When The Wind Drops
by Wildcard

Comment:
Really outstanding composition and light. One of the best entries in the challenge!

Siloscopy
by posthumous

Comment:
Don - I was one of your higher votes in this challenge. I like the spooky feel tremendously. The best part is that it is impossible to judge the relative size of the silo, which adds to the drama. Well done!

Windmills
by Melethia

Comment:
Deb, this is lovely! The light has that "magic hour" glow, and you did a great job of not oversaturating the greens.

Question: what made you choose the square crop? I'd be curious to see the original photo!

I imagine this would have done very well in the FS, incidentally. You must have something pretty good up your sleeve if this was second choice :-)

Tulip
by kashi

Comment:
This is a really lovely shot. The colors are so vivid, and the focus is spot-on! One minor detail to enhance - I would recommend going to the pixel level in photoshop and cloning out the thin grey line that surrounds everything. It probably came from sharpening.

I think you would have done very well in a contest with this. Hope you'll consider shooting again and entering.

A tear for my bleeding heart...
by Puckzzz

Comment:
Powerful image that definitely appeals to the emotions. I imagine it would have scored very well. Looks sinister and pure at the same time.

Starry, Starry Night in the Italian Alps
by levyj413

Comment:
Jeffrey,
I haven't commented before on this photo, but should have: it is breathtaking. No wonder you did so well in the free study! I wish you much luck in the other contests in which you entered this.

Gulf Fritillary Butterfly
by JuliBoc

Comment:
What outstanding focus! Every time I try to capture one of these in the air, I get blur, but you pulled it off. My hat goes off to you :-) The butterfly looks sharp as a tack.

I think you made a great choice in keeping a lot of the natural background here, by the way. The composition works very well.

Elderberry Blossom
by JuliBoc

Comment:
Very pretty and simple, great exposure to avoid blown highlights on those whites! The contrast with the background really helps this photo pop.

Red-shouldered Hawk
by JuliBoc

Comment:
This is a great capture, but I agree it probably would not have passed the advanced editing test with the wing cloning. I was only able to tell because I take a ton of wildlife shots as well, and I suspected that thicker frame up top was due to cloning to finish out those wings.

It looks like you also may have been a little heavy-handed with the shadow/highlight tool here. Although I think it works very well on the hawk (his details are gorgeous), the sky looks a little washed out.

There is no doubt in my mind this will do well in the contest. You should be very proud of these outstanding photos!

Ibis in Cypres with Spanish Moss
by JuliBoc

Comment:
Very interesting framing with the Spanish moss (I find Spanish moss very difficult to photo well, by the way. I think you've done a good job here). I'm trying to decide if I would try a tighter crop on this - possibly - but I can see the rationale in showing the details in the Ibix's surrounding as well. One thing I might consider would be some work around his eye - a little dodging in center, then burning around the iris to make it stand out. Overall great 'environmental portrait'.