...and I, I took the one less traveled by
by jerseyjim

Comment:
This shot had some potential and suffers from a few things. Unfortunately in 'simple' shots, any flaw stands out that much more. First, I'd suggest taking this shot on your knees. The persepective of the road would be flattened out a bit and add much more to the sense of a path off into infinity. I like the light coming through the trees quite a bit and I like the white surface of the road. All very serene and do well by the challenge. Composition is well balanced. Don't care for the amount of darkness on the left side of the shot. Suppose you can't control nature's lighting, but if the fade to black was a bit more gradual and those trees jus a bit more defined as they came towards me on the left it would have worked better. Overall, nice work. 5.

Concert
by Imagineer

Comment:
Nice shot and probably no easy feat to capture it. Would like the flower to be sharper. As it stands with the bee so razor sharp, it appears to be hovering a good distance more towards the viewer than the flower it is apparently trying to get to. The whole image begs for increased contrast as well. This image does give a sense of harmony, though at the same time it does not give me a sense of serenity. Nice bokeh, and I think the grayscale works well. Nice job, 5.

Harmony
by Ivory

Comment:
Nice shot. I think the wire is a bit too sharp and sort of wrecks the overall serene, dreamy effect here. Blur the wire a bit (maybe just focus at the background) or, better, remove it entirely and I'd have ranked this a bit higher. 5.

Japanese Tea House
by elsapo

Comment:
The IR effect is not very serene. It excites my mind's eye, it does not calm it. The composition here is perfect, the still water is great, the lighting and the trees - everything for a truly harmonious, serene shot exists in this photograph, but the IR trades it all in for eye candy glitz and really sends everything south. Do I like this photo? Yeah, a lot. Do I like it in this challenge? No. 5.

Green Wonder
by levyj413

Comment:
Nice abstract, nice minimalist shot, nice color on color. Nice zen? It's not doing it for me. I don't get any sense of balance or harmony (one color dominates, balance destroyed by the only object being in the bottom corner) and the frog is a bit freaky looking for me to get a sense of serenity from this. I get what you were going for here, I just don't think you nailed it. Outside of the challenge, I think this is a fine photo. 4.

One quiet day in july.......
by ivarg

Comment:
Ripples on the water, even as slight as they are, make a mess of that reflection which lends a sense of business to the shot. The little blob of black to the left where the water meets the shore also distracts. Overall this is a nice shot, but it doesn't give me a sense of harmony, balance, serenity, etc. I think the big chunk of green shore on the right goes a long way towards ruining the effect. Overall a nice photo. 4.

What Do You See?
by JPR

Comment:
This is an interesting photo and one that would have done better (by me) in a different challenge. Those black dots on the surface of the metal object could have been lined up if shot from a different angle. I don't think the bird makes or breaks the shot so if it was lost in the process, no big deal. Red is not really a calming color, but here I don't think it is too bad. The shapes are pleasing and the internal shape created by the intersection of the objects is nice. Line the dots up and you acheived balance. Harmony? Serenity? I'm not sensing that here. Like I said, a really nice photo but something that might have found a better home in a different challenge. 5.

Apple
by JRalston

Comment:
I like the bluish grays you've used here. While the shot is simplisitic, I don't actually feel it really nails the challenge. The apple is positioned in such a way that it appears to be tipped to the left which detracts from a sense of balance. Shot would benefit from some increased contrast. A different angle on the ledge might help here as well. This isn't a bad shot, but it just doesn't pull me in. 5.

all is calm
by owen

Comment:
Meets the challenge very well. In the sense that the bird is offset, the composition is well done. On the other hand, the shoreline does nothing but detract from the overall sense of serenity here. Cropped so that this is just the bird on the water with that wonderful reflection, I would have ranked this an 8. With the shoreline destroying my sense of calm and the washed out sky above just taking up space, I'm going to give a 5. Nice work.

solo
by boysetsfire

Comment:
Nice colors, nice composition. Very serene. With such a stark shot, you really cause any flaws to jump out. What takes away from this shot for me is the horizon line. It's rounded, that's ok. It's also tilted though and that tilt doesn't promote the sense of balance I'm looking for here. All in all, a nice shot. Bummer that moon wasn't bigger. 5.