to his faithful friend to inquire as to what irks him/her. The pose and ease of the cowboy's stance next to the horse speaks to me of a strong comradeship. Strong composition, strong mood and dynamic tones; 9

I breathe the wind
by alexjack

Comment:
I really love the B&W tones here. In some areas the shadows and highlights are a tad harsh but for the feel & mood of this shot it works. It gives it a ol' tyme feel and calls the eyes attention the cock of the head and the windswept hair. In some aspects it takes on the feel & mood of a painting. The pose of the horse's head and the windblown mane really play up a feel for the horse's majesty and projects an image of the horse galloping at full speed. Even though we do not see the rest of the body, we really do breathe the wind with this horse because of that pose and way you captured him/her in this composition. The crop of the photo is nice and tight; keeping the attention focused on your main subject. My critique on the shot is that while tightly focused on your main subject you cropped it a bit too much. You cropped out a bit of the horse's mouth and ear; that I feel is a flaw because to show the full horse's head would further strengthen the beauty and majesty of this lovely animal.