Alone I Stand
by hokie

Comment by lahulfman:
it's all in the crop

Alone I Stand
by hokie

Comment by redmoon:
i do like this. the narrow tall crop is quite striking, though for this sort of scale and media, i don't think it can be nearly as effective as a poster sized print in a white walled gallery. bits i really like is the out of focus foreground (looks really cool, actually), the composition of the main subject (dead centre, and on a little hillock, very photogenic!), the blueish tones of the greyscale and how convincingly the still, chilly atmosphere has been conveyed. things i'm not particularly keen on is the excessive amount of white sky (could have lost at least half of it, i feel) and the diffused glow effects round the edge of the tree (either natural or PP, it still takes away some of the defined edges of the branches). overall though, very likeable.

My New Scoring System ΓΆ„ΒΆ; composition + technical 2.5/3, challenge 1/1, post processing results 1/2, ooooh factor 3/3, originality 0.5/1 = 8

Alone I Stand
by hokie

Comment by violinist123:
Lovely use of grayscale here. Couple of things that hold this photo back. First, it appears to be ever so slightly leaning to the right. Just enough to be noticeable, particularly because the trunk of the tree is very visible for its full height. A greater distraction is the unnecessary amount of foreground here. Cropping the shot directly below the large dark oval about 2 inches from the bottom of the photo (where things begin to become focused) would be more appealing. The out of focus dark mass at the bottom doesn't really do anything here but distract the eye. I do think the large amount of negative space above the tree works well. Good luck.

Alone I Stand
by hokie

Comment by K-Rob:
Fantastic! You're gonig to sell a lot of these prints.

Alone I Stand
by hokie

Comment by electina:
I like the crop you chose. It makes this tree really something more intense than it would otherwise. Excellent.

Alone I Stand
by hokie

Comment by akuli:
Great cropping

Alone I Stand
by hokie

Comment by pineapple:
Nice crop or framing or whatever. It works well for the image.

Alone I Stand
by hokie

Comment by glad2badad:
Classic! I love this. ;^) Break the rules I dare ya. He-he. It works. The low angle, the centered composition, the unusual crop, the B/W tones. Very nice. Well done.

Alone I Stand
by hokie

Comment by danthesquidkid:
if your audience was a bunch of me's this would take blue

Buddy Guy
by hokie

Comment by lil_mo:
Beautiful shot:)