Still - 30 mins and countingby
ValdoComment by Artifacts: Positives:
Composition is the strength of this image. Has good balance between objects and reflections given the near center framing of the water's edge. Wwell done. Very peaceful, traquil image.
Technicals:
Composition and content are excellent. Color is generally good. It is immediately obvious that some type of HDRI process has been applied... Shadow/Highlight in this particular case. With it you brought out great lighting and detail in the reeds. Shadow/Highlight is tricky to learn and use and sometimes leaves a surrealistic, unnatural look to the lighting from its narrowing of lighting differences. That has happened to a certain degree in this case. You didn't get any of the ugly haloing that we sometimes see but you pushed the limit. The best applications of these techniques are the ones least obvious. Your treatment is not bad, but could be better.
I'm on a sharpness sensitive monitor and can see "jaggies" typical of oversharpening. It is most apparent in the plant above and over the top of the bird.
The Challenge:
The shot selection of a tranquil natural scene fits the challenge quite nicely but some voters, like the one commenting it would be better if the water were "still", might lower the score for the ripples in the water. Your score of 5.9 is decent by DPC group standards and that likely comes from the strength of composition, subject selection and the final look of the reeds over its other technical aspects.
Suggestions:
You might want to back off on the sharpening a bit. Shadow/highlight, since it changes brightness and contrast, affects sharpening and makes it easier to oversharpen.
As an experiment try redoing this image with shadow/highlight to the point that the casual observer cannot tell that anything of that nature has been done to the image. It is a skill you will want to perfect for other images where a more natural look is desired.
Message edited by author 2007-04-25 18:26:54. 
Photographer found comment helpful.
