Peaking through the fog
by Enlightened

Comment:
What a relaxing scene. Beautiful rustic boats, a cute little building on an island in the distance, and a warm sunshine that's finally broken through a heavy fog. I can smell the air and hear the birds and gentle waves. The way the boats are tethered is interesting, I've not seen it done quite like that before.

Unfortunately, it is one of those shots that would have done better outside of a Freestudy. There's nothing really wrong with it at all. You captured and processed it well. Ideally, the composition of the boats and the building in the background could have been better. But what are you going to do? Move the boats? I imagined myself in your shoes moving left and right for a better composition, but I think you've captured it the best you could for what you were going for.

One thing I noticed, if you cover the bottom part of the photo where you can see the rock, it creates an illusion that the photographer might have been out on the water with the other boats. For some reason, something about that makes me feel better about the photo as a whole. I'm no longer an observer looking out at these fishing boats; I'm a fisherwoman! Ding ding!

Cade
by jomari

Comment:
I certainly see a "Golden Ratio" here. It's a decently solid image; it's sharp, well exposed, etc. I might have preferred a color version, but that's really a preference thing. There's nothing "wrong" with the color treatment you chose I don't think.

S/he sure is cute. I can almost feel the softness of the fur and the sharpness of the straw. I feel like the newborn has more story to tell that isn't being told here, and I think the story is what would have given this image a better score. Right now this could be any calf in any barn, anywhere. It's easily forgettable. You say this was in a petting zoo, so what could be done to tell that story? The challenging part would be making a petting zoo look attractive, which is hard, I know, heh.

Triumph
by pamb

Comment:
Excellent choice of portrait composition. Those vertical support bars and tire absolutely scream for a portrait orientation. I will say though, it feels really cramped. I don't know much about motorcycles and their riders, but I get the sense that they want freedom and "the open road." With that said, the tightness of the image seems to clash with the spirit of the bike.

Technically, the basics all look pretty good. It appears sharp in all the places one would expect sharpness. The colors are great and well saturated without being too saturated. I really like that hint of blue creeping in. As for the lighting, it's harsh. There's quite a few sharp glares. That's probably one of the more difficult aspects of this challenge, since automobiles are considered nicest when they have shiny chrome and shiny paint. Taking a quick look at some of your other images, I can tell you have, at the very least, a strong natural understanding of lighting. This just comes across as too "in your face." That tightness I was talking about before might play a role in this too though. Would it seem so harsh if there were more wriggle room in the image? I dunno.

Phototaxis
by GeneralE

Comment:
It's interesting how the mirrors reflect what they want to. If it were one solid mirror, the reflection would be one solid image. Instead, each mirror square is doing its own thing, and you see slight variations in what is reflected. I suppose that means there was just enough of a surface angle for each mirror to be doing its own thing. I suppose this also tells me that I should never put up a mirror wall, because that would drive me nuts to live with.

That plant is also telling its own story. It always amazes me how plants reach for light, and do whatever it takes to get there.

Which One of These Things is Not Like the Others?
by ambaker

Comment:
Fantastic composition choice. It's a very powerful and commanding layout. The pencils are staggered nicely too. Randomness is something I struggle with, so I admire you for this, heh. There's one yellow pencil with a chunk missing out of its eraser that I might have rolled over, but that is being extremely picky.

I think you ended up in the bottom pack mainly because pencils aren't terribly exciting. Granted, wine glasses and folded paper aren't either and those seem to do well (shrug). It certainly fits the challenge. Other reasons might be, the focus being soft and the lighting might be a touch too harsh. Your shutter is 1/6 and the min focal length of your lens was 28. Following the ol rule of thumb (1 / focal length), you shouldn't have been below 1/28 to prevent hand jitter and motion blur. The focus isn't that far off, but it's just enough to freak my eyes out.

See the blazing Yule before us, Fa la la la la, la la la la.
by hahn23

Comment:
Wow, nice catch. I've not seen one that big in person. I just imagine you noticing it and yelling "CAMERA!!!!!"

I'm a big girl now.
by RamblinR

Comment:
David was clearly way out of line with his comments (I wish I could say it were just one...). Over half of the photos of me as a child were topless or bottomless, and I'm quite certain my dad was not a perv. Getting to run around half naked is just a perk of being a kid. In fact, if my dad would have told me to put clothes on for the photos, I probably would have been pouting rather than wearing a big ol' smile. There's nothing wrong with her for being shirtless, and there's nothing wrong with you for taking the photo and posting it. With your careful composition, there's nothing to even see! This is a beautiful child doing what she does. Your granddaughter is well under the age that anyone should even be remotely thinking of sexual thoughts.

It's a beautiful photo, Maria. Thank you for capturing the scene and sharing it with us.

Twin Cousins
by ambaker

Comment:
Those cameras are so interesting!

I'm not sure if it's the cameras that give the old-time feel or what, but this photo just feels old to me. I feel there may be a lot contributing to the older feel. Lens choice, composition, DOF, B/W (obviously), etc. Your score for the challenge isn't too bad, but I feel the voters may have missed some of that nostalgic warmth the photo gives. To me you were able to capture that old "film" feel with a modern digital camera. Something that the film purists say just can't be done.

Oh, and I love that shing of light reflecting off the leftmost camera's chrome!

Seriously?
by ambaker

Comment:
You may not do many portraits, but you've done a fine job here capturing her sweetness. Her expression and positioning are engaging. It's hard not to look at this photo, smile, and tilt your head to match hers.

I will say though that there does seem to be a slight motion blur, which I would attribute to your shutter speed being slightly too slow for your focal distance. The side of her face closest to the window also seems a touch hot in terms of exposure. I understand that this is likely to create an acceptable exposure on the other side. For those reasons, as a voter, I'd score this lower.

However, if I were a proud pappa, I'd certainly feel differently about the photo. A proud pappa would see this as their beautiful little girl illuminated with a warm sun glow. You can see her youthful skin and her rosy cheeks. That warm sun that may have blown highlights to a voter also is at the perfect angle to illuminate those rich brown eyes.

Sorry We Missed You... Please Come Again
by ambaker

Comment:
I have family in Missouri, so I checked this place out. It's nowhere near them, but it looks like quite a remarkable little town. Remarkable in the fact that it's tiny! Wiki says its area is not even half a square mile.

With that said, I completely understand the drive-by photo of this abandoned gas station. I don't even see an operational gas station in Qulin from Google's maps. Wait, found one! It's absolutely the kind of place that you only stop in if you live there or know someone. Otherwise, you just drive through, as your photo represents.

The town also seems very proud of their past. I found mention that some say it could be compared to the old west with murders and trials to be had. Again, I feel your photo represents this too, even if you didn't intend it. Everything I've read about this little town is about their history, not their present or future. Their census data shows them to be relatively young, but the Google map shows little life to it. There's little in the way of new construction. Even the gas pumps are all the old 80s style pumps. All the local businesses seem like they've been there 50+ years, and don't look very well maintained. I did just find an elementary school building with a bright purple roof!

Maybe this little town is on the verge of a boom, and maybe in a few years your drive-by may show a completely different Qulin. For now though, your photo is very representative of the recent state of this little town in many ways.