Rust
by KMcC

Comment by eniko:
In my top 5

Standing Guard
by KMcC

Comment by tvsometime:
Beautiful capture. Composition and tonality could not be better. Congrats on the HM so early in your participation here.

Standing Guard
by KMcC

Comment by Rgarcia:
Wonderful capture, congratulations!!

Standing Guard
by KMcC

Comment by glad2badad:
This is a wonderful capture. I had this picked to make the front page ... at least I was close with you grabbing 5th place overall. :-) Thought this may have been Wendy's ( vawendy) at first as this is the type of shot that she's been known to take. If you're not familiar with Wendy's work, take a look (she's Very good).

Anyway ... just wanted to drop by and say congrats on a lovely photo and a well deserved finish.

Standing Guard
by KMcC

Comment by jomari:
Congratulations on the HM Kimberley. 2nd challenge and you do that in a FS! Wow! What a beautiful, elegantly composed photo.

Standing Guard
by KMcC

Comment by Dr.Confuser:
I'm happy this scored well. It got one of my top scores.

There are the artistic elements I like here â€Â¦ the vertical symmetry â€Â¦ the black/white bird/reflection â€Â¦ that's it's almost but not really a B&W image. It seems almost zen-like. Nicely done.

Standing Guard
by KMcC

Comment by markwiley:
You are starting off DPC with a bang. Beautiful shot. I look forward to seeing more of your entries.

Standing Guard
by KMcC

Comment by SaraR:
Absolutely love the shadowed reflection - really rather unusual. Good use of negative space, too. Congrats on the top 5 placement - I am still waiting for one in a Free Study, 200+ challenges in!

Standing Guard
by KMcC

Comment by PHOTOKID:
A very lovely shot, I love how everything flows so nicely from the shawdowy effect of the trees to the reflection of the egret into the water. Very Stunning. Congrats on a great placement in one of the more sternly judged contests on the site.

Standing Guard
by KMcC

Comment by GeneralE:
Congratulations on a great finish! I really like how the branches and the added vignette work together to frame the bird and the reflection.

Based on reading the earlier comments you might want to check out one of our on-site (member-written) tutorials, Sharpening Halos and How to Hide Them.