Circa 1542
by Konador

Comment by whiteroom:
lovely! (pronounced luverly)

Windsurfing
by Konador

Comment by rich:
Warm regards from the Critique Club!

Great shot Ben. I happen to like selective desat quite a bit, so you are not really going to hear anything negative from me on that. In fact, this is a seriously good time to use that technique - the trees add some clutter aound his legs that are much more muted with this technique, so good usage in my book.

I like the composition - he is getting some serious air, and the optical illusion is that he is actually jumping higher than a tree from the angle you chose. The structure on the left adds something as well to the image, I think with the selective desat you can get away with something that would otherwise potentially look cluttered, but instead adds interesting textures when desaturated and add to the shot.

I don't really have a lot of suggestions on what I would do differently with this shot. Perhaps the only thing I would try is a lower angle, to add even more visual impact in terms of adding suggested height to the jump. Well done Ben. I always enjoy your work.

Rich.

Circa 1542
by Konador

Comment by PhilipDyer:
But it was burned in 2006. ;-) This is a great subject for this challenge and even though the processing is a little heavy for my taste, it still increases the interest of the photograph. Nicely done.

Circa 1542
by Konador

Comment by espy2:
Gorgeously toned, and just an overall wonderful image. A 10.

Circa 1542
by Konador

Comment by Count:
Very nice, love the contrast and muted colors...

Windsurfing
by Konador

Comment by graphicfunk:
One of my favorites for this challenge because here the action and the desat fit each other so well. Outstanding work. Congratulations on your top 5 finish.

Sunny Day
by Konador

Comment by MadMan2k:
Love the lighting and colors. The burning around the edges is a nice effect, too.

Circa 1542
by Konador

Comment by IreneM:
Excellent image with wonderful colour and composition. Crisp and dramatic.

Downtrodden
by Konador

Comment by Krisby:
woulde have done better in a non free study challenge.. nice photo

Circa 1542
by Konador

Comment by Jutilda:
I love the deep dark tones. Nice angle to the shot. I wish you'd panned back a bit further to show more of the church. It might have lost some of the detail, but I think the overall image would have had a bit more powerful sense.