Staircase Descending to Fish Pond
by Keith Maniac

Comment:
Wow! Okay, first of all - WOW at the photograph. Amazing shot - great contrast, great tones, great lines, and.. dare I say it? - Great perspective.

Second of all - wow at all those duplicate comments!

Dainty Gem
by Sonifo

Comment:
Congratulations Soni!! :) Beautiful shot

IMG_6246.jpg
by ajschel

Comment:
I think the heavy shadows here and lack of interesting color (to me, at least) leaves this as a good candidate for conversion to Black and White.

Humpty Dumpty
by movieman

Comment:
Thought I'm not certain, this photo looks somewhat backlit, creating a good contrast between the web and the background (though this might not have fit everyone's definition of HC).

Unfortunately, the harsh lighting also seems to blow out some detail on the spider. That, combined with the fact that the focus doesn't look quite spot on (or it the lens just soft?) probably contributed to the lowish score that you received. The composition and interest are there, but the lighting wasn't particularly in your favor. Still a good effort, and better luck next time :)
- Critique Club

Memories of Ralph
by Seanachai

Comment:
Wonderful idea and story to accompany it. A very thoughtful and well-executed tribute to Ralph.

Summer's End — Sunrise
by Bear_Music

Comment:
Tough break on the time zone issue, but at least you know that you earned the ribbon.

Obstacles
by riotspyne

Comment:
Very nice, off-beat portrait.. the gritty texture in the beard/mustache make the chain links work, imo.

Strike Up the Band!
by Tranquil

Comment:
Wonderful shot - the high contrast certainly fits the subject well. I'll just jump right into it. I think the blur in the trombone itself is a non-issue, because if the trombone is being played.. there's bound to be some motion, right? Plus, the lack of focus and leading lines help draw the attention to the player.

The cheeks and eyes are great in a semi-comical manner.. the only thing I really notice here is that there seems to be some kind of anomaly (maybe I just am too slow to figure out what it is) underneath the horn at the bottom right corner.. looks kinda wrinkly and I can't figure out what it is.
- Critique Club

Summer's End — Sunrise
by Bear_Music

Comment:
Congratulations Robert :)

Darkness & Light
by tryals15

Comment:
This certainly could have been a very strong entry if you had provided a bit more light (perhaps such that approximately half of the face is illuminated - or at least the eye). The blur is a good idea, but perhaps slightly less would've worked better with voters (one thing you'll find here is that voters generally prefer things to be as sharp as they can be, within reason).