Calm
by MelonMusketeer

Comment:
Nice patterns of clouds and the way the colors transition. Would have preferred to see a moo rather than the barbed wire, but I suspect the moo was doing something more important than hanging with you.

Timeless
by MelonMusketeer

Comment:
Great colors and silhouettes, like the composition

A gift of nature
by IreneM

Comment:
Very beatiful. Water droplet combined with everything else is what takes it to the top.

Light Catcher
by Rgarcia

Comment:
This is excellent. Nice colors, detail and patterns.

GOTCHA!
by desertoddity

Comment:
As promised, some comments:
--Agree with yospiff and andrewt about lighting and DOF issues, so won't repeat those comments. Also agree that composition with regards to placement of Santa and the creature is OK.
--Additional thoughts about DOF: It is very difficult to get good DOF with very small objects, and good DOF is critical for this one. In addition, using an aperture in the 30's (or at least upper 20's) rather than 7.1 would have helped some. Most of the higher ranked entries in this challenge required and achieved good DOF, and did this by photographing large things.
--IMHO, I don't see enough of a connection between Santa and the creature. Had you picked something more closely connected to Santa or Christmas to attack him (a UPS delivery truck running him over is the first thing that comes to mind), you would have had a better "story" so to speak. But yospiff thought the idea was OK, so I may be wrong here.
--Hope this helps.

Ascending to Higher Levels at the Library
by ErikV

Comment:
Thanks everyone so much for your support!

Message edited by author 2007-12-31 06:41:59.

Troll Guardian of Hell
by desertoddity

Comment:
I think the subject matter is great. I won't repeat any of the suggestions of Levyj413. Another suggestion for improvement is in regards to his head (which is one of the key points of interest): would to not have cut it off, and would have tried for better lighting at the top.

My Tarnished Silver Pin
by desertoddity

Comment:
The pin is perhaps too ordinary (I think the key to this challenge was to take something at the exciting end of ordinary). But apart from that, there are some things you could have done to make it more interesting:
a) more interesting background (eg. place is on a wool sweater which has a pronounced texture, or on a blanket that looks like it could be of Hopi origin; or place it at an angle on a mirror so you can see both top and bottom of the pin)
b) change the composition so that it is not right in the middle (consider the rule of thirds, for example)
c) add other items to the image that either complement or contrast with the pin

I also agree with the previous comments about glare/lighting

Hope this helps.

Lion.jpg
by bennettjamie

Comment:
Darkest fur I have ever seen on a lion!

Slice of Life - Day 3
by Budya

Comment:
Great blue lines with varying degrees of focus and movement. And can't forget to mention good placement of the leaf. Very nice.