Surface to Sky
by photomill31

Comment:
I really don't know what to tell you on this one. Yo_Spiff is correct about the tilted horizon, but I'm really not a landscape photographer, so I have very little to add.

Just from what I've read though, there is one main thing here you want to avoid. A centered horizon. The better landscape shots have the horizon less centered in the shot. There is either more ground, or more sky, and there's always some kind of focal point. Something to look at, which is offered in a way which leads to viewer to expand their vision to the rest of the photo.

Look around in the ribbon winners gallery for landscapes that win ribbons, and compare your shot with those. I'm not saying that you'll need to suddenly find amazing seascapes and such all at once, but try and look at what they are doing compared to what you are doing and maybe see if you can start applying some of the basics to your future shots.

As for my thoughts on why this scored so low, for my money it's just a plain, flat, boring photo when compared to its competition in a free study. It has some nice play in the sky, but there really isn't much there to grab someone making a fly-by on the vote. It's dark, and there is no point of interest compared to the shots that do better on this website.

Apocalyptica
by cmtc

Comment:
I can't find anything truly wrong with it, but neither can I find anything truly right with it either. It's a 6 image in my head, and what I would suggest is that it was simply the wrong image for a Free Study. In another context this might have stood out, but surrounded by 400+ photographs, your bell curve says everything. It didn't stand out for the majority of people.

Sometimes that just happens for no real reason at all, especially in the Free Studies. Our work just gets lost to the masses.

Take comfort, however, in the few that enjoyed it, and 8 in-challenge comments on a mid-5 shot is a wonderful achievement.

A space oddity
by Melethia

Comment:
I can't believe you beat me out by one place! I needed a "21st place" for my collection!

Losing It
by violinist123

Comment:
I still can't believe how fantastic this is.

HUH?
by charliebaker

Comment:
This was my only 10.

Not another bloody party!
by Judi

Comment:
I would have given this a 1 for that dust spot at the top.

;D

Painted With Light
by limerick

Comment:
My favorite of the ribbons, has a gentle, warm, old world feel to it that pulls me in and reminds me of pleasant smells and the warmth of a freshly baked pie. My only gripe is the semi-hot spot on the apple, but c'est la vie as they say.

Gravity
by posthumous

Comment:
Dude, if I gave out posthumous awards, this would have gotten my top honor.

My only 10 of the challenge.

Granny Smith
by IreneM

Comment:
Well what do you know!

In a challenge full of water drops, the lady that made them a front page phenomenon stays away from them completely, and manages a top 10 anyway.

You've got to like that eh?

The Granny Smith Has Gone Psychadelic
by VitaminB

Comment:
As I said, a 6 because I've seen it so many times before, but can't take away a ribbon win, so congrats on that.

It certainly isn't easy to do.